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 " Cos- 

 mic Evolution." In the last chapter we have seen 

 that Spencer adopted the "cyclical" view of uni- 

 versal change 



"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." 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 seq.). 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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