22 The Scope and Princijdes 



Whether this hope in intlividuals be vivid or dim will prob- 

 ably be largely a matter of temperament and predisposi- 

 tion ; bnt it will doubtless be even more dependent upon 

 the lively comprehension of this fundamental doctrine of 

 biological evolution — the doctrine of the essential good- 

 ness and desirability of life itself. 



From what has heretofore been said, it is evident that 

 Evolution, whether regarded in its philosophical or in its 

 religious aspects, will largely interest itself in the practical 

 problems of sociology — in the promotion of more active 

 and more widely extended human synii:)athies, in the eleva- 

 tion of the poor, the vicious and the down-trodden — thus 

 extending the boundaries and the satisfactions of life not 

 only among the remote and barbarous populations of the 

 earth, but also, primarily and correlatively, in each individ- 

 ual member of society. The word ''sociology," as ap]>lied 

 to the science of society, — or its French equivalent, — is, I 

 believe, the invention of Auguste Comte ; but the credit of 

 working out this science of society, from strictly scientific 

 data, into a natural and comju-ehensive system, is due, more 

 than to any one else, to Mr. Herbert Spencer. It is to this 

 study, most vital in interest and importance to every 

 human being, that this series of lectures will direct our 

 attention. 



Whether or not societ}'" may be properly termed "an or- 

 ganism," in the strict sense in whirh the individual jirod- 

 ucts of biological evolution are thus designated, it certainly 

 bears a close relation to them in many important respects, 

 and especially as to the character of its process of growth. 

 As compared with the development of inorganic materials, 

 which grow by simple accretion or addition to their bulk, 

 oi'ganic substances grow by intussusception — a process of 

 waste and rejiair which reaches every particle throughout 

 tlicir internal structure. In this respect the growth of 

 S(M'i(^ties resembles that (jf organic substances ; it is a sort 

 of vital chemistry. All actual and ])ernianent enlargement 

 of society ]>roceeds from the voluntary co-operative action 

 dl' individuals. Aifection ami self-interest are the attrac- 

 tive forces which weld society together, and these forces 

 operate directly in and upon individual minds, throughout 

 the social structure, Tlie death of individuals, and the 

 l)irtli and growtli of others to fill tlieir places in society, 

 proceeds in like manner with the })rocesses of waste and 



