i86o 



Herbert Spencer and the Doctrine of Evolution. 535 



The Emotions and the Will, 



The Social Organism, 



The Physiology of Laughter, 



Parliamentary Reform, 



Prison Ethics, 



Prospectus of the Philosophical System published. 



First Principles, 1862 



Classification of the Sciences, ........ 1864 



Principles of Biology, ......... 1867 



Principles of Psychology, . ........ 1S72 



The Study of Sociology, \ o 



Descriptive Sociology, ) 



Principles of Sociology, Part I., ...... . 1874 



The facts now presented, I submit, entirely sustain the 

 view with which we set out, in regard to the character of 

 Mr. Spencer's work, and his position in the world of 

 thought. It has been shown that he took up the idea of 

 Progress while it was only a vague speculation, and had 

 not yet become a subject of serious scientific study. We 

 have seen that he verified its reality by gradually tracing 

 its operation step by step, in widely different fields of phe- 

 nomena ; that he analyzed its conditions and causes, and 

 at length formulated it as a universal principle, to which 

 the course of all things conforms. That view of the uni- 

 verse which the science of the world now accepts, it has 

 been shown that I\Ir. Spencer adopted a generation ago, 

 and entered upon its elucidation as a systematic life-work. 

 We have traced the course of its unfolding, and I appeal 

 to the record of labours here delineated as furnishing an ex- 

 ample of original, continuous, and concentrated thinking, 

 which it will be difficult to parallel in the history of intel- 

 lectual achievement. In newness of conception, unity of 

 purpose, subtilty of analyses, comprehensive grasp, thor- 

 oughness of method, and sustained force of execution, this 



