10 EVOLUTION AND ETHICS. i 



apparent, if ilie watchful supervision of the gar- 

 dener were withdrawn, and the antagonistic influ- 

 ences of the general cosmic process were no longer 

 sedulously warded off, or counteracted. The walls 

 and gates would decay; quadrupedal and bipedal 

 intruders would devour and tread down the useful 

 and beautiful plants; birds, insects, blight, and 

 mildew would work their will; the seeds of the 

 native plants, carried by winds or other agencies, 

 would ininiigrate, and in virtue of their long- 

 earned s])ecial adaptation to the local conditions, 

 these despised native weeds would soon choke 

 their choice exotic rivals. A century or two 

 hence, little beyond the foundations of the wall 

 and of the houses and frames would be left, in 

 evidence of the victory of the cosmic powers at 

 work in the state of nature, over the temporary 

 obstacles to their supremacy, set up by the art of 

 the horticulturist. 



It will be admitted that the garden is as much 

 a work of art,* or artifice, as anything that can be 

 mentioned. The energy localised in certain human 

 bodies, directed by simihirly localised intellects, 

 has produced a collocation of other material bodies 

 which could not be brought about in the state of 

 nature. The same })r()position is true of all the 



* The HenHe of the term " Art " is becoming narrowed; 

 " work of Art " to nioHi pooph^ nicanH a pit^tiire, a Htatue, 

 or a pi('('(! of hijoutcric ; by way of conipcnsaiion " ar- 

 tist " luiH included in its wide end)race cookn and ballet 

 girlH, no le»H than painters and scuIptorB. 



