OF THE GOOD. 



229 



and ProfeBsor James Waid s " Gififoni LectmoB " (' ^^^- 

 nliGm and .Agnosticism,' 1S99V 



Tbe positive oateome of Herbert Spencer's a^plicati<Hi 

 of the canons at the Philosophv of Evofaition to ^^j^^-^^^ 

 ^hical problem is diaracteristieally and candidly ex- ^^^ 

 pressed bj himsdf irhai be ocmfera^ that Evidation 

 has not famished for Ethics the results which he had 

 hc^ped.^ A similar failure of the mechanical theory to 

 explain the ph^oomaia of life was admitted by him 

 aftor the reTisum of his * Principles of Biology ' and 

 referred to in a ehanctuistic stafe»n»it.^ There are 



p. 67). Aad aboat the 8UK tioae 

 Huxley (' KiaetafCBtk OeBtmy,' toL 

 L, 1S77, p. 3S9) cmmUI sitste : ^ For 

 ■ly part I do wit Cor <ne MMaMDC 

 adadttkat waaJBa^ k Mt etrai^ 

 UMi^ to hoU its owB. fiat if it 

 is demoBstntod to me tkat I au 

 vroi« aad that «ith<nt tbis or 

 <tat thwnlnpraal dqgoMi the biamui 

 laoe win tapee into bipedal eactle, 

 ■MR bratal Aaa tbe beasxs 1^T tbe 

 ■eataaie of tbeir greater dever- 

 ■ese, Biy nExt^paeBtioB is toaekfior 

 t^ proof <iC tbe tnitb of tbe do^na. 

 If tUs proof ie i or t bei— aag, it is 

 ■^ eonvietian tbttt no divmmng 

 aOor ever (dotcbed a beneoop more 

 teBMMO^ tbaa maakiad viU bold 

 h^ soeb dogna^ vfaatever it any 

 boL B«t if Mt^ tben I verily be- 

 Iiei« tiiat tbe haaaaa raoe wfll go 

 its evil «ay ; and my only oonsol- 

 ataon lies in tbe reflectMB that^ bow- 

 ever bad oar posterity may becmoe, 

 so long as they bold by the plain 

 mle of not preten^i^ to bdlieve 

 what they have DO reasoD to believe 

 betnose it m^y be to tbor &dr&ii- 

 tage 8D to pretend, they will not 

 have reached tbe lowest d^)ths d 

 immorality.'' 



^ A SBQond series, less critical 

 and Bkore oonstmcdve, h&s ap- 

 pealed in 1911, under the title 



PtanraSam and Tb^sm.' I sb&Il 

 have an opportonitr of referring to 

 LeetareG, which are not ex- 

 oeoapied with the ethical 

 in a hriber chapter which 

 win deal witik recent attonpts in 

 tfce dnreetton of systematic philos- 

 ophy- 



^ 'Principles of Ethics (vol. ii., 

 IS&S, Pre!) : ** Eight radiation 

 of the axioms of so cconplex a being 

 as maa, livii^ nnder conditions so 

 oomples as t^tose presented by 

 Society, erid^tly forms a subject^ 

 matter vnSlEefy to admit of definite 

 ooadwMnB tbraiighont its entire 

 range.* ftoC Soriey in quoting 

 this passage naiarks that "the 

 bdc ^ conSd enc e wbieik the author 

 O^Mseer] himseif f^ . . . there is 

 good reason to extend to the whole 

 etraetnre of evofaitioBaiy ethics^ 

 ('Recent Te n de n cies, &c,' p. 1'2S). 

 * RdFerru^ to Prof. Japp's and 

 Pasteur's opinions on ■Stereo- 

 Chemistry and Yiralism.' discussed 

 in '^■atu^e" (Oct. 1S9S), Herbert 

 Spencer concludes his remarks : 

 •' My own belief is that ndtber in- 

 terpretation [the physico-chemical 

 or that of Prof. Japp] is adequate. 

 A recently issued, revised, and mi- 

 lai^ed edition of the first volume 

 of the ' Principles of Biology ' cod- 



