528 Edward Livingston Yomnans. 



A peculiar difficulty, however, here arose. Mr. Spencer is 

 a very impracticable man that is, he undertakes to con- 

 form his conduct to right principles, and his decided views 

 as to the proper functions of government put an interdict 

 upon the far greater number of posts that might otherwise 

 be fit. Among the few that he could accept, the greater 

 part were not available because they did not offer the 

 requisite leisure. One position became vacant which he 

 might have accepted, that of Inspector of Prisons, I think ; 

 but, though effort in his behalf was made by Lord Stanley 

 (now Lord Derby, who was familiar with Mr. Spencer's 

 works and entertained the matter kindly), the claims of 

 party were too strong, and no arrangement was made. 



Other plans failing, Mr. Spencer decided to adopt that 

 of subscription, and to issue his System of Philosophy in a 

 serial form. A prospectus of that system was issued in 

 March, 1860, which outlined the contents of the successive 

 parts. The first installment of the work was issued in 

 October, 1860, and the commencing volume, First Princi- 

 ples, was published in June, 1862. 



In this work the general doctrine of Evolution is pre- 

 sented in a greatly developed form ; and the author's for- 

 mer views are not only combined but extended. The law 

 of Von Baer, which formulates organic development as a 

 transformation of the homogeneous into the heterogeneous, 

 Mr. Spencer had previously shown to hold of all aggre- 

 gates whatever of the universe as a whole, and of all its 

 component parts. But, in First Principles, it was shown 

 that this universal transformation is a change from in- 

 definite homogeneity to definite heterogeneity; and it is 

 pointed out that only when the increasing multiformity is 

 joined with increasing definiteness, does it constitute Evo- 

 lution as distinguished from other changes that are like it 

 in respect of increasing heterogeneity. There is, however, 

 a much more important development of the principle. 



