Tony Brewer's comment that  the origins of the phrase 'spontaneous   
order', and the origins of the idea as applied to human societies, do   
not have to be the same, is obviously correct. So it is not silly to   
look for the origins of the idea. I pointed out in an earlier message   
why I do not think that Smith is a good source for the origin of the   
idea. The reason is that he took coordination for granted. Hayek's   
example of the price of tin emphasizes something like "the marvel of the   
price system" as a "mechanism" for coordination. But, of course, the   
proper way to express this is to refer to the specific actions that   
cause the coordination to occur -- the setting of prices and the   
responses to them. This is what I called "intermediary entrepreneurship."  
  
One can be led to this entrepreneurship through Mill. The key is   
Wakefield's notion of complex cooperation. See:  
  
http://www.econlib.org/library/Mill/mlP.html  
  
Search: Wakefield.  
  
As I recall, I was led to this from a passage in Hayek. However, I am   
not an expert on Hayek; so my recollection may be mistaken.  
  
Pat Gunning