XXIX 



THE LAW OF UNIVERSAL RHYTHM 1 



ALLUSION has more than once been made in the 

 preceding pages to Spencer s law of rhythm, which 

 we saw illustrated notably in the chapter on &quot; Cos 

 mic Evolution.&quot; In the last chapter we have seen 

 that Spencer adopted the &quot;cyclical&quot; view of uni 

 versal change 



&quot;rhythm in the totality of changes alternate eras of 

 evolution and dissolution. And thus then is suggested 

 the conception of a past during which there have been 

 successive evolutions analogous to that which is now 

 going on; and a future during which successive other 

 such evolutions may go on ever the same in principle, 

 but never the same in concrete result.&quot; First Principles, 

 first ed., p. 536. 



These sentences do not appear in the last edition 

 of First Principles, but they express the specula- 



1 In writing this chapter I have availed myself of the in 

 valuable references in Dr. Merz s History of European Thought 

 in the Nineteenth Century (see II., 286 et scq.). This work of 

 unrivalled industry and insight, a conspicuous illustration 

 both of the love of truth and the philosophic temper, must 

 necessarily be studied by all who take a serious interest in 

 that mighty being of which they form a part. 



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