LIMITATIONS 59

the general Law of Evolution to a better mode of dressing
artificial Hies." " But for every interest in either the
theoretical or the practical, a requisite condition has been—the
opportunity offered for something new. And here may be
perceived the trait which unites the extremely unlike pro-
ducts of mental action exemplified above. They have one
and all afforded scope for constructive imagination,"

Clearness in exposition was another of Spencer's
gifts, and he connected this with the fact that his

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grandfather and father had been teachers. But
lucidity of exposition usually accompanies clear think-
ing, and increases if there is opportunity for practice.
His fearlessness and his self-confidence, he also con-
nected with the fact that in school the master must
be the absolute authority, but it seems much more
plausible to regard this characteristic independence of
judgment as an outcrop of the Nonconformist mood
of his ancestors,

Limitations.—Spencer was too scrupulous a self-
analyst not to be aware of many of his own limita-
tions, and he has exposed the defects of his qualities
with the utmost frankness. Thus his disregard of
authority, which helped him to independent positions
in science and philosophy, seemed to become a habit
of mind which prompted him to react from current
beliefs and opinions without always doing them
justice. His anti-classical bias led him "to under-
estimate the past as compared with the present"
" Lack of reverence for what others have said and
done has tended to make me neglect the evidence of
early achievements,"

One concrete instance may be selected,—his failure to
appreciate Plato's dialogues, which the wise are at one in
regarding as masterpieces of philosophical discussion, and as