THE IDEAL IN THE WORLD 159 



everywhere prevail, and the Earth and stars are 

 composed of the same material. 



So it must have been from the Heart of Nature 

 as a whole that the Earth-Spirit must have derived 

 the ideal which actuated it. Deep in the Heart of 

 Nature must have resided the ideal of the state of 

 the Earth as it is to-day. In the great world as a 

 whole, as in the rose-seed, must have been operat- 

 ing an ideal at least of what is on the Earth to-day, 

 and of what this Earth will become and of what it 

 might become ; and possibly also of greater things 

 which have already been realised, or will be realised 

 and might be realised in the planets of other suns 

 than our Sun. There must ever have been work- 

 ing throughout the Universe an Activity constrain- 

 ing the ultimate particles in a given direction. 

 There must have been an Organising Activity, 

 collecting the diffused particles together, grouping 

 them into concentrated organisms and achieving 

 loftier and loftier modes of being. Each of those 

 inconceivably numerous and incredibly minute 

 particles which make up the stars and the Earth 

 and all on it — each one acted of itself. But each 

 acted of itself under the influence of its fellows — 

 that is, of every other particle ; that is, of the whole. 

 Each acted in response to its surroundings, but its 

 surroundings were nothing short of the whole of 

 Nature outside itself. Together they formed the 

 Spirit of Nature with the ideal as its essence. And 

 Nature in her turn acted on the particles — as 

 Englishmen form the spirit of England and the 

 spirit of England acts back upon individual 

 Englishmen. 



