EXCURSIONS OF AN EVOLUTIONIST 



Grants and Bismarcks, as well as the Joneses 

 and Smiths, Mr. Spencer goes on to say, 

 " These phenomena of social evolution have of 

 course to be explained with due reference to the 

 conditions each society is exposed to, the 

 conditions furnished by its locality, and by its 

 relations to neighbouring societies. Noting this 

 merely to prevent possible misapprehensions, the 

 fact which here concerns us is that . . . given 

 men having certain properties, and an aggregate 

 of such men must have certain derivative pro- 

 perties which form the subject-matter of a sci- 

 ence." 



A deliberate and methodical statement like 

 this, forming the burden of half the chapter in 

 which Mr. Spencer lays out the ground for his 

 work, must of course be received as an authori- 

 tative expression of his opinion. It will be ob- 

 served that Mr. Spencer takes precisely the same 

 position as that which is taken by Dr. James 

 when he says that the changes which go on in 

 society are " due to the accumulated influences 

 of individuals, of their examples, their initiatives, 

 their decisions." So decidedly does Mr. Spencer 

 put himself in this position that it occurs to him 

 that he may possibly be misinterpreted as ignor- 

 ing the influence of environing conditions, and 

 he therefore adds the qualification that in inter- 

 preting social changes we must make " due re- 

 ference " to the outward conditions to which so- 

 166 



