12 Herbert Sjyencer. 



no means an obtuse or narrow man. His opinions respect- 

 ing America were mncli more correct and substantial than 

 those of Mr. Matthew Arnold. The latter never could get 

 below the surface. His mind was critical, but not syn- 

 thetic or constructive. With him, manners made the man; 

 and there were no manners save his own. He was lacking 

 in "lucidity." But Mr. Spencer's vision was wide, and his 

 insight keen. He saw things in their true proportions, and 

 his criticisms upon our country were received with respect 

 and thankfulness. 



It Avas in February, 1880, that I last saw Mr. Spencer. 

 He had perceptibly aged, and appeared feeble. I did not 

 tarry long, for I fancied conversation wearied him. As he 

 took my hand at parting, he said, mournfully, " Tell You- 

 mans you have seen me, that I have not much strength left, 

 and I shall never see him again." What he had in mind 

 was his own decease ; but Prof. Youmans passed on to the 

 majority before him. Since that day, we have reports of a 

 long illness, from which he has partially recovered. There 

 is small likelihood that the '^System of Synthetic Phil- 

 osophy " will ever be completed, but Mr. Spencer's energy 

 is great and he will work as long us work is possible. 



Turning, now, from the author to his productions, the 

 first thing to be said — and it should be distinctly under- 

 stood as incontrovertible — is that Herbert Spencer is the 

 father of the modern philosophy of evolution. The impres- 

 sion still exists that Darwin is entitled to that honor. This 

 is a mistake, which the application of the term "Darwin- 

 ism" to that philosophy has helped to perpetuate. The 

 "Origin of Species" was first published in November, 1859. 

 Mr. Spencer's Psychology, it will be remembered, appeared 

 in 1857. This last was preceded by several essays outlin- 

 ing the doctrine of evolution, the earliest of which dates 

 from 1852. To one of these, "The Development Hypoth- 

 esis," Mr. Darwin refers in the Introduction to the " Origin 

 of Species." But the "Princii^les of Psychology," which 

 is an integral part of Mr. Spencer's philosophy, and which 

 exhibits the doctrine of evolution as it stands to-day, had 

 been published two years before Darwin's first great work 

 appeared. 



This, however, is by no means all. In its subject-matter 

 Evolution is not " Darwinism," but a natural law of much 

 broader scope. The former shows that, universally through- 



