In the biographical section, all the more important names connected with science, literature, and public life find a place. But this rule applies only to the completed record of illustrious lives, contemporary names being excluded, as, apart from the invidious task of selection, any attempt to deal, even in outline, with living men of eminence would have seriously changed the character of the work.
In Mental Philosophy and the important topics connected with Biblical Criticism, Theology, and the Science of Religion, the distinctive change in the new Edition relates to the method of treatment. In the first place, these subjects are dealt with at greater length, in harmony with the keen, intelligent, and general interest now concentrated upon them. In the second place, they are uniformly looked at from the critical and historical rather than the dogmatic point of view, as that best fitted both to the character of the work and the requirements of the modern reader. In relation to all important points still under discussion, the aim is to give a full and impartial outline of the actual state of the question. These lines have I believe, been carefully followed in the volumes already published, and they will, as far as possible, be faithfully adhered to in those which are to come.
In enumerating some of the features of the new Edition, it may be added that special attention has been devoted to the Geography, History, and Institutions of America, and that to obtain thoroughness and accuracy in this department, the services of well-qualified American writers have, as a rule, been secured. This was, indeed, essential to the character and aim of the work as an authoritative book of reference for English-speaking communities in every quarter of the globe.
