John Stuart Mill: A Criticism with Personal Recollections

HERSCHEL ON LOGIC. 8 1
In June, the British Association met at Cambridge, Sir John
Herschel in the chair. I was at the meeting, and listened to
Herschel s address. One notable feature in it was the allusion
to the recent works on the Logic of Science, by Whewell and
Mill especially, on both of whom Sir John bestowed high
encomiums. He also mentioned Comte, but in a very different
strain. There was, I remember, a good deal of buzz among
Mill s friends that were present, at this unexpected mention of
him. Mill was of course extremely gratified on his own
account, but considered that Comte was very unfairly handled.
Herschel brought up the nebular hypothesis, as advocated by
Comte, but treated Comte s mathematics with contempt, and
spoke of his book as
"
a philosophical work of much mathema
tical pretension, which has lately come into a good deal of
notice in this ". country To dismiss Comte in this summary
fashion, even supposing he had laid himself open by his sup
posed mathematical proofs of the hypothesis,
was a little too
strong. Mill naturally thought it an evidence of some weakness
in Herschel s mind that he should be so blind to the abounding
manifestations of intellectual force in the Philosophic Positive*
him for the mention of him
He wrote to Herschel, thanking
self, and remonstrating on his treatment of Comte ; but went
a little out of his depth in attempting to uphold Comte s
calculation. Herschel, in replying, reiterated his approval of
the Logic, stating that it was his intention to have reviewed it
in the Quarterly, as he had done Whewell ; but, as regarded
Comte, he was obdurate, and demolished at a stroke the proof
that Mill had relied upon. I think Mill wrote a rejoinder, j
It is to be hoped that these letters are preserved. Mill copied^/
* The following sentence in Mill s review of
"
"
Comte and Positivism does
not apply to the scientific magnates of England, at the date of Herschel s
"
Address : He (Comte) has displayed a quantity and quality of mental powe^
and achieved an amount nf success, which have not only won but retained the
high admiration of thinkers as radically and strenuously opposed as it is pos
sible to be, to nearly the whole of his later tendencies, and to many of his
earlier opinions ".
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