MODERN EVOLUTION. 261 



long as he is haunted by inexpugnable memories 

 and hopeless aspirations; so long as the recognition 

 of his intellectual limitations forces him to acknowl- 

 edge his incapacity to penetrate the mystery of ex- 

 istence; the prospect of attaining untroubled happi- 

 ness, or of a state which can, even remotely, -deserve 

 the title of perfection, appears to me to be as mis- 

 leading an illusion as ever was dangled before the 

 eyes of poor humanity. And there have .been many 

 of them. That which lies before the human race 

 is a constant struggle to maintain and improve, in 

 opposition to the State of Nature, the State of Art 

 of an organised polity; in which, and by which, man 

 may develop a worthy civilisation, capable of main- 

 taining 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 pre- 

 vails over the surface of our planet." 



But only those of low ideals would seek in this 

 impermanence of things excuse for inaction; or 

 worse, for self-indulgence. The world will last a 

 very long time yet, and afford scope for battle against 

 the wrongs done by man to man. Even were it and 

 ourselves to perish to-morrow, our duty is clear while 

 the chance of doing it may be ours. Clifford, — dead 

 before his prime, before the rich promise of his 

 genius had its full fruitage, — speaking of the inevita- 

 ble end of the earth " and all the consciousness of 

 men " reminds us, in his essay on The First and 



