l Science, I would reply that in this I find I am
following a lead which in other departments has not only been allowed
but has achieved results as rich as they were unexpected. What is the
Physical Politic of Mr. Walter Bagehot but the extension of Natural Law
to the Political World? What is the Biological Sociology of Mr. Herbert
Spencer but the application of Natural Law to the Social World? Will it
be charged that the splendid achievements of such thinkers are hybrids
between things which Nature has meant to remain apart? Nature usually
solves such problems for herself. Inappropriate hybridism is checked by
the Law of Sterility. Judged by this great Law these modern developments
of our knowledge stand uncondemned. Within their own sphere the results
of Mr. Herbert Spencer are far from sterile--the application of Biology
to Political Economy is already revolutionizing the Science. If the
introduction of Natural Law into the Social sphere is no violent
contradiction but a genuine and permanent contribution, shall its
further extension to the Spiritual sphere be counted an extravagance?
Does not the Principle of Continuity demand its application in every
direction? To carry it as a working principle into so lofty a region may
appear impracticable. Difficulties lie on the threshold which may seem,
at first sight, insurmountable. But obstacles to a true method only test
its validity. And he who honestly faces the task may find relief in
feeling that whatever else of crudeness and imperfection mar it, the
attempt is at least in harmony with the thought and movement of his
time.

That these papers were not designed to appear in a collective form, or
indeed to court the more public light at all, needs no disclosure. They
are published out of regard to the wish of known and unknown friends by
whom, when in a fugitive form, they were received with so curious an
interest as to make one feel already that there are minds which such
forms of truth may touch. In making the present selection, partly from
manuscript, and partly from articles already published, I have been
guided less by the wish to constitute the papers a connected series than
to exhibit the application of the principle in various directions. They
will be found, therefore, of unequal interest and value, according to
the standpoint from which they are regarded. Thus some are designed with
a directly practical and popular bearing, others being more expository,
and sli