10 INTRODUCTION 



the lack of some higher extension of space, metaphy- 

 sicians fail to realise their concepts of being and be- 

 coming. 



Now in a tremendous generalisation, Miss Wil- 

 liams seems to bring into harmony all the gropings 

 and guessings of these many thinkers. She has 

 reached a conclusion that appeals both to the facts 

 of experience and to the dreams of imagination. 



Indeed, the thoughts of men, in their cosmic ex- 

 plorations, have reached a brink that seems to make 

 certain the existence of a stupendous invisible space 

 beyond not one space but many spaces, all ex- 

 panding into one Infiniverse. 



II 



The doctrine of Evolution shook the Mid- Victorian 

 Age to its centre. To many it seemed to be the all- 

 sufficient and final explanation of things. But now 

 that the shock has quieted, men begin to find that 

 evolution does not account for the all-round process 

 of life. For it does not account for the growth of 

 the spirit; for its tendency to take unprofitable 

 risks, and to struggle for ideal concerns. 



Evolution seeks only the individual good; and 

 when evolution pushes on to its ultimate in the 

 competitive struggle, it ends in the social an- 

 arch, ends in " the blonde beast " of Nietzsche. Evo- 

 lution creates egoistic efficiency; but this efficiency 

 comes into collision with the social or common good, 



