ch. iv.] THE LAW OF EVOLUTION. 327 



acliie"\ ement ; it must still be claimed that the successful 

 coordination of the myriad-fold phenomena formulated by 

 the Law of Evolution, was a gigantic task, requiring the full 

 exertion of mental powers no less extraordinary than those 

 required by the other. In an essay published thirteen years 

 ago, youthful enthusiasm led me to speak of Mr. Spencer's 

 labours as comparable to those of Newton both in scope and 

 in importance. More mature reflection has confirmed this 

 view, and suggests a further comparison between the mental 

 qualities of the two thinkers ; resembling each other as they 

 do, alike in the audacity of speculation which propounds far- 

 reaching hypotheses and in the scientific soberness which 

 patiently verifies them ; while the astonishing mathematical 

 genius peculiar to the one is paralleled by the equally unique 

 power of psychologic analysis displayed by the other. As 

 in grandeur of conception and relative thoroughness of elabo- 

 ration, so also in the vastness of its consequences — in the 

 extent of the revolution which it is destined to effect in 

 men's modes of thinking, and in their views of the universe 

 — Mr. Spencer's discovery is on a par with Newton's. In- 

 deed, by the time this treatise is concluded, we may perhaps 

 see reasons for regarding it as, in the latter respect, the 

 superior of the two. 



To give anything like an adequate idea of the extent and 

 importance of this discovery, or of the enormous mass of 

 inductive evidence which joins with deduction in establish- 

 ing it, is of course impracticable within the limits of a single 

 chapter. We must be content for the present with ex- 

 hibiting a rude outline-sketch of its most conspicuous 

 features, leaving it for the succeeding series of discussions 

 to finish the picture. Let us begin by briefly summing up 

 the results already obtained. 



It has been shown that the coexistence of antagonist 

 forces throughout the knowable universe necessitates a uni- 

 versal rhythm of motion; and that in proportion to the 



