CHAPTER XXIV. 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION. 



184. AT the close of a work like this, it is more than 

 usually needful to contemplate as a whole that which the 

 successive chapters have presented in parts. A coherent 

 knowledge implies something more than the establishment 

 of connexions; we must not rest after seeing how each 

 minor group of truths fall into its place within some major 

 group, and how all the major groups fit together. It is 

 requisite that we should retire a space, and, looking at the 

 entire structure from a distance at which details are lost to 

 view, observe its general character. 



Something more than recapitulation something more 

 even than an organized re-statement, will come within the 

 scope of the chapter. We shall find that in their ensemble 

 the general truths reached exhibit, under certain aspects, a 

 oneness not hitherto observed. 



There is, too, a special reason for noting how the various 

 divisions and sub-divisions of the argument consolidate; 

 namely, that the theory at large thereby obtains a final 

 illustration. The reduction of the generalizations that have 

 been set forth to a completely integrated state, exemplifies 

 once more the process of Evolution, and strengthens still 

 further the general fabric of conclusions. 



185. Here, indeed, we find ourselves brought round 

 unexpectedly, and very significantly, to the truth with 



551 



