876 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 493. 



fact. He never knew what it was to be in 

 want or to fear that he might eome to 

 want. The only work of a bread-winning 

 kind that he ever did was while serving as 

 a civil engineer in the construction of cer- 

 tain railroads. This occupied nine years 

 of his life (1837^6), from his seventeenth 

 to his twenty-sixth year. The several posi- 

 tions that he held during this time were not 

 sought, but were offered to him, generally, 

 as he admits, through the influence of his 

 friends rather than from any superiority 

 of his own in the business. More than once 

 he gave up a good position and returned 

 home for awhile. But his father's latch- 

 string was always out and he was welcomed 

 back whatever might be the cause of his 

 coming. He alleges as one reason for not 

 holding his positions longer, his 'lack of 

 tact in dealing with men, especially supe- 

 riors,' and says: "Advancement depends 

 rather on pleasing those in authority than 

 on intrinsic fitness. * * * Never did it 

 enter into my thoughts to ingratiate my- 

 self with those above me. Rather I have 

 ever been apt, by criticisms and outspoken 

 differences of opinion, to give offense." 

 In other words, he was no toady, and never 

 cared to 'ci'ook the pregnant hinges of the 

 knee where thrift may follow fawning.' 

 But he was never removed from any posi- 

 tion. He always voluntarily quit work, 

 usually with the regret of his employers. 

 The only other period of his life that he 

 was subject, even nominally, to the will of 

 a superior was during the five years (1848- 

 53 ) that he was sub-editor of the Economist, 

 and this position he also voluntarily relin- 

 qiiished. This was an easy position and 

 left him much leisure time, as may be 

 judged from the fact that during this pe- 

 riod he wrote his first book, ' Social Statics. ' 

 It was to be hoped that in his 'Autobiog- 

 raphy' he would give a full explanation of 

 how he came to choose the title 'Social 

 Statics.' He does^ indeed, discuss a num- 



ber of titles that had occurred to him, but 

 leaves it to be assumed that the one finally 

 adopted was originally his own. To find 

 the true explanation it is necessary to go 

 to the revised edition of that work pub- 

 lished in 1892, where in a footnote to page 

 233 he says he met with the phrase in 

 Mill's 'Political Economy,' Mill himself 

 crediting it to another writer, which other 

 writer, though Spencer did not know it, 

 was Auguste Comte. It thus happens that, 

 notwithstanding his strenuous efforts to 

 disclaim all influence of Comte, three of the 

 leading terms of his philosophy, social 

 statics, sociology and altruism, were Com- 

 tean terms. 



After leaving the Economist he devoted 

 himself for a time to article writing, which 

 yielded him some revenue, though scarcely 

 a livelihood, but which had the advantage 

 of enabling him, as Nietzsche would say, 

 to get rid of his thoughts. Instead, how- 

 ever, of getting rid of them, he found them 

 taking complete possession of him. In fact, 

 the very next year (1854) he commenced 

 writing his 'Principles of Psychology,' 

 which he finished within a year, anid the 

 M'Ork actually appeared in 1855. But even 

 this, so far from satisfying him, served 

 only the more completely to open up the 

 vista of his future, and although he char- 

 acterized the next two years as 'idle,' be- 

 fore the end of 1857 a great system of 

 philosophy had taken shape in his mind. 

 His first rough draft of its main heads was 

 made and dated January 6, 1858. Two 

 years later the complete prospectus was 

 issued, and this was adhered to in most 

 particulars during the subsequent thirty- 

 seven years of its execution. 



He had now made his plans known to all 

 his friends and they had unanimously en- 

 couraged him to proceed. The great ob- 

 stacle was publication, as no publisher 

 would undertake so hazardous a work, and 

 after much discussion and advice it was 



