MODERN EVOLUTION. 2 6l 



long as he is haunted by inexpugnable memories 

 and hopeless aspirations; so long as the recognition 

 of his intellectual limitations forces him to acknowl- 

 edge his incapacity to penetrate the mystery of ex- 

 istence; the prospect of attaining untroubled happi- 

 ness, or of a state which can, even remotely, deserve 

 the title of perfection, appears to me to be as mis- 

 leading an illusion as ever was dangled before the 

 eyes of poor humanity. And there have been many 

 of them. That which lies before the human race 

 is a constant struggle to maintain and improve, in 

 opposition to the State of Nature, the State of Art 

 of an organised polity; in which, and by which, man 

 may develop a worthy civilisation, capable of main- 

 taining and constantly improving itself, until the 

 evolution of our globe shall have entered so far upon 

 its downward course that the cosmic process resumes 

 its sway; and, once more, the State of Nature pre- 

 vails over the surface of our planet." 



But only those of low ideals would seek in this 

 impermanence of things excuse for inaction; or 

 worse, for self-indulgence. The world will last a 

 very long time yet, and afford scope for battle against 

 the wrongs done by man to man. Even were it and 

 ourselves to perish to-morrow, our duty is clear while 

 the chance of doing it may be ours. Clifford, dead 

 before his prime, before the rich promise of his 

 genius had its full fruitage, speaking of the inevita- 

 ble end of the earth " and all the consciousness of 

 men" reminds us, in his essay on The First and 



