A FORECAST. 



tinction run and waver classes and species cease to exist and Science 

 instead of many sees only one thing. What then is that one thing ? Is 

 it a mollusc, or is it a man, or what is it ? Are we to say that man may 

 be looked upon as a variation of a mollusc or an amoeba, or that the 

 amoeba may be looked on as a variation of man? Here are two direc- 

 tions of thought : which shall we choose ? But the plain truth is, the 

 Intellect can give no satisfactory answer. Whichever, or whatever, it 

 chooses, the choice is quite arbitrary just as much so as the choice of 

 the "leaf" in the other case. There is no answer to be given. And thus 

 it is that the appearance of the doctrine of Evolution is the signal of the de- 

 struction of Science (in the ordinary acceptation of the word). For evolu- 

 tion is the successive obliteration of the arbitrary distinctions and land- 

 marks which by their existence constitute Science, and as soon as Evolu- 

 tion covers the whole ground of Nature inorganic and organic (as before 

 long it will do) the whole of Nature runs and wavers before the eye of 

 Science, the latter recognises that its distinctions are arbitrary, and turns 

 upon and destroys itself. This has happened before, I believe ages back 

 in the history of the human race and probably will happen again. 



The only conceivable answer to the question, " What 'is that which is 

 now a mollusc and now a man and now an inorganic atom ? " * is given 

 by man himself and his answer is, I fear, not "scientific." It is "I 

 am." " I am that which varies." And the force of his answer depends 

 on what he means by the word "I." And so also the only conceivable 

 answer to the absolute datum question is to be found in the meaning of 

 the word "I" in the deepening back of consciousness itself. Man 

 is the measure of all things. If we are to use Science as a minister 

 to the most external part, of man to provide him with cheap boots 

 and shoes, &c. then we do right to seek our absolute datum in his 

 external part, and to take his foot as our first measure. We found 

 a science on feet and pounds, and it serves its purpose well enough. 

 But if we want to find a garment for his inner being or, rather, one that 

 shall fit the whole man to wear which will be a delight to him and as it 

 were a very interpretation of himself it seems obvious that we must not 

 take our measure from outside, but from his very most central principle. 

 The whole question is, whether there is any absolute datum in this di- 

 rection or not. There have been men through all ages of history (and 

 from before) who have declared that there is. They have perhaps been 

 conscious of it in themselves. On the other hand there have been men 

 who, starting from their feet, declared that consciousness itself was a mere 



incident of the human machine as the whistle of the engine and thus 

 the matter stands. On the whole, at the present day, the feet have it, 

 and (notwithstanding their variety in size and boot-induced conforma- 



Be generally accepted as the best absolute datum available, 

 er.the foot regime the universe is generally conceived of as ? medley 

 ' Compare the Sphinx-riddle : What is_that which goes on four legs, &c. 



