'theory of the relation of morality to nature,' and his 'estimate of Bentham.' The footnotes to the "Logic of the Moral Sciences" and the Utilitarianism also form an essential feature of the book. These consist mainly of passages taken from the various writings in which Mill incidentally touches upon ethical subjects, and so serve to illustrate the particular points under discussion. It will be seen that, in one form or another, a not inconsiderable part of Mill's ethical writings are here presented. And one may add at once that the editorial work has been done with perfectly competent knowledge of the materials to be handled, as well as with much skill and good taste. It is really a considerable help to have, not only the chapters from the Logic and the Utilitarianism, but the significant passages which, in the original, are scattered through several volumes, mainly devoted to other subjects, thus printed together. No advanced student, at any rate, unless he has himself made a somewhat careful study of Mill, should neglect to avail himself of the help which this volume affords.
And yet, I am inclined to think that as an Introduction to Ethics—the purpose for which it was designed—this book will hardly prove a success; and, moreover, that it might have been made a good deal more useful to the advanced student, if his needs had been kept more in view. It has already been suggested that the mere fact that Mill is guilty of rather serious inconsistencies when treating of ethical subjects, is not by any means in itself a fatal objection to his writings being used by junior students, and as an introduction to the subject. But in reality the case is a good deal worse than this. If one go beyond the Utilitarianism for a statement of Mill's ethical theory, it will soon become evident that, not only his particular conclusions, but his view of the proper method of approaching the moral sciences changed considerably in the course of the thirty years or more during which he wrote occasionally on ethical subjects.
Without going beyond what is contained in the present volume—and this not in footnotes and appendix, but in the text itself—the student could hardly fail to be confused without explanations, which, unfortunately, are not given in the introductory essays. He would, for example, be warranted in assuming that the necessary key to an understanding of Mill's treatment of ethics was to be found in the chapters reprinted from the Logic, "On the Logic of the Moral Sciences." Now the first subject there treated is the 'freedom of the will,' and the deterministic conclusion seems to be regarded by the author as the necessary initial step toward a scientific treatment of the 'Moral Sciences,' presumably including ethics. Mill then goes on
