146 THE NATURE OF NATURE 



direct from the genius of Nature, the driving Spirit 

 which is continually urging her on, and the directing 

 Spirit which guides her to an end. We are in 

 touch with the true Heart of Nature. 



So as we take a comprehensive view of Nature 

 both in her outward bodily form and her inner 

 spiritual reality, and find her to be an intercon- 

 nected whole in which all the parts are interrelated 

 with one another, one body and one mind, self- 

 contained and self-conscious, and driven by a self- 

 organising, self-governing, self -directing Activity — 

 we should regard her as nothing less than a Personal 

 Being. In ordinary language we speak of Nature 

 as a Person, and when we so speak we should not 

 regard ourselves as speaking figuratively : we should 

 mean quite literally and as a fact that she is a Person. 

 And we should look upon that Personal Being, in 

 which we are ourselves included, as in process of 

 realising an ideal hidden within her — an ideal which 

 in its turn is ever perfecting itself. 



What is meant by Nature being a Person, and 

 a Person actuated by a hidden ideal, and being in 

 process of realising that ideal, and what is meant 

 by an ideal perfecting itself, may be best explained 

 with the help of an illustration. 



First it will be necessary to explain how we 

 can regard Nature as a Person, or at least as nothing 

 less than a Person — though possibly more. It is 

 contended by many authorities that we cannot 

 regard any collective being, such as a college or a 

 regiment — and Nature is a collective being — as a 

 true person. But their arguments are unconvinc- 



