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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



trary, that evolution can not proceed one 

 step without God. The materialist may de- 

 clare that evolution proceeds by material 

 energy or force. The agnostic may say that 

 we do not know and can not know. The 

 theist identifies the universal Power and In- 

 telligence, proceeding by universal laws, as 

 the Being of whom men have had imperfect 

 intuitions, of whom men have had inspira- 

 tions." As to the bearing of evolution on 

 religion, we are told : " There is a feeling 

 that evolution is dangerous. The exaggera- 

 tion of that feeling is that evolutionary phi- 

 losophy comes as a whirlwind to destroy re- 

 ligion ; on the contrary, it comes to restore 

 and revive it. My friends, evolution will 

 prove itself dangerous to the kind of religion 

 which treats it in that way. The religion 

 that seeks to stand on the ground of opposi- 

 tion to light, on the ground of resistance, 

 will find itself more and more threatened 

 and undermined by it." The evolution of 

 the idea of immortality is also regarded as 

 of the highest importance, as showing the 

 consummation of the works of creation. 

 Other special topics considered include the 

 Bible as a record of religious gradual growth, 

 " the problem of evil," the relations of evo- 

 lution with Christianity and with special 

 features and aspects of Christian faith, and 

 its relations with social institutions and de- 

 velopment. Finally, criticism, both higher 

 and lower, and that of all shades and grades 

 between, is declared really to have but the 

 one purpose of coming at the abiding and 

 the useful. The law of development being 

 all-inclusive, " truth, sacred truth, must also 

 have its course of development and progress. 

 It can not long be contained in any state- 

 ment or mass of statements. It increases 

 by its own vitality and outgrows the most 

 elaborate and finished form in which any 

 age can put it. And, above all, religious 

 truth is not stationary a jewel cut and 

 fashioned by skillful device ; it is in the na- 

 ture of seed, inclosing the elements of growth, 

 else it is no vital truth. . . . The serious 

 concern of all men ought to be to know the 

 truth, and to commit themselves to it. Not 

 to commit themselves to the uncertainties, 

 but to the certainties. So far as they do 

 that, they will have no fear of the thrashing 

 process of criticism which comes at various 

 periods, and has now come." 



Epitome of the Synthetic Philosophy. 

 By F. Howard Collins, with a Pref- 

 ace by Herbert Spencer. New York : 

 D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 571. Price, 

 $2.50. 



We have here an eminently useful idea 

 carried out in a very satisfactory manner. 

 Mr. Collins has undertaken the by no means 

 inconsiderable labor of going over the ten 

 published volumes of Mr. Spencer's system 

 of philosophy and summarizing them page 

 by page. As he states in the " Compiler's 

 Preface," " The object of this volume is to 

 give in a condensed form the general prin- 

 ciples of Mr. Herbert Spencer's philosophy 

 as far as possible in his original words. 

 In order to carry out this intention, each 

 section () has been reduced, with but few 

 exceptions, to one tenth ; the five thou- 

 sand and more pages of the original being 

 thus represented by a little over five hun- 

 dred. The ' Epitome ' consequently repre- 

 sents 'The Synthetic Philosophy' as it 

 would be seen through a diminishing glass ; 

 the original proportion holding between all 

 its varied parts." Mr. Collins has aimed to 

 present every salient point, to omit no essen- 

 tial link in the argument by which the cele- 

 brated exponent of the doctrine of Evolu- 

 tion deduces the whole course of history 

 and the laws that govern all nature, animate 

 and inanimate, from certain fundamental 

 postulates of the most abstract or at least 

 of the most general kind. The first thing 

 that strikes us is the severity of the test to 

 which Mr. Spencer's philosophy has thus 

 been subjected. Stripping off all externals 

 and non-essentials, Mr. Collins has laid bare 

 the very framework of the system. He has 

 reduced the Synthetic Philosophy to a series 

 of almost naked propositions, the connection 

 or lack of connection of each of which with 

 those that precede and follow can be seen 

 at a glance. Opinions will doubtless differ 

 as to the degree of logical coherence thus 

 brought to light ; but we must declare, for 

 our own part, that we are impressed anew, 

 not only with the wonderful grasp of Mr. 

 Spencer's mind, but with the philosophic 

 unity of his thought. The apostle of Evo- 

 lution has afforded us, in his successive vol- 

 umes and in the successive chapters of each 

 volume, one of the most magnificent exam- 

 ples of evolution. The success with which 

 he has developed his system speaks power- 



