Note 2 — AUGUSTE COMTE.[1]

The English reader is specially well placed for satisfying such curiosity as he may have about Comte's philosophy. Miss Martineau condensed the six volumes of the Philosophie Positive into two volumes of excellent English (1853); Comte himself gave them a place in the Positivist Library. The Catechism was translated by Dr. Congreve in 1858. The Politique Positive has been reproduced in English (Longmans, 1875-1877) by the conscientious labour of Comte's London followers. This translation is accompanied by a careful running analysis and explanatory summary of contents, which make the work more readily intelligible than the original. For criticisms, the reader may be referred to Mr. Mill's Auguste Comte and Positivism; Dr. Bridges's reply to Mr. Mill, The Unity of Comte's Life and Doctrines (1866); Mr. Herbert Spencer's essay on the Genesis of Science, and pamphlet on The Classification of the Sciences; Professor Huxley's 'Scientific Aspects of Positivism,' in his Lay Sermons; Dr. Congreve's Essays Political, Social, and Religious (1874); Mr. Fiske's Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy (1874); Mr. Lewes's History of Philosophy, vol. ii.