A criticism with personal recollections (1882) Alexander bain

Hisownaccountof his earliest reading, ConversationwithLadySpencer, Important letterJo SirSamuel Bentham, giving anaccount of his Journeyto Paris,andthencetoToulouse, Writes aletter inLat

JOHN STUART MILL.

complete biography of John Stuart Mill My chief

in doing which, I have drawn freelyupon my personal

years

EARLY EDUCATION.

Hisownaccountof his earliest reading,

ConversationwithLadySpencer,

Important letterJo SirSamuel Bentham, giving anaccount of his

Journeyto Paris,andthencetoToulouse,

Writes aletter inLatinto histwosisters,

LadyBentham's opinionofhim,

Estimate ofhis precocity instudyandacquirements, .

Applicationexcessive,andtoofewbreaks.

Hisknowledgeof Classics necessarily superficial,

HisMathematicalstudiesprobablyhadgenuineresults,

ReturntoEngland,

AcquaintancesatCambridge Visit toCharles Austinthere,

ib.

23

4

ib.

ib II ib.

122021

ib.

22

ib.

23242526

Chronologicalsequencefrom1820to 1830,

EnteredtheIndiaHousein 1823. Steps ofhispromotion,

30

31

Contributions to the WestminsterReview:—continues his father's

-OntheRichardCarlisle prosecutions :—extractfromperoration,

disingenuousartifices,

FinalarticleonScott's Life ofNapoleon,

Mentalcrisis of1826; over-workingof his brain.

inti-macywithMill,

ChronologicaloutHnefrom1830to 1840,

Bad illness of 1836. Leave ofabsenceand three months' tour in

France,SwitzerlandandItaly,

Illnessof1839 Sixmonthsof sick leave,spentin Italy,

Otherarticles ; Tennyson; DeTocqueville,

Energetic reviewof theParliamentary Sessionof 1835,

ReviewsCarlyle'sFrenchRevolution,

Political articleontheParhamentof 1837: onArmaudCarrel,

Second Canadaarticle—"LordDurham'sReturn,"

"Re-organizationof theReformParty,"

Lastillnessanddeathof hisbrother Henry,

3233

343536

46

47

j9_50

51

5253

ib.

ib.

57

5859

Revisionof his Logic,then readyfor

6264

Openingsfor criticisn',

Ideasappropriatedin theLogic; particularly in the Social Science,

Correspondence withComte,beginningin1841: Personalitiesbetween

ReviewsBailey'sTheoryof Vision,anddefendsBerkeley,

Depressedhealth : lossesby American Repudiation, .

pro-— ject. Turnshisthoughtstoawork onPoliticalEconomy,

Writeson " ClaimsofLabour," in 1844,

Mill ; speaksslightingly ofComte; correspondence withMil],

Conversations with Grote; hishigh estimate ofthe Logic,

TheHelvetiusdoctrine ofhumanequalityheldbybothMillandGrote,

WritesonFrenchPolitics for theEdinburgh,

Reviewsthe firsttwovolumesoirGrote'sGreece,

Writesin the MorningChronicleon the Irish famine,urgingthe

for-mationofpeasantproperties,

DoctrinesonProperty;Malthusianism;littlefeyourshownioSocialism,

VindicatesagainstBroughamthe French Revolutionof 1848,

Badillnessof 1854: long tour abroad,

DraftstheEast India Company's Petition to Parhament,against the

contempletedabolition of theCompany,

ExtractsfromthePetition,

Applicationto ethicalandreligious doctrines,

Moralityof Christianity incomplete,

Layshimselfopento reply,

LibertyofConduct:unsteady holdof the essentials ofhumanhappiness,

Limitsto the authority of Societyoverthe individual, ,

Disapprobation notnecessarilydescribedaspunishment

SirJamesStephen'sxriticJfiioSr—

?

Necessityofbringingforce tobearon humanlife at all points,

IKingsleyonthe effectproducedon him bythe Liberty

^

^Utilitarianismpublished, 1861,

Givesupimportant strategic positions : loose expressions as to the

Genesisofmoral sentiment admirablyillustrated,

Publication ofRepresentativeGovernmentin i860,

Entersontheexamination of Hamilton's Philosophy, .

AttackonMansel, ,

Mistakenadvocacy ofClassics,

Hierarchy oftheSciencesput forward,

Editinghis father's "Analysis," • ,

Defeatonagain standingforWestminster,

Strongillustration of the evilsfromtheabuse of power,

Mentalequalityofthe sexesurged with toolittle qualification,

Incongruity of reducinghim fromtheDivineto thehumanlevel,

CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE.

Distinguishingfeature—commandofgeneralities,

Howfarcombiningoriginalityandprecision asathinker,

Receptivenessnotanabsolutequality, but, in Mill'smind, veryhigh,

Habitofnot acceptinghalf-solutions, *

Estimateof hisownoriginality,

Sourcesof his Activity,

Sensualfeelingsbelow—average,

XII Contents

Malevolent emotion,undergreat restraint,

LoveofScenery; Plant-collecting,

Anxietyto preserve the natural beautiesof ourcountry.

-Shortcomingsof hissympathetic side,

Sharpnessinexpressingdifference of opinion,

"Beginningof friendship v^'ithMrs.Taylor,

Dedicationof PoliticalEconomy,

Sourcesof hisattachment,

"HisStyle; languagefacultynotintrinsically great,

Strength not thehighestquality,

Neglectofemphasis

Connectionof pecuharitieswithExpositoryart in general,

Exemplificationof principlesthorough, .

Addressed boththereasonandthe feehngs,

Characterasa Converser,

CaroHneFox's Journals—reports of his talk,

Influence in general,

191

jQDLnionsjMtticfZga? 192

EARLY EDUCATION.

he had made many discoveries, buthis greatest was the

We needto refer to the Autobiography^ for the

andwritten, was presupposed; and we have to infer that he

Inhis father's biography, I have givenaletterto Bentham,

2 EARLIEST READINGS. 1806-182I.

letter:—"WhenI received your letteron Monday,John, who

curiosity to know what it was about I said itwasMr

that I gave it to him to see what he would say, when he

—

intellectisequal to abitof waggery The remark may seem

natural, thatifhe were thenlearninghis Greekcards,he might

the interestofthe scene liesin disclosing a sunny momentin

earliestreading He says nothing of English books tillhe has

1810to 1813 (age,four to seven) the familyhadtheirresidence

histories in English—Robertson, Hume, Gibbon, AVatson's

WRITES A ROMAN HISTORY.

3

At alater stage, he speaks ofhis fondnessfor writinghistories

markedhisage, six and a-half years,which would be near the

traditions If it is wonderfulforthewriter'sage, italsoshowsthathisenormousreadinghadasyetdonelittleforhim Hecan

history,intheshape ofthe succession ofkingsandconsuls,and,

theSicilianinvasions Before that time, thecountry had not

Sicilians, Iberian(?) kingsreignedforseveral years; butinthe

Italy, and established a kingdom there called Albania He^

'

^neas was killed soon after this. The warcontinued to be

am nowsafelysettled there Weareallingood health,exceptthatI havebeen illofslightfeverforseveraldays,butam now

tapestry,of which one contains a velvet bed, andis therefore

FORD ABBEY 5

tapestry, as also a small library From this saloon issues a

style, and anotheris hung withsilk. There is alittle further

thirty years Down a staircase from here is a long range of

staircaseleading into the cloisters The rest of thehouse is

larger

year's journeys'\ He then incontinently plunges again into

becamea few years later. The reference to Joseph Hume's

entire

"Acton Place, Hoxton,July30,i8ig.

*'

I will endeavourto giveanaccount ofthem fromthat year

"In the year 1814, I read Thucydides,and Anacreon, and

I believe the Electraof Sophocles, the Phoeniss£eof Euripides,

"^t. 9.— The Greek which I read in the year 1815 was, I

"^t. lo.—In the year 1816 I read the following Greek:

Playfair'sTrigonometry attheend ofhis Euclid,and anarticle

table In Latin Ireadall Lucretius,exceptthelast book,and

Keill'sAstronomy and Robinson'sMechanicalPhilosophy

inthesame mannerashisRhetoric

8 LOGIC AND

articleon Fluxions intheEdinburghEncydopcedia,

I am stillreading Quintilian and the article on Fluxions, and

Exercises

Aristotle I havealsoreadHobbes' Logic

of treatise from what my fatherhas explainedto me on that

subject, andI am now reading Mr Ricardo'swork andwriting

"What English I have read since the year 18 14 I cannot

history Ihad carriedahistory of theUnited Provinces from

their revolt from Spain, in the reign of Phillip IL, to the

England

"I had likewise begun to write a history of the Roman

TEACHING HIS SISTERS 9

sistershave madeprogress enoughinLatin tolearnwithme

the first,and.partof thesecondbookof Lucretius,andis now

trans-lating English into Latin from Mair's Introduction.to LatinSyntax

Whiletheabove enumerationismuch fullerthanthatinthe

as Sallust, Terence, Dionysius, and Polybius The private

Auto-biography

Thisletter was doubtless intended notmerely tosatisfy Sir

Acarefullywritten diaryextending over thefive firstmonths

ofJohnMill's stay in France, is our best attainablerecord of

remarkableman Hisfirst servicewas in the Russian army,wherehis

soldier-ing was intermingled with suggestions for improvements of all sorts, and

Portsmouth,where his talent for invention had scopein the improvementof

JohnFordyce,a physicianinLondon,called by Bentham"oneof the coldest

: thisladyhadthe domesticsupervisionofMill formore

than ayear. OnretiringfromtheDockyard,SirSamuel bought anestate in the South of France for the sakeofa residence there ; andthis led to his

Abiographyof SirSamuel by LadyBentham,is themostremarkable

minutedetail his professional life,whichconsisted ofanuninterruptedseries of

mechanicaldiscoveries ; all ofwhichsheexpoundswith admirableprecision. To

father. Theother children arenotevennamed Theworkmaybe described

LEAVES LONDON FOR FRANCE. II

day byday, togetherwithoccasionalreflectionsand discussionsthatattest his thinkingpoweratthat age The diarywas regu-

larlytransmitted to his father Atfirst hewrites in English

He left London on the 15th May, 1820, five days before

across, the thirty-three hours in the diligence to Paris He

political economist The family of the Says— an eldest son,

and their mother —devote themselves to taking him about

Paris He gives his father an account of all the sights,but

Ensor andthe Says, and proceeds onhis wayto jointhe

dirty Ji/k, withan eruption inherface,keepsup hisannoyance

Hearrives at his destination at two,a.m., the 2nd of June,

associates The following day, the 5th, he sees the Marquis and Madame de Pompignan, the proprietors of the Chateau

Onthe6th,he commences work: and nowbegins our

for thisday merely sets forth that he gotupearly; went into

DAILY TASKS 1part I." This Dialogue frequently comes up, but without

French exercises (translating and so forth)." 9th

exercises Wrought someof the DifferentialCalculus Read

exer-cises; began tolearnanextremelylongfable Read acomedy

14 DIARY AT TOULOUSE. 1806-182I.

andtheir capital towns Acting on a suggestion of LadyB.,

16th Up early, walked out, reads a tragedy of Voltaire A

oppor-tunitiesof conversationare very much restricted byincessant

studies Besides passing politics, illustrated byanecdotes, he

thedetails ofthe provincialgovernment

first, forthesake ofFrench Mathematical terms Performsan

LUCIAN: FRENCH GEOGRAPHY. 1

Hermotimusof Lucian, andyesterday'stragedy; wroteFrench

exercises After breakfast, assisted inpacking up, as the family

in-terestinChemistry being now of four years'standing) 20th

do M Le Comte (son of the proprietor) comes in, and

l6 DIARY AT TOULOUSE. 1806-182I.

chiefly personalandgossipy; none ofhis lettersto Mr Doane

in driving They takeuptheirquarters in one of the streets,

wherethey have a verygood "Appartement" (Isupposeaflat)

still,afterthe chateau,theyfeelconsiderablycramped; hisroom

ofhisown library

made, so thathisfirstdays arepurelydevoted tobook-studies

theillustrationofthese variousparticulars

mathematics; classics; bentham. 17

theplace 28th (Classical day.) Bathingasusual Twoeclogues

ofVirgil,andaFrenchgrammaticaltreatiseonPronouns Reads

some more of Legendre (resolution broken through already)

dancing-lesson 29th Rather late in returning from the river An

Frenchexercises,readssomeofBoileau'slittlepieces; istohave

;

Virgil, 99 lines; more of the Necyomantia before breakfast

l8 DIARY AT TOULOUSE. 1806-182I.

Againat Franconi's,andfulloftheperformance; fora wonder,

Music-lesson Dined; family again to Franconi's, buthecould not

practice 6th Roseat 6; no bathing; five chapters of

Vol-taire; a quarter ofanhourtoWest'sproblems ; lessoninMusic

CRITICISM OF LEGENDRE. 1

(din-ner), resumed till 6; Mr. G corrects his French exercises;wentout for hisFrench lesson,but the master did not teach

after breakfast at io|; a call required him to dress; read

Thomson and made Tables till 12^; seven propositions of

toratio—" takes away a gooddealof my opinion ofthemerit

; till i

,3f, Thomson; Livre Geographique and Miscellanies till 5;

eatsalittle, dinner being uncertain, owingto a family event

**

being

20 DIARY AT TOULOUSE. 1806-182I.

collectplantsand insects Makes his coupd'essai at catching

butterflies, got onlyabout ten worth keeping; theadventures

ofthedayfullygiven, nth. Yesterday's fatigue keeps himin

bedlate; one chapterofVoltaire; at yj,withMr G.,to begin

twotocommence theformidable course of lessons set bythe

"Iought to be verythankful" 12th Hears from his father

articleon Government, and promises on his return to readit

day, butthelargestpart ofthe dayis taken upwith his other

exercises Theonlythingdeserving mention now isthe

andSir S. Benthamistoget Say'sbookforhim His French

Sallust,andafterwardssome OdesofHorace Thereis another

LATIN COMPOSITION 21

aletter tohismotherheadverts to his progress in music and

till he returns, ashe discovers now that they were on a

by no means a high composition.* Begins a Dialogue at

manu-factures, or small ones, are most conducive to the general

ex-cellentnews of the revolution in Italy". Attendsthree

with this tour,its incidentsand descriptions, and iswritten inFrench

Bentham to his father, dated J4th September It refers toa

*JohannescarissimisSororibus Williamincs atqueClarasalufem;

linguiexercendis : Gaudeo kpatre audiisse vosin historicGvseck vosmetipsas

seupuellis. Mihi condonetis quassosiquern erroremin Latinfescribendo feci,

quippe semperinnomengallicum insido, cum quaeram Latinum Ricardo

inve-nietis ; sed vosexercebit Valeatis.

—

22 JOURNEY TO THE PYRENEES. 1806-182I.

torecommendto hisfather to allow him to spend thewinter

there,andtoattend the public lectures of the college Mr.

ever, and (Iquotethewords) "we have beenconsiderably

suc-cessful ingettingthe better ofhis inactivity of mind and body

his interest in scenery,hecould notyet subsistuponthat alone

Thelettergoeson —"Uponalloccasions hisgentlenessunder

in-duce himtodoso andso, wetrust that youwill have

forcommerce with theworld at large". Lady Bentham does

grow-ingtastefor sceneryand his powers of description He

de-pictsclimate, productions, villages,the habits ofthe people, as

in-tellectual calibre ofthis marvellousboy Inthefirst place, we

make up

everbeshorter Forascholar, in mature years, eight or nine

itwasaforetaste of what he could do throughout his whole

life. Itattested acombination of cerebral activityand

succumbed underafarlessseverediscipline

transi-tions fromone study to another must have been unfavourable

lost in hurrying without amoment's break tosomething new,

24 APPLICATION TO STUDY EXCESSIVE l8o5-l82I,

What with his own recital in theAutobiography, and the

re-flections His beginning Greek at so early an age was no

doubt dueto his father's strong predilectionfor that language

What we wonderatmost is the order of his reading Before

thewriter'sthoughts and able tocriticize him Itisapparent

enough

of interest inthe subjects of theclassicalbooks : Lucianis an

upon him whatever He had a boyish delight in action,

battles,energyand heroism; andseeing thatwhateverhefelt,

he felt intensely, his devotion to that kind of literature was

peculiarity, he had all his life an extraordinary power of

assistance, buttherehe would checkhimself Hisreadings in

mature

intellectual youth that I have ever known, or heard or read

proposi-inthis, asinothersubjects, he made smallwayatfirst, yet the

forcing, these men would allhave equalledhimin his Classics

knowna similar case of precocity We must remember,

how-ever,that while his father could not be expected to teachhim

were Political Economy, Historical PhilosophyandPolitics, all

trulyprecocious youth• his innate aptitudes, which musthave

beengreat,received theutmoststimulation that it waspossible

thanthewriters of any of the manuals In that waragainst

down in the common manuals (See the beginning of the

'Bentham' articleforMill'sdelineationofBentham's Logic)

* His father, before his death, was proposing to begin Logic with the

youngerbrother,Henry, thenin his fourteenth year. John,wehaveseen,began