She found her philosophical theories confirmed by his, and both together labored for the propagation of that positivism in which they so heartily believed.

In her own belief she came nearest to the positivism of Comte, although he was not so great an oracle to her as he was to Mr. Lewes, with whom twenty years were passed by her in congenial studies and labors.

She not only accepted the theory of hereditary transmission as science has recently developed it, and as it has been enlarged by positivism into a shaping influence of the past upon the present, but she made this law vital with meaning as she developed its consequences in the lives of her characters.

Towards positivism as an organization, a discipline,in short, as a church,her attitude must be plainly stated.