TJie Philosophy of Evolution. 4S 



Matter is the formal expression of thought, or the necessary 

 condition of such expression, and in this condition is found 

 the link that connects the subjective and objective manifesta- 

 tions of heing. Subjectivity is ideality, as objectivity is mate- 

 riality. The consciousness can take cognizance only of what 

 is within itself, and therefore without every other. Conscious- 

 ness is therefore wholly personal. To communicate an idea it 

 must be placed within the consciousness of another. To reach 

 this result it must cease to be personal, must pass out of the sub- 

 jective consciousness into objective form, so as to be placed in 

 the same relation to the speaker and the hearer. Thought, out 

 of the consciousness of the thinker, is objective to him, and to 

 render thought objective is to give it material form. Thought 

 to be communicated, must pass out of the consciousness of 

 the thinker into a material representation. The assumption of 

 material form individualizes the idea. The artist's mind may 

 be filled with splendid conceptions, but no one but he can 

 look within his consciousness and see them. Before others 

 can have any knowledge of his thoughts, he must give them 

 form, or embody them in statues or paintings. The soul of 

 the musician may be thrilled by the harmonies that his imagi- 

 nation creates, but no other soul can join him in this ecstasy 

 until he has given form to his conceptions. So the thinker 

 must embody his thoughts in language before he can commu- 

 nicate them to another. Matter, then, is the vehicle by which 

 thought is communicated, and, so far as we are concerned, the 

 necessary condition of such communication, so that the con- 

 ception of thought apart from the thinker involves the inter- 

 vention of material forms, and it is by the interpretation of 

 these symbolical forms that we discover the idea. 



Now, let us suppose a Supreme Intelligence. The intellec- 

 tual processes of such a Being, to be conceived as rational by 

 us, must be identical with ours, or at least analogous to ours. 

 The possession of infinite attributes may in fact free him from 

 the control of any law, but it is impossible for us to conceive 



