Re. Milman's memoir of Thomas Babington Macaulay.
Treasury. - Milnes should have applied in 'the agony of the crisis' when Hayter was trying to lighten his successor's [George Cornewall Lewis's?] burden; now limited, but will do his best if Milnes will send details of aspirant.
Will dine with Senior together with Sir George Cornewall Lewis
Wishes the writs had been issued as he feels the Tories would not have contested Gloucester, Cornewall Lewis "a muddle-headed old prig"
If Lewis does not bring forward the Election Law Amendment Bill he will give notice of a motion on the subject of both Gloucester writs
21 Grafton Street - Thanks WW for sending him his 'philosophical disputation' [possibly 'On the Fundamental Antithesis of Philosophy', Trans. of the Cambridge Philosophical society 7, pt. 2, 1844].
Knightsbridge - Thanks WW for his work on induction, in reference to John Mill's Logic. GCL has read Comte's work and agrees more closely with WW's view of it than Mill's. Comte's 'opinions with respect to scientific methods, advanced in his early volumes...appear to me generally sound'. However, his method in what he calls sociology 'is fundamentally erroneous, and that it can never lead, except by accident, to just conclusions'.
Kent House, Knightsbridge - Apologises for not thanking WW, when they met at the club, for the copy of his 'interesting paper on Aristotle's chapter on Induction ['Criticism of Aristotle's Account of Induction', part 1, Trans. of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 1850]. By a coincidence he had been written to by Professor Owen [Richard Owen] at the same time on the same subject: 'Aristotle's use of the word induction is not consistent. Sometimes he calls the mere collection of particulars by that name; sometimes he includes under it both the process of collection and the inference founded upon it'. In his Rhetoric, Aristotle 'distinctly opposes both syllogism and induction as if they mutually excluded each other'.
Kent House, Knightsbridge - GCL's cousin, Walter Devereux, is writing the lives of the two Devereux Earls of Essex. One of them was at Trinity College, and GCL would like WW to check the records to ascertain the exact date he was there (he thinks about May 1577).
Kent House, Knightsbridge - Thanks WW for his 'excellent edition of Grotius' [Grotius, 'De Jure Belli et Pacis', with notes and an abridged translation, 1853]: 'you have rendered a most useful service to all students of International law and politics'. GCL is surprised that there is no authoritative work of International law in English.
The Home Office - GCL has read Professor Forbes' [James D. Forbes] book on the Alps and is acquainted with his glacier theory, and 'will not fail to bear in mind what you say of the character of Prof. Forbes as a man of science'. GCL will be happy to read WW's Platonic translation [Plato's 'Republic', 1861]. WW should add a 'full exposition of the theory of experiment' to his Philosophy of Induction. When he wrote his work on Political Method ['A Dialogue on the Best Form of Government]'] he was unable to find any satisfactory account 'of the nature and limits of experiment. It is commonly assumed that all the physical sciences are experimental whereas it is only a few of them which admit of experiment' - the majority are of observation: 'Even the Political and moral sciences admit of experiment to a greater extent than many, if not most, of the physical science'.
The Home Office - Thanks WW for a copy of the third volume of his Platonic Dialogues. Further to WW's remarks on Grote's pamphlet [possibly John Grote, 'A Few Words of Criticism: Being an Examination of the Article in the Saturday Review of April 20, 1861, upon Dr. Whewell's Platonic Dialogues for English Readers', 1861] GCL 'cannot believe that Plato was ignorant of so simple and geometrical a truth as that two concentric spheres revolving uniformly together are relatively at rest - but it is very difficult to comprehend how Aristotle could have mistaken the meaning of so important a passage in the Timaeus'.
Kent House, Knightsbridge - Thanks WW for his remarks on his book ['An Historical Survey of the Astronomy of the Ancients'?]. His friend, Mr Brown, has sent WW a copy of an ancient inscription which he has printed for private distribution. He has also sent some additional copies to give to any persons at Cambridge interested in forgotten languages.
Presents the pamphlet in case Whewell becomes interested in the law of Rating in his controversy with the parishes.