I PROLEGOMENA. 45 



constant struggle to maintain and improve, in op- 

 position to the State of Nature, the State of Art 

 of an organized polity; in which, and by which, 

 man may develop a worthy civilization, capable 

 of maintaining and constantly improving itself, 

 until the evolution of our globe shall have entered 

 so far upon its downward course that the cosmic 

 process resumes its sway; and, once more, the 

 State of Nature prevails over the surface of our 

 planet. 



Note (see p. 30). — It seems the fashion nowadays to 

 ignore Hartley ; though, a century and a half ago, he not 

 only laid the foundations but built up much of the super- 

 structure of a true theory of the Evolution of the intel- 

 lectual and moral faculties. He speaks of what I have 

 termed the ethical process as " our Progress from Self- 

 interest to Self-annihilation." Observations on Man 

 (1749), vol. ii. p. 281. 



