Contemporary Evolution* 



in contrast with the expectations generally prevalent 

 before tne outbreak of 1848. Now our daily press seeks 

 again and again to impress on its readers that the funda- 

 mental questions and divisions amongst men are religious 

 ones; while every sort of journal remarks on, deplores, 

 or exults in, the widespread process of religious disin- 

 tegration, and predicts or speculates about possible 

 reconstructions. 



The very same character of religious excitation marks, 

 however, both the French revolutionary epoch and the 

 period of the Renaissance as well as that in which we 

 now live ; nor would it be denied by many of our more 

 philosophical thinkers, that the most striking phenomena 

 of these three periods are but indications of different 

 stages of one prolonged movement, though such thinkers 

 would differ as to the nature and tendency of the move- 

 ment itself. 



Three questions then seem to demand our attention. 



I. The first of these is, Whether in fact one spirit and 

 tendency has or has not really animated these great 

 movements which have marked the post-mediaeval epoch ? 



II. The second question is, If there has been one such 

 inspiration, what has been its true nature and character ? 



III. The third question is, What is likely to be the 

 further effect of such a spirit, and is it likely hence- 

 forward to increase or to diminish ? 



Complex and difficult as the first question may appear 





