58 



THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



of the matter -moving 



t> 



vovs 



which as 



ammatin^ 



b 



soul, is immanent in all living beings (plants, aiiK 

 mals, men)^ but in different degrees of amount and 

 power. In this way we see that it is the business 

 of the vov^ to dispose all things, each in accordance 

 with its own nature, into a universe that shall com- 

 prehend within it the most manifold forms of exist- 

 ence, and to enter into, and identify itself with, this 

 universe as the power of individual vitality/ Thus 

 was initiated the ancient pantheistic notion of a 



no: all things — a notion 



general soul 



pervad 



which, with more or less of modification, not un- 

 frequently appears in our own times, and which was 



exquisitely expressed 



^ Excursion,^ when he said : 



Wordsworth 



' To every form of being is assigned 

 An active principle : howe'er removed 



From sense and observation, it subsists 

 In all things, in all nature, in the stars 

 Of azure heaven, the unenduring clouds ; 

 In flower and tree, in every pebbly stone 

 That paves the brooks.' 



• t 



Whilst therefore the ancients looked upon the spirit 

 or the *^ animating principle' of any living thing as an 

 integrg.! part of the general ^ Soul of Nature,' 



' Divinae particiilam aurae/ 



Paracelsus and his followers, on the contrary, in 

 sixteenth century, regarded the *^ vital principle' as an 

 entity or self-existent something, altogether indepen- 



dent and peculiar. This distinct vital principle was 



the 



I 



\ 



\ 





/ 



1 



this 



distinct s' 



of 



of abode was 

 ( Arclixus ' 

 h the cl: 



I 



allotted sever; 

 there was sup 



thoug 



' vital 



various 



their discord. 

 looked upon 

 independent, 

 of Nature,' ir 

 was supposed 

 to the influe 

 principle.' 



Then, 

 greater numb 

 l^ence rath 



actior 



m 



se 



( 



vital 



bein; 



) 



:s 



) 



Were 



c 



to be the 



'''^ of the 



pe 



felati 



c 



World. 



lonship 



ei 



