NATURE'S EVOLUTION. 23 



conscious possession of his age. Philosophy, 

 especially Hegel, is understood only by the 

 precious few, while Poetry hides its meaning 

 in the outer image so that many never pene- 

 trate to the soul of its utterance witness for 

 instance the vast army of commentators on 

 Faust. Nature's Evolution, accordingly, has 

 been the mediating principle of the age for 

 making the same conscious of its own deepest 

 thought, aware of its very self ; hence springs 

 the present dominating significance of Nat- 

 ural Science in comparison with Philosophy 

 and Poetry, both of which, however and let 

 it not be forgotten deliver the same mes- 

 sage. This is what the complete man is to 

 hear in all its forms. Darwin is, therefore, 

 the genius of Evolution, who brings down the 

 Spirit of the Age to the people; stated in 

 other phrase, he mediates the Pampsychosis 

 when it has become evolutionary, with the 

 folk-soul, of the Century. Such in all ages 

 has been the function of the hero or genius; 

 and as Darwin's field was mainly biological, 

 we may pedestal him the hero of the Bio- 

 cosmos. 



Still the question cannot be kept down : 

 What after Darwin? What is Evolution go- 

 ing to do with itself"? 



