38 EVOLUTIONARY PRINCIPLES 



the great movements under consideration its vehement and 

 fiery upward-rising, its proud sustention at a certain eleva- 

 tion, and its declension by almost imperceptible gradations 

 into the quiescence of spent energy. We are, however, so 

 far as yet from having penetrated the true essence of organic 

 growth, or of expansive force applied to projectiles, or of 

 human nature working for a common end in national art, 

 that it is wiser not to dwell upon the metaphorical aspects 

 and analogies of the topic under discussion. Metaphors, 

 indeed, can hardly be avoided in this case. But we must 

 strictly bear in mind that they are metaphors, imported from 

 various sources to figure forth the phenomena of mental 

 processes, which seem to possess an independence of their 

 own, and a law of progression which admits of no alteration. 

 Putting metaphors therefore in their proper place of subordi- 

 nation, our main object is to ascertain whether the successive 

 stages which I attempted to describe in the foregoing sections 

 can be traced in many of the larger manifestations of art, and 

 whether we are justified in soberly maintaining that individual 

 genius is incapable of abruptly altering their sequence. 



The example I have already adduced from the English 

 Drama in the reigns of Elizabeth and James corroborates the 

 principle on which I am insisting. Owing to the abundance 

 of materials at our disposal, and to the short period in which 

 so important an evolution was performed, it is indeed very 

 nicely adapted to my purpose. But enough has been already 

 said upon this single instance ; and all exact students of 

 English literature are so well acquainted with the subject- 

 matter, that each man can decide for himself whether the 

 Shakspearian Drama fulfils the conditions I have indicated. 



In the evolution of the Attic Drama, the same sequence 

 is clearly marked. Behind the playwrights of Athens, for a 

 background, looms the huge Homeric Epos, performing a 

 part analogous to that of the cyclical Miracle-plays of 

 Mediaeval England. Just when the energy of the Rhapsodes 

 had reached the point of exhaustion, lyrical dramatists began 

 ' to gather up the fragments from the rich Homeric table/ 

 This saying is attributed to ^schylus ; and it accurately 



