LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
[Correspondents are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. The most suitable length is that of one of our " News of the Week" paragraphs. Signed letters are given a preference over those bearing a pseudonym, and the latter must be accompanied by the name and address of the author, which will be treated as confidential.—Ed. THE SPECTATOR.] THE GREATEST VICTORIAN [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]
Sta,—Mr. Young's article, followed by Mr. Ratcliffe's letter, have proved too much for my continence. May I, then, address you on the subject of Mr. Ratcliffe's team of six ? If Dickens is to be included because he " gained the suffrages of mankind," what are we going to do about Herbert Spencer ? I take no interest in him ; but I suggest that 5o years ago it was an indispensable mark of an educated man, in every country in the world, to have some acquaintance with his writings. Then nothing but the brute force of a majority vote would persuade me to yield Mill's place to Carlyle. I admit that Mill is now unfashionable ; but so are all the members of Mr. Ratcliffe's crew except Darwin and Dickens. And what about Clark Maxwell ? He is of unmatched importance in the domain of abstract scientific thought ; and if it is objected that he was not a man both of high and of varied capacity, that limitation is equally true of Darwin, and indeed of all Mr. Ratcliffe's selections except possibly Gladstone. Mr. Young's nomination of Bagehot gave me so much pleasure that I don't want to say a word in support of Mr. Ratcliffe's observations on that subject ; but if Walter Bagehot is to be thrust into the second rank, he will find there Sir Henry Maine and Sir James FitzJames Stephen. And I can only say that I, for one, shall take a second-class ticket, in the hope of hearing the conversation.
To play this very agreeable game properly, we must have some rules ; we want, in short, a marking system, and I suggest that marks should be awarded under the following heads : (r) natural capacity ; (2) variety of capacity ; (3) influence before 1900 (a) in England, (b) abroad ; (4) influence since 1900 (a) in England, (b) in the rest of the world. Are we to exclude men of action ? I don't think it matters ; for I do not agree with Mr. Ratcliffe that the greatness of Victorian England was equally in deeds and in words. There was a great deal going on, undoubtedly ; but the only possible competitors for the top drawer are the men of letters, the men of science,
and the men of policy.—I am, Sir, &c., M. S. Amos. Ulpha, Broughton-in-Furness, Lancs.
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