538 Edward Livingston Youmans. 



his fertility of genius, and the almost encyclopaedic variety 

 of knowledge, of which his writings furnish the proof, had 

 chosen to follow the beaten path, nothing would have been 

 more easy than for him to secure all those honours of which 

 English Society is so prodigal to those who serve her as she 

 wishes to be served. He preferred, however, with a noble 

 and touching self-denial, to put up with poverty, and, what 

 is still more difficult, with obscurity." In advance of his 

 generation and working against the powerful current of its 

 s prejudices, with broken health, without pecuniary resources, 

 and depending upon promises of support that w^ere but 

 very partially redeemed, with an intrepidity that was not 

 wanting in heroism he entered upon the most formidable 

 intellectual project that was ever undertaken by any single 

 mind. One would think that it should have commanded 

 the sympathy of the generous and the cordial approval if 

 not the kindly co-operation of all who appreciate courage- 

 ous and noble endeavour; but, unhappily, a discriminating 

 appreciation of genuine work is not overabundant in these 

 times; and, in the accomplishment of a task which I be- 

 lieve future generations will regard as the most memorable 

 achievement of this fruitful age, Mr. Spencer has had but 

 stinted encouragement and a very shabby support. In an- 

 swer to the question, why his contemporaries have been so 

 unappreciative, much might be said, but I will here confine 

 myself to one or two suggestions. 



In the first place, Mr. Spencer's work has been done 

 under circumstances peculiarly unfavourable to the recog- 

 nition of his rights as an original and independent thinker. 

 Of the twenty-five articles prepared in the most active 

 period of his life, and published between 1852 and i860, 

 which, as I have shown, are important contributions toward 

 the development of the doctrine of Evolution in its various 

 phases, most, if not all, appeared anonymously. They were 

 printed in the different leading reviews, and many of them 



