ADAPTIVENESS AND PURPOSIVENESS 345 



index of idiosyncrasies; the inter-relatedness of life, — with 

 myriad threads woven in a patterned web ; the drama of life, 

 — plot within plot, age after age, with every conceivable 

 illustration of the twin motives of hunger and love; the 

 flux of life, — even under our short-lived eyes; the progress 

 of life, — slowly creeping upwards through unthinkable time, 

 expressing itself in ever nobler forms ; the beauty of life, — 

 every finished organism an artistic harmony; the morality 

 of life, — spending itself to the death for other than individ- 

 ual ends; the mentality of life, — sometimes quietly dream- 

 ing, sometimes sleep-walking, sometimes widely-awake; and 

 the victory of life, — subduing material things to its will, and 

 in its highest reaches controlling itself towards an increasing 

 purpose. 



It is something to have found warrant for regarding the 

 Realm of Organisms as pervaded with active purposiveness. 

 At a later stage in the argument we shall show that there is 

 at least a presumption in favour of the view that Nature is 

 !N'ature for a purpose — an increasing and transcendent pur- 

 pose. At this stage it seems as if part of that purpose were 

 the emergence of individuality, mind, freedom, purpose. 

 This thrilling word purpose, expressing the most real fact 

 in our personal experience, brings us at this half-way house 

 to our provisional conclusion which is, we confess, too large 

 for the premises, that individualities with mind, with free- 

 dom, and with purpose, cannot be accounted for in terms of 

 a ground of reality without mind, without freedom, without 

 purpose. Therefore let us humbly seek after, if haply we 

 may find, more than the footprints of the Creator, who be- 

 holding all the works of His hands found them good for 

 His purpose. ^ ^^V^v 



