58 INTRODUCTION. 



treating of the thought of the century, even within the 

 narrow limits which have been prescribed, I am met with 

 similar difficulties. In the large circumference of the 

 domain of thought I have to choose a starting-point and 

 to construct a road which may lead to the central position, 

 hoping there to gain a comprehensive view of the whole. 

 2. Some periods of history are characterised by one great 



Some peri- . 



odsofhis- and central movement which absorbs all active forces 



tory take . 



their name an( j Q]\ intellectual and imaginative power, making 



from some 



ofmove- nt them either subservient to one end and purpose, and 

 helpful in the elaboration of one idea ; or else forcing 

 them into opposition, where they testify equally to the 

 importance of this central movement. Such periods 

 were, for instance, the long centuries of Jewish history, 

 the early age of the Christian Church, the period of the 

 culmination of Papal power, the Eeformation, the French 

 Eevolution. In studying the thought of such ages, we 

 are not at a loss where to find the leading idea, we 

 easily fix the centre of the vortex which draws into its 

 motion all the existing forces, all genius and all talent. 

 In an age like that of the Reformation we can speak of 

 the Politics of the Reformation, the Religion of the Refor- 

 mation, the Philosophy, Literature, and Art of the Refor- 

 mation, and we are pretty sure to embrace under these 

 various heads an account of all the mental progress and 

 to trace all the thought of that age, be it friendly or anta- 

 3 ; gonistic. It is evident that no such central event, no such 



eTOBfctnour all-absorbing vortex of motion, exists in the period which 

 we have lived through. The uniting bond, if it exists, lies 

 much deeper ; the problem we have been engaged in solv- 

 ing, the prize we are fighting for, does not present itself on 



