Excepting those which have appeared as articles in periodicals during
the last eight years, the essays here gathered together were originally
re-published in separate volumes at long intervals. The first volume
appeared in December 1857; the second in November 1863; and the third in
February 1874. By the time the original editions of the first two had
been sold, American reprints, differently entitled and having the essays
differently arranged, had been produced; and, for economy's sake, I have
since contented myself with importing successive supplies printed from
the American stereotype plates. Of the third volume, however, supplies
have, as they were required, been printed over here, from plates partly
American and partly English. The completion of this final edition of
course puts an end to this make-shift arrangement.
The essays above referred to as having been written since 1882, are now
incorporated with those previously re-published. There are seven of
them; namely--"Morals and Moral Sentiments," "The Factors of Organic
Evolution," "Professor Green's Explanations," "The Ethics of Kant,"
"Absolute Political Ethics," "From Freedom to Bondage," and "The
Americans." As well as these large additions there are small additions,
in the shape of postscripts to various essays--one to "The Constitution
of the Sun," one to "The Philosophy of Style," one to "Railway Morals,"
one to "Prison Ethics," and one to "The Origin and Function of Music:"
which last is about equal in length to the original essay. Changes have
been made in many of the essays: in some cases by omitting passages and
in other cases by including new ones. Especially the essay on "The
Nebular Hypothesis" may be named as one which, though unchanged in
essentials, has been much altered by additions and subtractions, and by
bringing its statements up to date; so that it has been in large measure
re-cast. Beyond these respects in which this final edition differs from
preceding editions, it differs in having undergone a verification of its
references and quotations, as well as a second verbal revision.
Naturally the fusion of three separate series of essays into one series,
has made needful a general re-arrangement. Whether to follow the order
of time or the order of subjects was a question which presented itself;
and, as neither alternative promised satisfactory results, I eventually
decided to compromise--to follow partly the one order and partly the
other. The first volume is made up of essays in which the idea of
evolution, general or special, is dominant. In the second volume essays
dealing with philosophical questions, with abstract and concrete
science, and with aesthetics, are brought together; but though all of
them are tacitly evolutionary, their evolutionism is an incidental
rather than a necessary trait. The ethical, political, and social essays
composing the third volume, though mostly written from the evolution
point of view, have for their more immediate purposes the enunciation of
doctrines which are directly practical in their bearings. Meanwhile,
within each volume the essays are arranged in order of time: not indeed
strictly, but so far as consists with the requirements of sub-classing.
Beyond the essays included in these three volumes, there remain several
which I have not thought it well to include--in some cases because of
their personal character, in other cases because of their relative
unimportance, and in yet other cases because they would scarcely be
understood in the absence of the arguments to which they are replies.
But for the convenience of any who may wish to find them, I append their
titles and places of publication. These are as follows:--"Retrogressive
Religion," in _The Nineteenth Century_ for July 1884; "Last Words about
Agnosticism and the Religion of Humanity," in _The Nineteenth Century_
for November 1884; a note to Prof. Cairns' Critique on the _Study of
Sociology_, in _The Fortnightly Review_, for February 1875; "A Short
Rejoinder" [to Mr. J. F. McLennan], _Fortnightly Review_, June 1877;
"Prof. Goldwin Smith as a Critic," _Contemporary Review_, March 1882; "A
Rejoinder to M. de Laveleye," _Contemporary Review_, April 1885.
LONDON, _December, 1890_.