Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 73.djvu/289

Rh in the autobiography more clearly than in Dr. Duncan's pages. Indeed the lack of skill and tact in the biography gives the impression of a tinge of maliciousness. It is all very well to reproduce the accounts of Spencer's amiable foibles, given by Mr. Galton and Lady Courtney, but it is scarcely necessary to quote the letter according to which Carlyle called him "an immeasurable ass," and the amount of space given to his attitude towards the honors he declined, to his misunderstandings with Huxley and Harrison and to the difficulties about his portrait is out of proportion to their significance. It is proper to quote Spencer as writing: "Twice or thrice I have taken up Plato's Dialogues and have quickly put them down with more or less irritation," but then it seems scarcely desirable to close the biography with "What Professor Theodor Gomperz says of Plato may be said of Spencer," etc. The care that Spencer took about his autobiography and biography compared with Darwin's belief that his autobiographical sketch would be of interest only to his children places in sharp relief a real difference in character which is fully confirmed by all we know of the two men. Still,-the inference may fairly be drawn that it is better for the reputation of a great man to have his biography written by his son than by his private secretary. It would not be possible in a brief note to select material from the "Autobiography" and from the "Life and Letters" which would give any impression of Spencer's life and character, and it is of course out of the question to attempt to expound, appreciate or criticize the vast contributions to philosophy and science which have had such a large share in making the evolutionary standpoint dominant everywhere. Readers of this journal are familiar with Spencer's work, for he contributed to it nearly a hundred articles. It was indeed established by Dr. E. L. Youmans in 1872 largely with a view to provide a suitable medium for printing Spencer's "Study of Sociology," and the may be regarded as one of the by-products of his genius.

The "Life and Letters" is published by Messrs. D. Appleton and Company, who for fifty years have been performing an important service by giving to American readers authorized editions of the works of Spencer, Darwin and Huxley. By their courtesy we reproduce the accompanying portraits.

second bulletin of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, issued under the title given above, contains information that is of interest not only to those who receive salaries from American colleges and universities, but also to all those who realize that the future of our civilization depends largely on ideals of service and research for which the university is the natural home. There is no more important question than how the best men can be drawn to the universities and how they can be led to do their best work. The part played by salaries in accomplishing these objects is not obvious. It might be that large salaries would attract the wrong kind of men and lead them to spend their time in unwise ways. Ecclesiastical and military organizations, which in the past have developed the ideals of loyalty and service which should now be found at our universities, have not been dependent on salaries, though office and honors have played a considerable part. In an industrial democracy, however, it seems that men are likely to be esteemed in accordance with their incomes, and if the office of professor is to be made honorable it must be well paid, or at least certain positions must exist that are highly paid.

The statistics in regard to salaries