ost perfect we have;
but the subject, though a highly important, is comparatively
a simple one.'--p. 547.

Agreeing in this general view of Sir W. Hamilton's merits, we should be
disposed to describe them in language stronger and more emphatic as to
degree, than that which has just been cited. But what is stated in the
pages immediately following (pp. 550, 551)--That Sir W. Hamilton's
doctrines appear to be usually taken up under the stimulus of some
special dispute, and often afterwards forgotten; That he did not think
out subjects until they were thoroughly mastered, or until consistency
was attained between the different views which the author took from
different points of observation; That accordingly, his philosophy seems
made up of scraps from several conflicting metaphysical systems--All
this is literally and amply borne out by the many inconsistencies and
contradictions which Mr Mill has brought to view in the preceding
chapters. It would appear that the controversial disposition was
powerful with Sir W. Hamilton, and that a present impulse of that sort
(as has been said respecting Bayle, Burke, and others) not only served
to provoke new intellectual combinations in his mind, but also
exercised a Lethaean influence in causing obliviscence of the old. But we
can hardly follow Mr Mill in ascribing the defect to 'excessive
absorption of time and energy by the study of old writers' (p. 551). If
this study did no other good, it at least kept the memory in exercise.
Now, what surprises us most in Sir W. Hamilton's inconsistencies, is the
amount of self-forgetfulness which they imply.

While the laborious erudition of Sir W. Hamilton cannot be fairly
regarded as having produced any of his intellectual defects, it
undoubtedly stamped upon him his special title of excellence as a
philosopher. This is fully recognized by Mr Mill; though he treats it as
belonging not so much to a philosopher as to an historian of philosophy.
He concludes (pp. 552--554):--

'It is much to be regretted that Sir W. Hamilton did not
write the history of philosophy, instead of choosing, as
the direct object of his intellectual exertions, philosophy
itself. He possessed a knowledge of the materials such as no
one, probably for many generations, will take the trouble of
acquiring again. Independently of the great interest and
value attaching to a knowledge of the historical development
of spec