HISTORICAL METHOD. 607 



of consilience, to show that there really is one social 

 element which is thus predominant, and almost para- 

 mount; among the agents of the social progression. 

 This is, the state of the speculative faculties of mankind; 

 including the nature of the speculative beliefs which 

 by any means they have arrived at, concerning them- 

 selves and the world by which they are surrounded. 



It would be a great error, and one very little likely 

 to be committed, to assert that speculation, intellec- 

 tual activity, the pursuit of truth, is among the more 

 powerful propensities of human nature, or fills a 

 large place in the lives of any, save decidedly excep- 

 tional individuals. But notwithstanding the relative 

 weakness of this principle among other sociological 

 agents, its influence is the main determining cause of 

 the social progress; all the other dispositions of our 

 nature which contribute to that progress, being 

 dependent upon it for the means of accomplishing 

 their share of the work. Thus (to take the most 

 obvious case first,) the impelling force to most 

 of the improvements effected in the arts of life, 

 is the desire of increased material comfort; but 

 as we can only act upon external objects in proportion 

 to our knowledge of them, the state of knowledge at 

 any time is the impassable limit of the industrial 

 improvements possible at that time ; and the progress 

 of industry must follow, and depend upon, the pro- 

 gress of knowledge. The same thing may be shown 

 to be true, though it is not quite so obvious, of the 

 progress of the fine arts. Further, as the strongest 

 propensities of human nature (being the purely selfish 

 ones, and those of a sympathetic character which 

 partake most of the nature of selfishness) evidently 

 tend in themselves to disunite mankind, not to unite 

 them, to make them rivals, not confederates ; social 



