,,through ,,nature                      
,,to ,,god                         ,,by 
,,john ,,fiske      ,soyez comme        
l'oiseau pos pour un instant            
,sur des rameaux trop frles1     ,qui   
sent ployer la branche et qui chante    
pourtant1         ,sachant qu'il a des  
ailes6      ,,victor ,,hugo             
,illustration                 ,,boston  
,,and ,,new ,,york           ,,houghton1
 ,,mifflin ,,and ,,company              
,the ,riverside ,press1 ,cambridge      
#aijj              ,,copyright1 #ahii1  
,,by ,,john ,,fiske                     
,,all ,,rights ,,reserved               
,,to ,,the ,,beloved ,,and ,,revered    
,,memory                   ,,of ,,my    
,,friend                ,,thomas ,,henry
 ,,huxley              ,,this ,,book    
,,is ,,consecrated     ,illustration    
,,preface   ,a single purpose runs      
throughout this little book1 though     
different aspects of it are treated in  
the three several parts4 ,the first     
part1 ,the ,mystery of ,evil1 written   

soon after ,the ,idea of ,god1 was      
designed to supply some considerations  
which for the sake of conciseness had   
been omitted from that book4 ,its close 
kinship with the second part1 ,the      
,cosmic ,roots of ,love and             
,self-,sacrifice1 will be at once       
apparent to the reader4  ,that second   
part is1 with a few slight changes1 the 
,phi ,beta ,kappa oration delivered by  
me at ,harvard ,university1 in ,june1   
#ahie4 ,its original title was ,ethics  
in the ,cosmic ,process1 and its form of
 statement was partly determined by the 
fact that it was intended as a reply to 
,huxley's famous ,romanes lecture       
delivered at the ,university of ,oxford 
in #ahic4 ,readers of ,the ,destiny of  
,man will observe that ,i have here     
repeated a portion of the argument of   
that book4 ,the detection of the part   
played by the lengthening of infancy in 
the genesis of the human race is my own 
especial contribution to the ,doctrine  
of ,evolution1 so that ,i naturally feel

 somewhat uncertain as to how far that  
subject is generally understood1 and how
 far a brief allusion to it will        
suffice4 ,it therefore seemed best to   
recapitulate the argument while         
indicating its bearing upon the ethics  
of the ,cosmic ,process4  ,i can never  
cease to regret that ,huxley should have
 passed away without seeing my argument 
and giving me the benefit of his        
comments4 ,the subject is one of a kind 
which we loved to discuss on quiet      
,sunday evenings at his fireside in     
,london1 many years ago4 ,i have        
observed on ,huxley's part1 not only in 
the ,romanes lecture1 but also in the   
charming ,prolegomena1 written in #ahid1
 a tendency to use the phrase cosmic    
process in a restricted sense as        
equivalent to natural selection2 and    
doubtless if due allowance were made for
 that circumstance1 the appearance of   
antagonism between us would be greatly  
diminished4 ,in our many talks1 however1
 ,i always felt that1 along with        

abundant general sympathy1 there was a  
discernible difference in mental        
attitude4 ,upon the proposition that the
 foundation of morality is to 444 give  
up pretending to believe that for which 
there is no evidence1 we were heartily  
agreed4 ,but ,i often found myself more 
strongly inclined than my dear friend to
 ask the ,tennysonian question3--       
,who forged that other influence1       
,that heat of inward evidence1     ,by  
which he doubts against the sense8  ,in 
the third part of the present little    
book1 ,the ,everlasting ,reality of     
,religion1 my aim is to show that that  
other influence1 that inward conviction1
 the craving for a final cause1 the     
theistic assumption1 is itself one of   
the master facts of the universe1 and as
 much entitled to respect as any fact in
 physical nature can possibly be4 ,the  
argument flashed upon me about ten years
 ago1 while reading ,herbert ,spencer's 
controversy with ,frederic ,harrison    
concerning the nature and reality of    

religion4 ,because ,spencer derived     
historically the greater part of the    
modern belief in an ,unseen ,world from 
the savage's primeval world of dreams   
and ghosts1 some of his critics         
maintained that logical consistency     
required him to dismiss the modern      
belief as utterly false2 otherwise he   
would be guilty of seeking to evolve    
truth from false-hood4 ,by no means1    
replied ,spencer3 ,contrariwise1 the    
ultimate form of the religious          
consciousness is the final development  
of a consciousness which at the outset  
contained a germ of truth obscured by   
multitudinous errors4 ,this suggestion  
has borne fruit in the third part of the
 present volume1 where ,i have          
introduced a wholly new line of argument
 to show that the ,doctrine of          
,evolution1 properly understood1 does   
not leave the scales equally balanced   
between ,materialism and ,theism1 but   
irredeemably discredits the former1     
while it places the latter upon a firmer

 foundation than it has ever before     
occupied4  ,my reference to the ,french 
materialism of the eighteenth century1  
in its contrast with the theism of      
,voltaire1 is intended to point the     
stronger contrast between the feeble    
survivals of that materialism in our    
time and the unshakable theism which is 
in harmony with the ,doctrine of        
,evolution4 ,when some naturalist like  
,haeckel assures us that as             
evolutionists we are bound to believe   
that death ends all1 it is a great      
mistake to hold the ,doctrine of        
,evolution responsible for such a       
statement4 ,haeckel's opinion was never 
reached through a scientific study of   
evolution2 it is nothing but an echo    
from the ,french speculation of the     
eighteenth century4 ,such a writer as   
,la ,mettrie proceeded upon the         
assumption that no belief concerning    
anything in the heavens above1 or the   
earth beneath1 or the waters under the  
earth1 is worthy of serious             

consideration unless it can be          
demonstrated by the methods employed in 
physical science4 ,such a mental        
attitude was natural enough at a time   
when the medival theory of the world was
 falling into discredit1 while astronomy
 and physics were winning brilliant     
victories through the use of new        
methods4 ,it was an attitude likely to  
endure so long as the old-fashioned     
fragmentary and piecemeal habits of     
studying nature were persisted in2 and  
the change did not come until the latter
 half of the nineteenth century4  ,the  
encyclopdic attainments of ,alexander   
von ,humboldt1 for example1 left him1 to
 all intents and purposes1 a materialist
 of the eighteenth century4 ,but shortly
 before the death of that great ,german 
scholar1 there appeared the ,english    
book which heralded a complete reversal 
of the attitude of science4 ,the        
,principles of ,psychology1 published in
 #ahee by ,herbert ,spencer1 was the    
first application of the theory of      

evolution on a grand scale4 ,taken in   
connection with the discoveries of      
natural selection1 of spectrum analysis1
 and of the mechanical equivalence      
between molar and molecular motions1 it 
led the way to that sublime conception  
of the ,unity of ,nature by which the   
minds of scientific thinkers are now    
coming to be dominated4 ,the attitude of
 mind which expressed itself in a great 
encyclopdic book without any pervading  
principle of unity1 like ,humboldt's    
,kosmos1 is now become what the ,germans
 call ein ueberwundener ,standpunkt1 or 
something that we have passed by and    
left behind4  ,when we have once        
thoroughly grasped the monotheistic     
conception of the universe as an organic
 whole1 animated by the omnipresent     
spirit of ,god1 we have forever taken   
leave of that materialism to which the  
universe was merely an endless multitude
 of phenomena4 ,we begin to catch       
glimpses of the meaning and dramatic    
purpose of things2 at all events we rest

 assured that there really is such a    
meaning4 ,though the history of our     
lives1 and of all life upon our planet1 
as written down by the unswerving finger
 of ,nature1 may exhibit all events and 
their final purpose in unmistakable     
sequence1 yet to our limited vision the 
several fragments of the record1 like   
the leaves of the ,cuman sibyl1 caught  
by the fitful breezes of circumstance   
and whirled wantonly hither and thither1
 lie in such intricate confusion that no
 ingenuity can enable us wholly to      
decipher the legend4 ,but could we      
attain to a knowledge commensurate with 
the reality--could we penetrate the     
hidden depths where1 according to ,dante
 7,paradiso1 xxxiii4 #he71 the story of 
,nature1 no longer scattered in truant  
leaves1 is bound with divine love in a  
mystic volume1 we should find therein no
 traces of hazard or incongruity4 ,from 
man's origin we gather hints of his     
destiny1 and the study of evolution     
leads our thoughts through ,nature to   

,god4  ,,cambridge1 ,march #b1 #ahii4   
,illustration     ,,contents       ,,the
 ,,mystery ,,of ,,evil      ,i4 ,the    
,serpent's ,promise to the ,woman       
#c      ,,ii4 ,the ,pilgrim's ,burden   
#h      ,,iii4 ,manichism and ,calvinism
                               #ad      
,,iv4 ,the ,dramatic ,unity of ,nature  
#bb      ,v4 ,what ,conscious ,life is  
made of                           #bg   
,,vi4 ,without the ,element of          
,antagonism there     could be no       
,consciousness1 and therefore     no    
,world                                  
#cd      ,,vii4 ,a ,word of ,caution    
#dj      ,,viii4 ,the ,hermit and the   
,angel                              #dc 
,,ix4 ,man's ,rise from the ,innocence  
of ,brutehood              #dh      ,x4 
,the ,relativity of ,evil               
#ed       ,,the ,,cosmic ,,roots ,,of   
,,love ,,and ,,self-,,sacrifice      ,i4
 ,the ,summer ,field1 and what it tells 
us                   #ei      ,,ii4     
,seeming ,wastefulness of the ,cosmic   

,process              #fe      ,,iii4   
,caliban's ,philosophy                  
#gb      ,,iv4 ,can it be that the      
,cosmic ,process has no     ,relation to
 ,moral ,ends8                          
#gd      ,v4 ,first ,stages in the      
,genesis of ,man                        
#hj      ,,vi4 ,the ,central ,fact in   
the ,genesis of ,man                    
#hf      ,,vii4 ,the ,chief ,cause of   
,man's lengthened ,infancy              
#hh      ,,viii4 ,some of its ,effects  
#if      ,,ix4 ,origin of ,moral ,ideas 
and ,sentiments                   #ajb  
,x4 ,the ,cosmic ,process exists purely 
for the     ,sake of ,moral ,ends       
#aji      ,,xi4 ,maternity and the      
,evolution of ,altruism                 
#aag      ,,xii4 ,the ,omnipresent      
,ethical ,trend                         
#abg       ,,the ,,everlasting ,,reality
 ,,of ,,religion      ,i4 ,deo erexit   
,voltaire                               
#acc      ,,ii4 ,the ,reign of ,law1 and
 the ,greek ,idea of     ,god           

#adg      ,,iii4 ,weakness of           
,materialism                            
#aeb      ,,iv4 ,religion's ,first      
,postulate3 the ,quasi-,human     ,god  
#afc      ,v4 ,religion's ,second       
,postulate3 the undying     ,human ,soul
                                        
#afh      ,,vi4 ,religion's ,third      
,postulate3 the ,ethical ,significance  
of the ,unseen ,world                   
#aga      ,,vii4 ,is the ,substance of  
,religion a ,phantom1 or     an ,eternal
 ,reality8                              
#agd      ,,viii4 ,the ,fundamental     
,aspect of ,life                        
#agg      ,,ix4 ,how the ,evolution of  
,senses expands the     ,world          
#ahb      ,x4 ,nature's ,eternal ,lesson
 is the ,everlasting     ,reality of    
,religion                               
#ahf     ,,the ,,mystery ,,of ,,evil    
,i am the ,lord1 and there is none else4
 ,i form the light1 and create darkness2
 ,i make peace1 and create evil4 ,i the 
,lord do all these things4--,,isaiah1   

xiv4 #f1 #g4  ,did not our ,god bring   
all this evil upon us8--,,nehemiah1     
xiii4 #ah4  ,greek3 ,ouk eoike d' h     
physis epeisodids ousa ek tn phainomenn1
 hsper mochthra tragdia4--,,aristotle1  
,metaphysica1 xiii4 #c4                 
,illustration     ,i  ,the ,serpent's   
,promise to the ,woman      ,your eyes  
shall be opened1 and ye shall be as     
gods1 knowing     good and evil4        
,genesis iii4 #e4   ,the legend in which
 the serpent is represented as giving   
this counsel to the mother of mankind   
occurs at the beginning of the          
,pentateuch in the form which that      
collection of writings assumed after the
 return of the ,jews from the captivity 
at ,babylon1 and there is good reason   
for believing that it was first placed  
there at that time4 ,allusions to ,eden 
in the ,old ,testament literature are   
extremely scarce1#a and the story of    
,eve's temptation first assumes         
prominence in the writings of ,st4      
,paul4 ,the marks of ,zoroastrian       

thought in it have often been pointed   
out4 ,this garden of ,eden is a true    
,persian paradise1 situated somewhere in
 that remote wonderland of ,aryana ,vajo
 to which all ,iranian tradition is so  
fond of pointing back4 ,the wily serpent
 is a genuine ,parsee serpent1 and the  
spirit which animates him is that of the
 malicious and tricksome ,ahriman1 who  
takes delight in going about after the  
good creator ,ormuzd and spoiling his   
handiwork4 ,he is not yet identified    
with the terrible ,satan1 the accusing  
angel who finds out men's evil thoughts 
and deeds4 ,he is simply a              
mischief-maker1 and the punishment meted
 out to him for his mischief reminds one
 of many a curious passage in the beast 
epos of primitive peoples4 ,as in the   
stories which tell why the mole is blind
 or why the fox has a bushy tail1 the   
serpent's conduct is made to account for
 some of his peculiar attributes4 ,as a 
punishment he is made to crawl upon his 
belly1 and be forever an object of      

especial dread and loathing to all the  
children of ,eve4  ,what1 then1 is the  
crime for which the serpent ,ahriman    
thus makes bitter expiation8 ,in what   
way has he spoiled ,ormuzd's last and   
most wonderful creation8 ,he has        
introduced the sense of sin3 the man and
 the woman are afraid1 and hide         
themselves from their ,lord whom they   
have offended4 ,yet he has been not     
altogether a deceiving serpent4 ,in one 
respect he had spoken profound truth4   
,the man and the woman have become as   
gods4 ,in the ,hebrew story ,jehovah    
says1 ,behold the man is become as one  
of us2 that is to say1 one of the       
,elohim or heavenly host1 who know the  
good and the evil4 ,man has apparently  
become a creature against whom          
precautions need to be taken4 ,it is    
hinted that by eating of the other tree 
and acquiring immortal life he would    
achieve some result not in accordance   
with ,jehovah's will1 yet which it would
 then be too late to prevent4           

,accordingly1 any such proceedings are  
forestalled by driving the man and woman
 from the garden1 and placing sentinels 
there with a fiery sword which turns    
hither and thither to warn off all who  
would tread the path that leads to the  
tree of life4 ,the anthropomorphism of  
the story is as vivid as in those       
,homeric scenes in which gods and men   
contend with one another in battle4 ,it 
is plainly indicated that ,jehovah's    
wrath is kindled at man's presumption in
 meddling with what belongs only to the 
,elohim2 man is punished for his        
arrogance in the same spirit as when1   
later on1 he gives his daughters in     
marriage to the sons of the ,elohim and 
brings on a deluge1 or when he strives  
to build a tower that will reach to     
heaven and is visited with a confusion  
of tongues4 ,so here in ,eden he has    
come to know too much1 and ,ahriman's   
heinous crime has consisted in helping  
him to this interdicted knowledge4  ,the
 serpent's promise to the woman was     

worthy of the wisest and most astute of 
animals4 ,but with yet greater subtlety 
he might have declared1 ,except ye      
acquire the knowledge of good and evil1 
ye cannot come to be as gods2 divine    
life can never be yours4 ,throughout the
 ,christian world this legend of the    
lost paradise has figured as the story  
of the ,fall of ,man2 and naturally1    
because of the theological use of it    
made by ,st4 ,paul1 who first lifted the
 story into prominence in illustrating  
his theory of ,christ as the second     
,adam3 since by man came death into the 
world1 by man came also the resurrection
 from death and from sin4 ,that there is
 truth of the most vital sort in the    
,pauline theory is undeniable2 but there
 are many things that will bear looking 
at from opposite points of view1 for    
aspects of truth are often to be found  
on both sides of the shield1 and there  
is a sense in which we may regard the   
loss of paradise as in itself the       
beginning of the ,rise of ,man4 ,for    

this1 indeed1 we have already found some
 justification in the legend itself4 ,it
 is in no spirit of paradox that ,i make
 this suggestion4 ,the more patiently   
one scrutinizes the processes whereby   
things have come to be what they are1   
the more deeply is one impressed with   
its profound significance4              
,,footnotes3  #a ,isaiah li4 #c2 ,joel  
ii4 #c2 ,ezekiel xxviii4 #ac1 xxxi4 #h1 
#i4     ,illustration     ,,ii  ,the    
,pilgrim's ,burden   ,but before ,i can 
properly elucidate this view1 and make  
clear what is meant by connecting the   
loss of innocence with the beginning of 
the ,rise of ,man1 it is necessary to   
bestow a few words upon a well-worn     
theme1 and recall to mind the helpless  
and hopeless bewilderment into which all
 theologies and all philosophies have   
been thrown by the problem of the       
existence of evil4 ,from the ancient    
,greek and ,hebrew thinkers who were    
saddened by the spectacle of wickedness 
insolent and unpunished1 down to the    

aged ,voltaire and the youthful ,goethe 
who felt their theories of ,god's       
justice quite baffled by the ,lisbon    
earthquake1 or down to the atheistic    
pessimist of our own time who asserts   
that the ,power which sustains the world
 is but a blind and terrible force      
without concern for man's welfare of    
body or of soul1--from first to last the
 history of philosophy teems with the   
mournful instances of this              
discouragement4 ,in that tale of ,war   
and ,peace wherein the fervid genius of 
,tolstoi has depicted scenes and        
characters of modern life with truthful 
grandeur like that of the ancient epic  
poems1 when our friend1 the genial and  
thoughtful hero of the story1 stands in 
the public square at ,moscow1 uncertain 
of his fate1 while the kindly           
bright-faced peasant and the eager pale 
young mechanic are shot dead by his     
side1 and all for a silly suspicion on  
the part of ,napoleon's soldiery2 as he 
stands and sees the bodies1 still warm  

and quivering1 tossed into a trench and 
loose earth hastily shovelled over them1
 his manly heart surges in rebellion    
against a world in which such things can
 be1 and a voice within him cries       
out1--not in the mood in which the fool 
crieth1 but with the anguish of a tender
 soul wrung by the sight of stupendous  
iniquity1--,there is no ,god6 ,it is but
 the utterance of an old-world feeling1 
natural enough to hard-pressed and      
sorely tried humanity in those moments  
that have come to it only too often1    
when triumphant wrong is dreadfully real
 and close at hand1 while anything like 
compensation seems shadowy and doubtful 
and far away4  ,it is this feeling that 
has created the belief in a devil1 an   
adversary to the good ,god1 an adversary
 hard to conquer or baffle4 ,the feeling
 underlies every theological creed1 and 
in every system of philosophy we find it
 lurking somewhere4 ,in these dark      
regions of thought1 which science has   
such scanty means for exploring1 the    

statements which make up a creed are apt
 to be the outgrowth of such an         
all-pervading sentiment1 while their    
form will be found to vary with the     
knowledge of nature--meagre enough at   
all times1 and even in our boasted      
time--which happens to characterize the 
age in which they are made4 ,hence1     
well-nigh universally has philosophy    
proceeded upon the assumption1 whether  
tacit or avowed1 that pain and wrong are
 things hard to be reconciled with the  
theory that the world is created and    
ruled by a ,being at once all-powerful  
and all-benevolent4 ,why does such a    
,being permit the misery that we behold 
encompassing us on every side8 ,when we 
would fain believe that ,god is love    
indeed1 and love creation's final law1  
how comes it that nature1 red in tooth  
and claw with ravine1 shrieks against   
our creed8 ,if this question could be   
fairly answered1 does it not seem as if 
the burden of life1 which so often seems
 intolerable1 would forthwith slip from 

our shoulders1 and leave us1 like       
,bunyan's pilgrim1 free and bold and    
light-hearted to contend against all the
 ills of the world8  ,ever since human  
intelligence became enlightened enough  
to grope for a meaning and purpose in   
human life1 this problem of the         
existence of evil has been the burden of
 man4 ,in the effort to throw it off1   
leaders of thought have had recourse to 
almost every imaginable device4 ,it has 
usually been found necessary to         
represent the ,creator as finite either 
in power or in goodness1 although the   
limitation is seldom avowed1 except by  
writers who have a leaning toward       
atheism and take a grim pleasure in     
pointing out flaws in the constitution  
of things4 ,among modern writers the    
most conspicuous instance of this temper
 is afforded by that much too positive  
philosopher ,auguste ,comte1 who would  
fain have tipped the earth's axis at a  
different angle and altered the         
arrangements of nature in many fanciful 

ways4 ,he was like ,alphonso1 the       
learned king of ,castile1 who regretted 
that he had not been present when the   
world was created1--he could have given 
such excellent advice6  ,in a very      
different mood the great ,leibnitz1 in  
his famous theory of optimism1 argued   
that a perfect world is in the nature of
 things impossible1 but that the world  
in which we live is the best of possible
 worlds4 ,the limitation of the         
,creator's power is made somewhat more  
explicitly by ,plato1 who regarded the  
world as the imperfect realization of a 
,divine ,idea that in itself is perfect4
 ,it is owing to the intractableness and
 vileness of matter that the ,divine    
,idea finds itself so imperfectly       
realized4 ,thus the ,creator's power is 
limited by the nature of the material   
out of which he makes the world4 ,in    
other words1 the world in which we live 
is the best the ,creator could make out 
of the wretched material at his         
disposal4 ,this ,platonic view is       

closely akin to that of ,leibnitz1 but  
is expressed in such wise as to lend    
itself more readily to myth-making4     
,matter is not only considered as what  
,dr4 ,martineau would call a datum      
objective to ,god1 but it is endowed    
with a diabolical character of its own4 
,illustration     ,,iii  ,manichism and 
,calvinism   ,it is but a step from this
 to the complicated personifications of 
,gnosticism1 with its ,demiurgus1 or    
inferior spirit that created the world4 
,by some of the ,gnostics the ,creator  
was held to be merely an inferior       
emanation from ,god1 a notion which had 
a powerful indirect effect upon the     
shaping of ,christian doctrine in the   
second and third centuries of our era4  
,a similar thought appears in the       
mournful question asked by ,tennyson's  
,arthur3--      ,o me6 for why is all   
around us here     ,as if some lesser   
god had made the world     ,and had not 
force to shape it as he would8  ,but    
some ,gnostics went so far as to hold   

that the world was originally created by
 the ,devil1 and is to be gradually     
purified and redeemed by the beneficent 
power of ,god as manifested through     
,jesus ,christ4 ,this notion is just the
 opposite to that of the ,vendidad1     
which represents the world as coming    
into existence pure and perfect1 only to
 be forthwith defiled by the trail of   
the serpent ,ahriman4 ,in both these    
opposing theories the divine power is   
distinctly and avowedly curtailed by the
 introduction of a rival power that is  
diabolical2 upon this point ,parsee and 
,gnostic are agreed4 ,distinct sources  
are postulated for the evil and the     
good4 ,the one may be regarded as       
infinite in goodness1 the other as      
infinite in badness1 and the world in   
which we live is a product of the       
everlasting conflict between the two4   
,this has been the fundamental idea in  
all ,manichan systems1 and it is        
needless to say that it has always      
exerted a mighty influence upon         

,christian theology4 ,the ,christian    
conception of the ,devil1 as regards its
 deeper ethical aspect1 has owed much to
 the ,parsee conception of ,ahriman4 ,it
 can hardly be said1 however1 that there
 has been any coherent1 closely         
reasoned1 and generally accepted        
,christian theory of the subject4 ,the  
notions just mentioned are in themselves
 too shadowy and vague1 they bear too   
plainly the marks of their mythologic   
pedigree1 to admit of being worked into 
such a coherent and closely reasoned    
theory4 ,christian thought has simply   
played fast and loose with these        
conceptions1 speaking in one breath of  
divine omnipotence1 and in the next     
alluding to the conflict between good   
and evil in language fraught with       
,manichism4  ,in recent times ,mr4 ,john
 ,stuart ,mill has shown a marked       
preference for the ,manichan view1 and  
has stated it with clearness and        
consistency1 because he is not hampered 
by the feeling that he ought to reach   

one conclusion rather than another4 ,mr4
 ,mill does not urge his view upon the  
reader1 nor even defend it as his own   
view1 but simply suggests it as perhaps 
the view which is for the theist most   
free from difficulties and              
contradictions4 ,mr4 ,mill does not1    
like the ,manichans1 imagine a          
personified principle of evil2 nor does 
he1 like ,plato1 entertain a horror of  
what is sometimes1 with amusing         
vehemence1 stigmatized as brute matter4 
,he does not undertake to suggest how or
 why the divine power is limited2 but he
 distinctly prefers the alternative     
which sacrifices the attribute of       
omnipotence in order to preserve in our 
conception of ,deity the attribute of   
goodness4 ,according to ,mr4 ,mill1 we  
may regard the all-wise and holy ,deity 
as a creative energy that is perpetually
 at work in eliminating evil from the   
universe4 ,his wisdom is perfect1 his   
goodness is infinite1 but his power is  
limited by some inexplicable viciousness

 in the original constitution of things 
which it must require a long succession 
of ages to overcome4 ,in such a view    
,mr4 ,mill sees much that is ennobling4 
,the humblest human being who resists an
 impulse to sin1 or helps in the        
slightest degree to leave the world     
better than he found it1 may actually be
 regarded as a participator in the      
creative work of ,god2 and thus each act
 of human life acquires a solemn        
significance that is almost overwhelming
 to contemplate4  ,these suggestions of 
,mr4 ,mill are extremely interesting1   
because he was the last great modern    
thinker whose early training was not    
influenced by that prodigious expansion 
of scientific knowledge which1 since the
 middle of the nineteenth century1 has  
taken shape in the doctrine of          
evolution4 ,this movement began early   
enough to determine the intellectual    
careers of eminent thinkers born between
 #ahbj and #ahcj1 such as ,spencer and  
,huxley4 ,mr4 ,mill was a dozen years   

too old for this4 ,he was born at nearly
 the same time as ,mr4 ,darwin1 but his 
mental habits were formed too soon for  
him to profit fully by the new movement 
of thought2 and although his attitude   
toward the new ideas was hospitable1    
they never fructified in his mind4      
,while his thinking has been of great   
value to the world1 much of it belongs  
to an era which we have now left far    
behind4 ,this is illustrated in the     
degree to which he was influenced by the
 speculations of ,auguste ,comte4       
,probably no two leaders of thought1    
whose dates of birth were scarcely a    
quarter of a century apart1 were ever   
separated by such a stupendous gulf as  
that which intervenes between ,auguste  
,comte and ,herbert ,spencer1 and this  
fact may serve as an index to the       
rapidity of movement which has          
characterized the nineteenth century4   
,another illustration of the            
old-fashioned character of ,mill's      
philosophy is to be seen in his use of  

,paley's argument from design in support
 of the belief in a beneficent ,creator4
 ,mill adopted this argument1 and1 as a 
professed free-thinker1 carried it to   
the logical conclusion from which       
,paley1 as a churchman1 could not but   
shrink4 ,this was the conclusion which  
,i have already mentioned1 that ,god's  
creative power has been limited by some 
inexplicable viciousness in the original
 constitution of things4  ,i feel as if 
one could not be too grateful to ,mr4   
,mill for having so neatly and sharply  
stated1 in modern language and with     
modern illustrations1 this old          
conclusion1 which after all is          
substantially that of ,plato and the    
,gnostics4 ,for the shock which such a  
clear1 bold statement gives to our      
religious feelings is no greater than   
the shock with which it strikes counter 
to our modern scientific philosophy4    
,suppose we could bring back to earth a 
,calvinist of the seventeenth century   
and question him4 ,he might well say    

that the ,god which ,mr4 ,mill offers   
us1 shorn of the attribute of           
omnipotence1 is no ,god at all4 ,he     
would say with the ,hebrew prophet1 that
 ,god has created the evil along with   
the good1 and that he has done so for a 
purpose which human reason1 could it    
once comprehend all the conditions of   
the case1 would most surely approve as  
infinitely wise and holy4 ,our          
,calvinist would ask who is responsible 
for the original constitution of things 
if not the ,creator himself1 and in     
supposing anything essentially vicious  
in that constitution1 have not ,plato   
and the ,gnostics and the ,manichans and
 ,mr4 ,mill simply taken counsel of     
their ignorance8 ,nay1 more1 the        
,calvinist would declare that if we     
really understood the universe of which 
humanity is a part1 we should find      
scientific justification for that       
supreme and victorious faith which      
cries1 ,though he slay me1 yet will ,i  
trust in him6 ,the man who has acquired 

such faith as this is the true freeman  
of the universe1 clad in stoutest coat  
of mail against disaster and            
sophistry1--the man whom nothing can    
enslave1 and whose guerdon is the serene
 happiness that can never be taken away4
     ,illustration     ,,iv  ,the       
,dramatic ,unity of ,nature   ,now in   
these strong assertions it seems to me  
that the ,calvinist is much more nearly 
in accord with our modern knowledge than
 are ,plato and ,mill4 ,it is not wise  
to hazard statements as to what the     
future may bring forth1 but ,i do not   
see how the dualism implied in all these
 attempts to refer good and evil to     
different creative sources can ever be  
seriously maintained again4 ,the advance
 of modern science carries us           
irresistibly to what some ,german       
philosophers call monism1 but ,i prefer 
to call it monotheism4 ,in getting rid  
of the ,devil and regarding the universe
 as the multiform manifestation of a    
single all-pervading ,deity1 we become  

for the first time pure and             
uncompromising monotheists1--believers  
in the ever-living1 unchangeable1 and   
all-wise ,heavenly ,father1 in whom we  
may declare our trust without the       
faintest trace of mental reservation4   
,if we can truly take such a position1  
and hold it rationally1 it is the modern
 science so apt to be decried by the    
bats and owls of orthodoxy that         
justifies us in doing so4 ,for what is  
the philosophic purport of these        
beautiful and sublime discoveries with  
which the keen insight and patient      
diligence of modern students of science 
are beginning to be rewarded8 ,what is  
the lesson that is taught alike by the  
correlation of forces1 by spectrum      
analysis1 by the revelations of         
chemistry as to the subtle behaviour of 
molecules inaccessible to the eye of    
sense1 by the astronomy that is         
beginning to sketch the physical history
 of countless suns in the firmament1 by 
the palontology which is slowly         

unravelling the wonders of past life    
upon the earth through millions of ages8
 ,what is the grand lesson that is      
taught by all this8 ,it is the lesson of
 the unity of nature4 ,to learn it      
rightly is to learn that all the things 
that we can see and know1 in the course 
of our life in this world1 are so       
intimately woven together that nothing  
could be left out without reducing the  
whole marvellous scheme to chaos4       
,whatever else may be true1 the         
conviction is brought home to us that in
 all this endless multifariousness there
 is one single principle at work1 that  
all is tending toward an end that was   
involved from the very beginning1 if one
 can speak of beginnings and ends where 
the process is eternal4 ,the whole      
universe is animated by a single        
principle of life1 and whatever we see  
in it1 whether to our half-trained      
understanding and narrow experience it  
may seem to be good or bad1 is an       
indispensable part of the stupendous    

scheme4 ,as ,aristotle said1 so long    
ago1 in one of those characteristic     
flashes of insight into the heart of    
things in which no one has ever excelled
 him1 in nature there is nothing that is
 out of place or interpolated1 as in an 
ill-constructed drama4  ,to-day we can  
begin to realize how much was implied in
 this prophetic hint of ,aristotle's1   
for we are forced to admit that whatever
 may be the function of evil in this    
world1 it is unquestionably an          
indispensable function1 and not         
something interpolated from without4    
,whatever exists is part of the dramatic
 whole1 and this can quickly be proved4 
,the goodness in the world--all that we 
love and praise and emulate--we are     
ready enough to admit into our scheme of
 things1 and to rest upon it our belief 
in ,god4 ,the misery1 the pain1 the     
wickedness1 we would fain leave out4    
,but if there were no such thing as     
evil1 how could there be such a thing as
 goodness8 ,or to put it somewhat       

differently1 if we had never known      
anything but goodness1 how could we ever
 distinguish it from evil8 ,how could we
 recognize it as good8 ,how would its   
quality of goodness in any wise interest
 or concern us8 ,this question goes down
 to the bottom of things1 for it appeals
 to the fundamental conditions according
 to which conscious intelligence exists 
at all4 ,its answer will therefore be   
likely to help us4 ,it will not enable  
us to solve the problem of evil1        
enshrouded as it is in a mystery        
impenetrable by finite intelligence1 but
 it will help us to state the problem   
correctly2 and surely this is no small  
help4 ,in the mere work of purifying our
 intellectual vision there is that which
 heals and soothes us4 ,to learn to see 
things without distortion is to prepare 
one's self for taking the world in the  
right mood1 and in this we find strength
 and consolation4     ,illustration     
,v  ,what ,conscious ,life is made of   
,to return to our question1 how could we

 have good without evil1 we must pause  
for a moment and inquire into the       
constitution of the human mind4 ,what we
 call the soul1 the mind1 the conscious 
self1 is something strange and          
wonderful4 ,in our ordinary efforts to  
conceive it1 invisible and impalpable as
 it is1 we are apt to try so strenuously
 to divorce it from the notion of       
substance that it seems ethereal1       
unreal1 ghostlike4 ,yet of all realities
 the soul is the most solid1 sound1 and 
undeniable4 ,thoughts and feelings are  
the fundamental facts from which there  
is no escaping4 ,our whole universe1    
from the sands on the seashore to the   
flaming suns that throng the ,milky     
,way1 is built up of sights and sounds1 
of tastes and odours1 of pleasures and  
pains1 of sensations of motion and      
resistance either felt directly or      
inferred4 ,this is no ghostly universe1 
but all intensely real as it exists in  
that intensest of realities1 the human  
soul6 ,consciousness1 the soul's        

fundamental fact1 is the most           
fundamental of facts4 ,but a truly      
marvellous affair is consciousness6 ,the
 most general truth that we can assert  
with regard to it is this1 that it      
exists only by virtue of incessant      
change4 ,a state of consciousness that  
should continue through an appreciable  
interval of time without undergoing     
change would not be a state of          
consciousness4 ,it would be             
unconsciousness4  ,this perpetual       
change1 then1 is what makes conscious   
life4 ,it is only by virtue of this     
endless procession of fleeting phases of
 consciousness that the human soul      
exists at all4 ,it is thus that we are  
made4 ,why we should have been made thus
 is a question aiming so far beyond our 
ken that it is idle to ask it4 ,we might
 as well inquire whether ,infinite      
,power could have made twice two equal  
five4 ,we must rest content with knowing
 that it is thus we were created2 it is 
thus that the human soul exists4 ,just  

as dynamic astronomy rests upon the law 
of gravitation1 just as physics is based
 upon the properties of waves1 so the   
modern science of mind has been built   
upon the fundamental truth that         
consciousness exists only by virtue of  
unceasing change4 ,our conscious life is
 a stream of varying psychical states   
which quickly follow one another in a   
perpetual shimmer1 with never an instant
 of rest4 ,the elementary psychical     
states1 indeed1 lie below consciousness1
 or1 as we say1 they are sub-conscious4 
,we may call these primitive pulsations 
the psychical molecules out of which are
 compounded the feelings and thoughts   
that well up into the full stream of    
consciousness4 ,just as in chemistry we 
explain the qualitative differences     
among things as due to diversities of   
arrangement among compounded molecules  
and atoms1 so in psychology we have come
 to see that thoughts and feelings in   
all their endless variety are diversely 
compounded of sub-conscious psychical   

molecules4  ,musical sounds furnish us  
with a simple and familiar illustration 
of this4 ,when the sounds of taps or    
blows impinge upon the ear slowly1 at   
the rate of not more than sixteen in a  
second1 they are cognized as separate   
and non-musical noises4 ,when they pass 
beyond that rate of speed1 they are     
cognized as a continuous musical tone of
 very low pitch2 a state of             
consciousness which seems simple1 but   
which we now see is really compound4 ,as
 the speed of the blows increases1      
further qualitative differences arise2  
the musical tone rises in pitch until it
 becomes too acute for the ear to       
cognize1 and thus vanishes from         
consciousness4 ,but this is far from    
being the whole story2 for the series of
 blows or pulsations make not only a    
single vivid fundamental tone1 but also 
a multifarious companion group of       
fainter overtones1 and the diverse      
blending of these faint harmonics       
constitutes the whole difference in tone

 quality between the piano and the      
flute1 the violin and the trumpet1 or   
any other instruments4 ,if you take up a
 violin and sound the ,f one octave     
above the treble staff1 there are       
produced1 in the course of a single     
second1 several thousand psychical      
states which together make up the       
sensation of pitch1 fifty-five times as 
many psychical states which together    
make up the sensation of tone quality1  
and an immense number of other psychical
 states which together make up the      
sensation of intensity4 ,these psychical
 states are not1 in any strict sense of 
the term1 states of consciousness2 for  
if they were to rise individually into  
consciousness1 the result would be an   
immense multitude of sensations1 and not
 a single apparently homogeneous        
sensation4 ,there is no alternative but 
to conclude that in this case a         
seemingly simple state of consciousness 
is in reality compounded of an immense  
multitude of sub-conscious psychical    

changes4  ,now1 what is thus true in the
 case of musical sounds is equally true 
of all states of consciousness whatever1
 both those that we call intellectual   
and those that we call emotional4 ,all  
are highly compounded aggregates of     
innumerable minute sub-conscious        
psychical pulsations1 if we may so call 
them4 ,in every stream of human         
consciousness that we call a soul each  
second of time witnesses thousands of   
infinitely small changes1 in which one  
fleeting group of pulsations in the     
primordial mind-stuff gives place to    
another and a different but equally     
fleeting group4 ,each group is unlike   
its immediate predecessor4 ,the absence 
of difference would be continuance1 and 
continuance means stagnation1 blankness1
 negation1 death4 ,that ceaseless       
flutter1 in which the quintescence of   
conscious life consists1 is kept up by  
the perpetual introduction of the       
relations of likeness and unlikeness4   
,each one of the infinitesimal changes  

is a little act of discrimination1 a    
recognition of a unit of feeling as     
either like or unlike some other unit of
 feeling4 ,so in these depths of the    
soul's life the arrangements and        
re-arrangements of units go on1 while on
 the surface the results appear from    
moment to moment in sensations keen or  
dull1 in perceptions clear or vague1 in 
judgments wise or foolish1 in memories  
gay or sad1 in sordid or lofty trains of
 thought1 in gusts of anger or thrills  
of love4 ,the whole fabric of human     
thought and human emotion is built up   
out of minute sub-conscious             
discriminations of likenesses and       
unlikenesses1 just as much as the       
material world in all its beauty is     
built up out of undulations among       
invisible molecules4     ,illustration  
,,vi  ,without the ,element of          
,antagonism there could be no           
,consciousness1 and therefore no ,world 
,we may now come up out of these depths1
 accessible only to the plummet of      

psychologic analysis1 and move with     
somewhat freer gait in the region of    
common and familiar experiences4 ,it is 
an undeniable fact that we cannot know  
anything whatever except as contrasted  
with something else4 ,the contrast may  
be bold and sharp1 or it may dwindle    
into a slight discrimination1 but it    
must be there4 ,if the figures on your  
canvas are indistinguishable from the   
background1 there is surely no picture  
to be seen4 ,some element of unlikeness1
 some germ of antagonism1 some chance   
for discrimination1 is essential to     
every act of knowing4 ,i might have     
illustrated this point concretely       
without all the foregoing explanation1  
but ,i have aimed at paying it the      
respect due to its vast importance4 ,i  
have wished to show how the fact that we
 cannot know anything whatever except as
 contrasted with something else is a    
fact that is deeply rooted in the       
innermost structure of the human mind4  
,it is not a superficial but a          

fundamental truth1 that if there were no
 colour but red it would be exactly the 
same thing as if there were no colour at
 all4 ,in a world of unqualified        
redness1 our state of mind with regard  
to colour would be precisely like our   
state of mind in the present world with 
regard to the pressure of the atmosphere
 if we were always to stay in one place4
 ,we are always bearing up against the  
burden of this deep aerial ocean1 nearly
 fifteen pounds upon every square inch  
of our bodies2 but until we can get a   
chance to discriminate1 as by climbing a
 mountain1 we are quite unconscious of  
this heavy pressure4 ,in the same way1  
if we knew but one colour we should know
 no colour4 ,if our ears were to be     
filled with one monotonous roar of      
,niagara1 unbroken by alien sounds1 the 
effect upon consciousness would be      
absolute silence4 ,if our palates had   
never come in contact with any tasteful 
thing save sugar1 we should know no more
 of sweetness than of bitterness4 ,if we

 had never felt physical pain1 we could 
not recognize physical pleasure4 ,for   
want of the contrasted background its   
pleasurableness would be non-existent4  
,and in just the same way it follows    
that without knowing that which is      
morally evil we could not possibly      
recognize that which is morally good4   
,of these antagonist correlatives1 the  
one is unthinkable in the absence of the
 other4 ,in a sinless and painless      
world1 human conduct might possess more 
outward marks of perfection than any    
saint ever dreamed of2 but the moral    
element would be lacking2 the goodness  
would have no more significance in our  
conscious life than that load of        
atmosphere which we are always carrying 
about with us4  ,we are thus brought to 
a striking conclusion1 the essential    
soundness of which cannot be gainsaid4  
,in a happy world there must be sorrow  
and pain1 and in a moral world the      
knowledge of evil is indispensable4 ,the
 stern necessity for this has been      

proved to inhere in the innermost       
constitution of the human soul4 ,it is  
part and parcel of the universe4 ,to him
 who is disposed to cavil at the world  
which ,god has in such wise created1 we 
may fairly put the question whether the 
prospect of escape from its ills would  
ever induce him to put off this human   
consciousness1 and accept in exchange   
some form of existence unknown and      
inconceivable6 ,the alternative is      
clear3 on the one hand a world with sin 
and suffering1 on the other hand an     
unthinkable world in which conscious    
life does not involve contrast4  ,the   
profound truth of ,aristotle's remark is
 thus more forcibly than ever brought   
home to us4 ,we do not find that evil   
has been interpolated into the universe 
from without2 we find that1 on the      
contrary1 it is an indispensable part of
 the dramatic whole4 ,god is the creator
 of evil1 and from the eternal scheme of
 things diabolism is forever excluded4  
,ormuzd and ,ahriman have had their day 

and perished1 along with the doctrine of
 special creations and other fancies of 
the untutored human mind4 ,from our     
present standpoint we may fairly ask1   
,what would have been the worth of that 
primitive innocence portrayed in the    
myth of the garden of ,eden1 had it ever
 been realized in the life of men8 ,what
 would have been the moral value or     
significance of a race of human beings  
ignorant of sin1 and doing beneficent   
acts with no more consciousness or      
volition than the deftly contrived      
machine that picks up raw material at   
one end1 and turns out some finished    
product at the other8 ,clearly1 for     
strong and resolute men and women an    
,eden would be but a fool's paradise4   
,how could anything fit to be called    
character have ever been produced there8
 ,but for tasting the forbidden fruit1  
in what respect could man have become a 
being of higher order than the beasts of
 the field8 ,an interesting question is 
this1 for it leads us to consider the   

genesis of the idea of moral evil in    
man4     ,illustration     ,,vii  ,a    
,word of ,caution   ,before we enter    
upon this topic a word of caution may be
 needed4 ,i do not wish the purpose of  
the foregoing questions to be           
misunderstood4 ,the serial nature of    
human thinking and speaking makes it    
impossible to express one's thought on  
any great subject in a solid block2 one 
must needs give it forth in consecutive 
fragments1 so that parts of it run the  
risk of being lost upon the reader or   
hearer1 while other parts are made to   
assume undue proportions4 ,moreover1    
there are many minds that habitually    
catch at the fragments of a thought1 and
 never seize it in the block2 and in    
such manner do strange misconceptions   
arise4 ,i never could have dreamed1     
until taught by droll experience1 that  
the foregoing allusions to the garden of
 ,eden could be understood as a         
glorification of sin1 and an invitation 
to my fellow-men to come forth with me  

and be wicked6 ,but even so it was1 on  
one occasion when ,i was trying1        
somewhat more scantily than here1 to    
state the present case4 ,in the midst of
 my endeavour to justify the grand      
spirit of faith which our fathers showed
 when from abysmal depths of affliction 
they never failed to cry that ,god doeth
 all things well1 ,i was suddenly       
interrupted with queries as to just what
 percentage of sin and crime ,i regarded
 as needful for the moral equilibrium of
 the universe2 how much did ,i propose  
to commit myself1 how much would ,i     
advise people in general to commit1 and 
just where would ,i have them stop6     
,others deemed it necessary to remind me
 that there is already too much         
suffering in the world1 and we ought not
 to seek to increase it2 that the       
difference between right and wrong is of
 great practical importance2 and that if
 we try to treat evil as good we shall  
make good no better than evil4  ,when   
one has sufficiently recovered one's    

gravity1 it is permissible to reply to  
such criticisms that the sharp          
antithesis between good and evil is     
essential to every step of my argument1 
which would entirely collapse if the    
antagonism were for one moment          
disregarded4 ,the quantity of suffering 
in the world is unquestionably so great 
as to prompt us to do all in our power  
to diminish it2 such we shall presently 
see must be the case in a world that    
proceeds through stages of evolution4   
,when one reverently assumes that it was
 through some all-wise and holy purpose 
that sin was permitted to come into the 
world1 it ought to be quite superfluous 
to add that the fulfilment of any such  
purpose demands that sin be not         
cherished1 but suppressed4 ,if one      
seeks1 as a philosopher1 to explain and 
justify ,god's wholesale use of death in
 the general economy of the universe1 is
 one forsooth to be charged with        
praising murder as a fine art and with  
seeking to found a society of ,thugs8   

,illustration     ,,viii  ,the ,hermit  
and the ,angel   ,the simple-hearted    
monks of the ,middle ,ages understood1  
in their own quaint way1 that ,god's    
methods of governing this universe are  
not always fit to be imitated by his    
finite creatures4 ,in one of the old    
stories that furnished entertainment and
 instruction for the cloister it is said
 that a hermit and an angel once        
journeyed together4 ,the angel was in   
human form and garb1 but had told his   
companion the secret of his exalted rank
 and nature4 ,coming at nightfall to a  
humble house by the wayside1 the two    
travellers craved shelter for the love  
of ,god4 ,a dainty supper and a soft1   
warm bed were given them1 and in the    
middle of the night the angel arose and 
strangled the kind host's infant son1   
who was quietly sleeping in his cradle4 
,the good hermit was paralyzed with     
amazement and horror1 but dared not     
speak a word4 ,the next night the two   
comrades were entertained at a fine     

mansion in the city1 where the angel    
stole the superb golden cup from which  
his host had quaffed wine at dinner4    
,next day1 while crossing the bridge    
over a deep and rapid stream1 a pilgrim 
met the travellers4 ,canst thou show us1
 good father1 said the angel1 the way to
 the next town8 ,as the pilgrim turned  
to point it out1 this terrible being    
caught him by the shoulder and flung him
 into the river to drown4 ,verily1      
thought the poor hermit1 it is a devil  
that ,i have here with me1 and all his  
works are evil2 but fear held his       
tongue1 and the twain fared on their way
 till the sun had set and snow began to 
fall1 and the howling of wolves was     
heard in the forest hard by4 ,presently 
the bright light coming from a cheerful 
window gave hope of a welcome refuge2   
but the surly master of the house turned
 the travellers away from his door with 
curses and foul gibes4 ,yonder is my    
pig-sty for dirty vagrants like you4 ,so
 they passed that night among the swine2

 and in the morning the angel went to   
the house and thanked the master for his
 hospitality1 and gave him for a        
keepsake 7thrifty angel67 the stolen    
goblet4 ,then did the hermit's wrath and
 disgust overcome his fears1 and he     
loudly upbraided his companion4 ,get    
thee gone1 wretched spirit6 he cried4 ,i
 will have no more of thee4 ,thou       
pretendest to be a messenger from       
heaven1 yet thou requitest good with    
evil1 and evil with good6 ,then did the 
angel look upon him with infinite       
compassion in his eyes4 ,listen1 said   
he1 short-sighted mortal4 ,the birth of 
that infant son had made the father     
covetous1 breaking ,god's commandments  
in order to heap up treasures which the 
boy1 if he had lived1 would have wasted 
in idle debauchery4 ,by my act1 which   
seemed so cruel1 ,i saved both parent   
and child4 ,the owner of the goblet had 
once been abstemious1 but was fast      
becoming a sot2 the loss of his cup has 
set him to thinking1 and he will mend   

his ways4 ,the poor pilgrim1 unknown to 
himself1 was about to commit a mortal   
sin1 when ,i interfered and sent his    
unsullied soul to heaven4 ,as for the   
wretch who drove ,god's children from   
his door1 he is1 indeed1 pleased for the
 moment with the bauble ,i left in his  
hands2 but hereafter he will burn in    
hell4 ,so spoke the angel2 and when he  
had heard these words the hermit bowed  
his venerable head and murmured1        
,forgive me1 ,lord1 that in my ignorance
 ,i misjudged thee4  ,i suspect that1   
with all our boasted science1 there is  
still much wisdom for us in the humble  
childlike piety of the ,gesta           
,romanorum4 ,to say that the ways of    
,providence are inscrutable is still    
something more than an idle platitude1  
and there still is room for the belief  
that1 could we raise the veil that      
enshrouds eternal truth1 we should see  
that behind nature's cruelest works     
there are secret springs of divinest    
tenderness and love4 ,in this trustful  

mood we may now return to the question  
as to the genesis of the idea of moral  
evil1 and its close connection with     
man's rise from a state of primeval     
innocence4     ,illustration     ,,ix   
,man's ,rise from the ,innocence of     
,brutehood   ,we have first to note that
 in various ways the action of natural  
selection has been profoundly modified  
in the course of the development of     
mankind from a race of inferior         
creatures4 ,one of the chief factors in 
the production of man was the change    
that occurred in the direction of the   
working of natural selection1 whereby in
 the line of man's direct ancestry the  
variations in intelligence came to be   
seized upon1 cherished1 and enhanced1 to
 the comparative neglect of variations  
in bodily structure4 ,the physical      
differences between man and ape are less
 important than the physical differences
 between ,african and ,south ,american  
apes4 ,the latter belong to different   
zological families1 but the former do   

not4 ,zologically1 man is simply one    
genus in the old-world family of apes4  
,psychologically1 he has travelled so   
far from apes that the distance is      
scarcely measurable4 ,this transcendent 
contrast is primarily due to the change 
in the direction of the working of      
natural selection4 ,the consequences of 
this change were numerous and           
far-reaching4 ,one consequence was that 
gradual lengthening of the plastic      
period of infancy which enabled man to  
became a progressive creature1 and      
organized the primeval semi-human horde 
into definite family groups4 ,i have    
elsewhere expounded this point1 and it  
is known as my own especial contribution
 to the theory of evolution4  ,another  
associated consequence1 which here more 
closely concerns us1 was the partial    
stoppage of the process of natural      
selection in remedying unfitness4 ,a    
quotation from ,herbert ,spencer will   
help us to understand this partial      
stoppage3 ,as fast as the faculties are 

multiplied1 so fast does it become      
possible for the several members of a   
species to have various kinds of        
superiorities over one another4 ,while  
one saves its life by higher speed1     
another does the like by clearer vision1
 another by keener scent1 another by    
quicker hearing1 another by greater     
strength1 another by unusual power of   
enduring cold or hunger1 another by     
special sagacity1 another by special    
timidity1 another by special courage4444
 ,now 444 each of these attributes1     
giving its possessor an extra chance of 
life1 is likely to be transmitted to    
posterity4 ,but it is not nearly so     
likely to be increased by natural       
selection4 ,for if those members of the 
species which have but ordinary or even 
deficient shares of some valuable       
attribute nevertheless survive by virtue
 of other superiorities which they      
severally possess1 then it is not easy  
to see how this particular attribute can
 be enhanced in subsequent generations  

by natural selection4#b  ,these         
considerations apply especially to the  
human race with its multitudinous       
capacities1 and ,i can better explain   
the case by a crude and imperfect       
illustration than by a detailed and     
elaborate statement4 ,if an individual  
antelope falls below the average of the 
herd in speed1 he is sure to become food
 for lions1 and thus the high average of
 speed in the herd is maintained by     
natural selection4 ,but if an individual
 man becomes a drunkard1 though his     
capabilities be ever so much curtailed  
by this vice1 yet the variety of human  
faculty furnishes so many hooks with    
which to keep one's hold upon life that 
he may sin long and flagrantly without  
perishing2 and if the drunkard survives1
 the action of natural selection in     
weeding out drunkenness is checked4     
,there is thus a wide interval between  
the highest and lowest degrees of       
completeness in living that are         
compatible with maintenance of life4    

,mankind has so many other qualities    
beside the bad ones1 which enable it to 
subsist and achieve progress in spite of
 them1 that natural selection--which    
always works through death--cannot come 
into play4  ,now it is because of this  
interval between the highest and lowest 
degrees of completeness of living that  
are compatible with the mere maintenance
 of life1 that men can be distinguished 
as morally bad or morally good4 ,in     
inferior animals1 where there is no such
 interval1 there is no developed        
morality or conscience1 though in a few 
of the higher ones there are the germs  
of these things4 ,morality comes upon   
the scene when there is an alternative  
offered of leading better lives or worse
 lives4 ,and just as up to this point   
the actions of the forefathers of       
mankind have been determined by the     
pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of    
pain1 so now they begin to be           
practically determined by the pursuit of
 goodness and avoidance of evil4 ,this  

rise from a bestial to a moral plane of 
existence involves the acquirement of   
the knowledge of good and evil4         
,conscience is generated to play a part 
analogous to that played by the sense of
 pain in the lower stages of life1 and  
to keep us from wrong doing4 ,to the    
mere love of life1 which is the         
conservative force that keeps the whole 
animal world in existence1 there now    
comes gradually to be superadded the    
feeling of religious aspiration1 which  
is nothing more nor less than the       
yearning after the highest possible     
completeness of spiritual life4 ,in the 
lower stages of human development this  
religious aspiration has as yet but an  
embryonic existence1 and moral          
obligations are still but imperfectly   
recognized4 ,it is only after long ages 
of social discipline1 fraught with cruel
 afflictions and grinding misery1 that  
the moral law becomes dominant and      
religious aspiration intense and abiding
 in the soul4 ,when such a stage is     

reached1 we have at last in man a       
creature different in kind from his     
predecessors1 and fit for an everlasting
 life of progress1 for a closer and     
closer communion with ,god in beatitude 
that shall endure4   ,,footnotes3  #b   
,biology1 i4 #ded4     ,illustration    
,x  ,the ,relativity of ,evil   ,as we  
survey the course of this wonderful     
evolution1 it begins to become manifest 
that moral evil is simply the           
characteristic of the lower state of    
living as looked at from the higher     
state4 ,its existence is purely         
relative1 yet it is profoundly real1 and
 in a process of perpetual spiritual    
evolution its presence in some hideous  
form throughout a long series of upward 
stages is indispensable4 ,its absence   
would mean stagnation1 quiescence1      
unprogressiveness4 ,for the moment we   
exercise conscious choice between one   
course of action and another1 we        
recognize the difference between better 
and worse1 we foreshadow the whole grand

 contrast between good and bad4 ,in the 
process of spiritual evolution1         
therefore1 evil must needs be present4  
,but the nature of evolution also       
requires that it should be evanescent4  
,in the higher stages that which is     
worse than the best need no longer be   
positively bad4 ,after the nature of    
that which the upward-striving soul     
abhors has been forever impressed upon  
it1 amid the long vicissitudes of its   
pilgrimage through the dark realms of   
sin and expiation1 it is at length      
equipped for its final sojourn      ,in 
the blest kingdoms meek of joy and love4
  ,from the general analogies furnished 
in the process of evolution1 we are     
entitled to hope that1 as it approaches 
its goal and man comes nearer to ,god1  
the fact of evil will lapse into a mere 
memory1 in which the shadowed past shall
 serve as a background for the realized 
glory of the present4  ,thus we have    
arrived at the goal of my argument4 ,we 
can at least begin to realize distinctly

 that unless our eyes had been opened at
 some time1 so that we might come to    
know the good and the evil1 we should   
never have become fashioned in ,god's   
image4 ,we should have been the denizens
 of a world of puppets1 where neither   
morality nor religion could have found  
place or meaning4 ,the mystery of evil  
remains a mystery still1 but it is no   
longer a harsh dissonance such as       
greeted the poet's ear when the doors of
 hell were thrown open2 for we see that 
this mystery belongs among the profound 
harmonies in ,god's creation4 ,this     
reflection may have in it something that
 is consoling as we look forth upon the 
ills of the world4 ,many are the pains  
of life1 and the struggle with          
wickedness is hard2 its course is marked
 with sorrow and tears4 ,but assuredly  
its deep impress upon the human soul is 
the indispensable background against    
which shall be set hereafter the eternal
 joys of heaven6     ,,the ,,cosmic     
,,roots ,,of ,,love ,,and               

,,self-,,sacrifice       ,o abbondante  
grazia1 ond' io presunsi       ,ficcar  
lo viso per la luce eterna       ,tanto1
 che la veduta vi consunsi6     ,nel suo
 profondo vidi che s' interna1          
,legato con amore in un volume1         
,ci che per l' universo si squaderna4   
,,dante1 ,paradiso1 xxxiii4 #hb4        
,illustration     ,i  ,the ,summer      
,field1 and what it tells us   ,there   
are few sights in ,nature more restful  
to the soul than a daisied field in     
,june4 ,whether it be at the dewy hour  
of sunrise1 with blithe matin songs     
still echoing among the treetops1 or    
while the luxuriant splendour of        
noontide fills the delicate tints of the
 early foliage with a pure glory of     
light1 or in that more pensive time when
 long shadows are thrown eastward and   
the fresh breath of the sea is felt1 or 
even under the solemn mantle of         
darkness1 when all forms have faded from
 sight and the night air is musical with
 the murmurs of innumerable insects1    

amid all the varying moods through which
 the daily cycle runs1 the abiding sense
 is of unalloyed happiness1 the profound
 tranquillity of mind and heart that    
nothing ever brings save the            
contemplation of perfect beauty4 ,one's 
thought is carried back for the moment  
to that morning of the world when ,god  
looked upon his work and saw that it was
 good4 ,if in the infinite and eternal  
,creative ,energy one might imagine some
 inherent impulse perpetually urging    
toward fresh creation1 what could it be 
more likely to be than the divine       
contentment in giving objective         
existence to the boundless and subtle   
harmonies whereof our world is made8    
,that it is a world of perfect harmony  
and unsullied beauty1 who can doubt as  
he strolls through this summer field8   
,as our thought plays lightly with its  
sights and sounds1 there is nothing but 
gladness in the laugh of the bobolink2  
the thrush's tender note tells only of  
the sweet domestic companionship of the 

nest2 creeping and winged things        
emerging from their grubs fill us with  
the sense of abounding life2 and the    
myriad buttercups1 hallowed with vague  
memories of ,june days in childhood1    
lose none of their charm in reminding us
 of the profound sympathy and mutual    
dependence in which the worlds of       
flowers and insects have grown up4 ,the 
blades of waving grass1 the fluttering  
leaves upon the lilac bush1 appeal to us
 with rare fascination2 for the green   
stuff that fills their cellular tissues1
 and the tissues of all green things    
that grow1 is the world's great         
inimitable worker of wonders2 its       
marvellous alchemy takes dead matter and
 breathes into it the breath of life4   
,but for that magician chlorophyll1     
conjuring with sunbeams1 such things as 
animal life and conscious intelligence  
would be impossible2 there would be no  
problems of creation1 nor philosopher to
 speculate upon them4 ,thus the delight 
that sense impression gives1 as we      

wander among buttercups and daisies1    
becomes deepened into gratitude and     
veneration1 till we quite understand how
 the rejuvenescence of ,nature should in
 all ages have aroused men to acts of   
worship1 and should call forth from     
modern masters of music1 the most       
religious of the arts of expression1    
outbursts of sublimest song4  ,and yet  
we need but come a little closer to the 
facts to find them apparently telling us
 a very different story4 ,the moment we 
penetrate below the superficial aspect  
of things the scene is changed4 ,in the 
folklore of ,ireland there is a         
widespread belief in a fairyland of     
eternal hope and brightness and youth   
situated a little way below the roots of
 the grass4 ,from that land of ,tir nan 
,og1 as the peasants call it1 the secret
 springs of life shoot forth their      
scions in this visible world1 and       
thither a few favoured mortals have now 
and then found their way4 ,it is into no
 blest country of ,tir nan ,og that our 

stern science leads us1 but into a scene
 of ugliness and hatred1 strife and     
massacre4 ,macaulay tells of the        
battlefield of ,neerwinden1 that the    
next summer after that frightful        
slaughter the whole countryside was     
densely covered with scarlet poppies1   
which people beheld with awe as a token 
of wrath in heaven over the deeds       
wrought on earth by human passions4 ,any
 summer field1 though mantled in softest
 green1 is the scene of butchery as     
wholesale as that of ,neerwinden and far
 more ruthless4 ,the life of its        
countless tiny denizens is one of       
unceasing toil1 of crowding and         
jostling1 where the weaker fall unpitied
 by the way1 of starvation from hunger  
and cold1 of robbery utterly shameless  
and murder utterly cruel4 ,that green   
sward in taking possession of its       
territory has exterminated scores of    
flowering plants of the sort that human 
economics and sthetics stigmatize as    
weeds2 nor do the blades of the         

victorious army dwell side by side in   
amity1 but in their eagerness to dally  
with the sunbeams thrust aside and      
supplant one another without the        
smallest compunction4 ,of the crawling  
insects and those that hum through the  
air1 with the quaint snail1 the         
burrowing worm1 the bloated toad1 scarce
 one in a hundred but succumbs to the   
buffets of adverse fortune before it has
 achieved maturity and left offspring to
 replace it4 ,the early bird1 who went  
forth in quest of the worm1 was lucky if
 at the close of a day as full of strife
 and peril as ever knight-errant        
encountered1 he did not himself serve as
 a meal for some giant foe in the       
gloaming4 ,when we think of the hawk's  
talons buried in the breast of the wren1
 while the relentless beak tears the    
little wings from the quivering1        
bleeding body1 our mood toward ,nature  
is changed1 and we feel like recoiling  
from a world in which such black        
injustice1 such savage disregard for    

others1 is part of the general scheme4  
,illustration     ,,ii  ,seeming        
,wastefulness of the ,cosmic ,process   
,but as we look still further into the  
matter1 our mood is changed once more4  
,we find that this hideous hatred and   
strife1 this wholesale famine and death1
 furnish the indispensable conditions   
for the evolution of higher and higher  
types of life4 ,nay more1 but for the   
pitiless destruction of all individuals 
that fall short of a certain degree of  
fitness to the circumstances of life    
into which they are born1 the type would
 inevitably degenerate1 the life would  
become lower and meaner in kind4        
,increase in richness1 variety1         
complexity of life is gained only by the
 selection of variations above or beyond
 a certain mean1 and the prompt         
execution of a death sentence upon all  
the rest4 ,the principle of natural     
selection is in one respect intensely   
,calvinistic2 it elects the one and     
damns the ninety and nine4 ,in these    

processes of ,nature there is nothing   
that savours of communistic equality2   
but to him that hath shall be given1 and
 from him that hath not shall be taken  
away even that which he hath4 ,through  
this selection of a favoured few1 a     
higher type of life--or at all events a 
type in which there is more life--is    
attained in many cases1 but not always4 
,evolution and progress are not         
synonymous terms4 ,the survival of the  
fittest is not always a survival of the 
best or of the most highly organized4   
,the environment is sometimes such that 
increase of fitness means degeneration  
of type1 and the animal and vegetable   
worlds show many instances of           
degeneration4 ,one brilliant instance is
 that which has preserved the clue to   
the remote ancestry of the vertebrate   
type4 ,the molluscoid ascidian1 rooted  
polyp-like on the sea beach in shallow  
water1 has an embryonic history which   
shows that its ancestors had once seen  
better days1 when they darted to and    

fro1 fishlike1 through the waves1 with  
the prophecy of a vertebrate skeleton   
within them4 ,this is a case of marked  
degeneration4 ,more often survival of   
the fittest simply preserves the type   
unchanged through long periods of time4 
,but now and then under favourable      
circumstances it raises the type4 ,at   
all events1 whenever the type is raised1
 it is through survival of the fittest1 
implying destruction of all save the    
fittest4  ,this last statement is       
probably true of all plants and of all  
animals except that as applied to the   
human race it needs some transcendently 
important qualifications which students 
of evolution are very apt to neglect4 ,i
 shall by and by point out these        
qualifications4 ,at present we may note 
that the development of civilization1 on
 its political side1 has been a         
stupendous struggle for life1 wherein   
the possession of certain physical and  
mental attributes has enabled some      
tribes or nations to prevail over       

others1 and to subject or exterminate   
them4 ,on its industrial side the       
struggle has been no less fierce2 the   
evolution of higher efficiency through  
merciless competition is a matter of    
common knowledge4 ,alike in the         
occupations of war and in those of      
peace1 superior capacity has thriven    
upon victories in which small heed has  
been paid to the wishes or the welfare  
of the vanquished4 ,in human history    
perhaps no relation has been more       
persistently repeated than that of the  
hawk and the wren4 ,the aggression has  
usually been defended as in the         
interests of higher civilization1 and in
 the majority of cases the defence has  
been sustained by the facts4 ,it has    
indeed very commonly been true that the 
survival of the strongest is the        
survival of the fittest4  ,such         
considerations affect our mood toward   
,nature in a way that is somewhat       
bewildering4 ,on the one hand1 as we    
recognize in the universal strife and   

slaughter a stern discipline through    
which the standard of animate existence 
is raised and the life of creatures     
variously enriched1 we become to some   
extent reconciled to the facts4         
,assuming1 as we all do1 that the       
attainment of higher life is in itself  
desirable1 our minds cannot remain      
utterly inhospitable towards things1    
however odious in themselves1 that help 
toward the desirable end4 ,since we     
cannot rid the world of them1 we        
acquiesce in their existence as part of 
the machinery of ,god's providence1 the 
intricacies of which our finite minds   
cannot hope to unravel4 ,on the other   
hand1 a thought is likely to arise which
 in days gone by we should have striven 
to suppress as too impious for          
utterance2 but it is wiser to let such  
thoughts find full expression1 for only 
thus can we be sure of understanding the
 kind of problem we are trying to solve4
 ,is not1 then1 this method of ,nature1 
which achieves progress only through    

misery and death1 an exceedingly brutal 
and clumsy method8 ,life1 one would     
think1 must be dear to the everlasting  
,giver of life1 yet how cheap it seems  
to be held in the general scheme of     
things6 ,in order that some race of     
moths may attain a certain fantastic    
contour and marking of their wings1     
untold thousands of moths are doomed to 
perish prematurely4 ,instead of making  
the desirable object once for all1 the  
method of ,nature is to make something  
else and reject it1 and so on through   
countless ages1 till by slow            
approximations the creative thought is  
realized4 ,nature is often called       
thrifty1 yet could anything be more     
prodigal or more cynical than the waste 
of individual lives8 ,does it not remind
 one of ,charles ,lamb's famous story of
 the ,chinaman whose house accidentally 
burned down and roasted a pig1 whereupon
 the dainty meat was tasted and its fame
 spread abroad until epicures all over  
,china were to be seen carrying home    

pigs and forthwith setting fire to their
 houses8 ,we need but add that the      
custom thus established lasted for      
centuries1 during which every dinner of 
pig involved the sacrifice of a         
homestead1 and we seem to have a close  
parody upon the wastefulness of ,nature1
 or of what is otherwise called in these
 days the ,cosmic ,process4 ,upon such a
 view as this the ,cosmic ,process      
appears in a high degree unintelligent1 
not to say immoral4     ,illustration   
,,iii  ,caliban's ,philosophy           
,polytheism easily found a place for    
such views as these1 inasmuch as it     
could explain the unseemly aspects of   
,nature offhand by a reference to       
malevolent deities4 ,with ,browning's   
,caliban1 in his meditations upon       
,setebos1 that god whom he conceived in 
his own image1 the recklessness of      
,nature is mockery engendered half in   
spite1 half in mere wantonness4         
,setebos1 he says1                      
is strong and ,lord1     ,am strong     

myself compared to yonder crabs         
,that march now from the mountain to the
 sea2     ,let twenty pass1 and stone   
the twenty-first1     ,loving not1      
hating not1 just choosing so4     ,say1 
the first straggler that boasts purple  
spots     ,shall join the file1 one     
pincer twisted off2     ,say1 this      
bruised fellow shall receive a worm1    
,and two worms he whose nippers end in  
red2     ,as it likes me each time1 ,i  
do3 ,so ,he4  ,such is the kind of      
philosophy that commends itself to the  
beastly ,caliban1 as he sprawls in the  
mire with small eft things creeping down
 his back4 ,his half-fledged mind can   
conceive no higher principle of         
action--nothing more artistic1 nothing  
more masterful--than wanton mockery1 and
 naturally he attributes it to his ,god2
 it is for him a sufficient explanation 
of that little fragment of the ,cosmic  
,process with which he comes into       
contact4     ,illustration     ,,iv     
,can it be that the ,cosmic ,process has

 no ,relation to ,moral ,ends8   ,but as
 long as we confine our attention to the
 universal struggle for life and the    
survival of the fittest1 without certain
 qualifications presently to be         
mentioned1 it is difficult for the most 
profound intelligence to arrive at      
conclusions much more satisfactory than 
,caliban's4 ,if the spirit shown in     
,nature's works as thus contemplated is 
not one of wanton mockery1 it seems at  
any rate to be a spirit of stolid       
indifference4 ,it indicates a ,blind    
,force rather than a ,beneficent ,wisdom
 at the source of things4 ,it is in some
 such mood as this that ,huxley tells   
us1 in his famous address delivered at  
,oxford1 in #ahic1 that there is no     
sanction for morality in the ,cosmic    
,process4 ,men in society1 he says1 are 
undoubtedly subject to the cosmic       
process4 ,as among other animals1       
multiplication goes on without cessation
 and involves severe competition for the
 means of support4 ,the struggle for    

existence tends to eliminate those less 
fitted to adapt themselves to the       
circumstances of their existence4 ,the  
strongest1 the most self-assertive1 tend
 to tread down the weaker4444 ,social   
progress means a checking of the cosmic 
process at every step and the           
substitution for it of another1 which   
may be called the ethical process2 the  
end of which is not the survival of     
those who may happen to be the fittest1 
in respect of the whole of the          
conditions which exist1 but of those who
 are ethically the best4 ,again1 says   
,huxley1 let us understand1 once for    
all1 that the ethical progress of       
society depends1 not on imitating the   
cosmic process1 still less in running   
away from it1 but in combating it4 ,and 
again he tells us that while the moral  
sentiments have undoubtedly been        
evolved1 yet since the immoral          
sentiments have no less been evolved1   
there is so far as much natural sanction
 for the one as for the other4 ,and yet 

again1 the cosmic process has no sort of
 relation to moral ends4  ,when these   
statements were first made they were    
received with surprise1 and they have   
since called forth much comment1 for    
they sound like a retreat from the      
position which an evolutionist is       
expected to hold4 ,they distinctly      
assert a breach of continuity between   
evolution in general and the evolution  
of ,man in particular2 and thus they    
have carried joy to the hearts of sundry
 theologians1 of the sort that like to  
regard ,man as an infringer upon        
,nature4 ,if there is no natural        
sanction for morality1 then the sanction
 must be supernatural1 and forthwith    
such theologians greet ,huxley as an    
ally6  ,they are mistaken1 however4     
,huxley does not really mean to assert  
any such breach of continuity as is here
 suggested4 ,in a footnote to his       
printed address he makes a qualification
 which really cancels the group of      
statements ,i have quoted4 ,of course1  

says ,huxley1 strictly speaking1 social 
life and the ethical process1 in virtue 
of which it advances toward perfection1 
are part and parcel of the general      
process of evolution4 ,of course they   
are2 and of course the general process  
of evolution is the cosmic process1 it  
is ,nature's way of doing things4 ,but  
when my dear ,huxley a moment ago was   
saying that the cosmic process has no   
sort of relation to moral ends1 he was  
using the phrase in a more restricted   
sense2 he was using it as equivalent to 
what ,darwin called natural selection1  
what ,spencer called survival of the    
fittest1 which is only one part of the  
cosmic process4 ,now most assuredly     
survival of the fittest1 as such1 has no
 sort of relation to moral ends4 ,beauty
 and ugliness1 virtue and vice1 are all 
alike to it4 ,side by side with the     
exquisite rose flourishes the hideous   
tarantula1 and in too many cases the    
villain's chances of livelihood are     
better than the saints4 ,as ,i said a   

while ago1 if we confine our attention  
to the survival of the fittest in the   
struggle for existence1 we are not      
likely to arrive at conclusions much    
more satisfactory than ,caliban's       
,as it likes me each time1 ,i do3 ,so   
,he4  ,in such a universe we may look in
 vain for any sanction for morality1 any
 justification for love and             
self-sacrifice2 we find no hope in it1  
no consolation2 there is not even       
dignity in it1 nothing whatever but     
resistless all-producing and            
all-consuming energy4  ,such a universe1
 however1 is not the one in which we    
live4 ,in the cosmic process of         
evolution1 whereof our individual lives 
are part and parcel1 there are other    
agencies at work besides natural        
selection1 and the story of the struggle
 for existence is far from being the    
whole story4 ,i have thus far been      
merely stating difficulties2 it is now  
time to point out the direction in which
 we are to look for a solution of them4 

,i think it can be shown that the       
principles of morality have their roots 
in the deepest foundations of the       
universe1 that the cosmic process is    
ethical in the profoundest sense1 that  
in that far-off morning of the world1   
when the stars sang together and the    
sons of ,god shouted for joy1 the beauty
 of self-sacrifice and disinterested    
love formed the chief burden of the     
mighty theme4     ,illustration     ,v  
,first ,stages in the ,genesis of ,man  
,let us begin by drawing a correct      
though slight outline sketch of what the
 cosmic process of evolution has been4  
,it is not strange that when biologists 
speak of evolution they should often or 
usually have in mind simply the         
modifications wrought in plants and     
animals by means of natural selection4  
,for it was by calling attention to such
 modifications that ,darwin discovered a
 true cause of the origin of species by 
physiological descent from allied       
species4 ,thus was demonstrated the fact

 of evolution in its most important     
province2 men of science were convinced 
that the higher forms of life are       
derived from lower forms1 and the old   
notion of special creations was exploded
 once and forever4 ,this was a great    
scientific achievement1 one of the      
greatest known to history1 and it is    
therefore not strange that language     
should often be employed as if          
,evolutionism and ,darwinism were       
synonymous4 ,yet not only are there     
extensive regions in the doctrine of    
evolution about which ,darwin knew very 
little1 but even as regards the genesis 
of species his theory was never         
developed in his own hands so far as to 
account satisfactorily for the genesis  
of man4  ,it must be borne in mind that 
while the natural selection of physical 
variations will go far toward explaining
 the characteristics of all the plants  
and all the beasts in the world1 it     
remains powerless to account for the    
existence of man4 ,natural selection of 

physical variations might go on for a   
dozen eternities without any other      
visible result than new forms of plant  
and beast in endless and meaningless    
succession4 ,the physical variations by 
which man is distinguished from apes are
 not great4 ,his physical relationship  
with the ape is closer than that between
 cat and dog1 which belong to different 
families of the same order2 it is more  
like that between cat and leopard1 or   
between dog and fox1 different genera in
 the same family4 ,but the moment we    
consider the minds of man and ape1 the  
gap between the two is immeasurable4    
,mr4 ,mivart has truly said that1 with  
regard to their total value in nature1  
the difference between man and ape      
transcends the difference between ape   
and blade of grass4 ,i should be        
disposed to go further and say1 that    
while for zological man you can hardly  
erect a distinct family from that of the
 chimpanzee and orang1 on the other     
hand1 for psychological man you must    

erect a distinct kingdom2 nay1 you must 
even dichotomize the universe1 putting  
,man on one side and all things else on 
the other4 ,how can this overwhelming   
contrast between psychical and physical 
difference be accounted for8 ,the clue  
was furnished by ,alfred ,russel        
,wallace1 the illustrious co-discoverer 
of natural selection4 ,wallace saw that 
along with the general development of   
mammalian intelligence a point must have
 been reached in the history of one of  
the primates1 when variations of        
intelligence were more profitable to him
 than variations in body4 ,from that    
time forth that primate's intelligence  
went on by slow increments acquiring new
 capacity1 while his body changed but   
little4 ,when once he could strike fire1
 and chip a flint1 and use a club1 and  
strip off the bear's hide to cover      
himself1 there was clearly no further   
use in thickening his own hide1 or      
lengthening and sharpening his claws4   
,natural selection is the keenest       

capitalist in the universe2 she never   
loses an instant in seizing the most    
profitable place for investment1 and her
 judgment is never at fault4 ,forthwith1
 for a million years or more she        
invested all her capital in the         
psychical variations of this favoured   
primate1 making little change in his    
body except so far as to aid in the     
general result1 until by and by         
something like human intelligence of a  
low grade1 like that of the ,australian 
or the ,andaman islander1 was achieved4 
,the genesis of humanity was by no means
 yet completed1 but an enormous gulf had
 been crossed4  ,after throwing out this
 luminous suggestion ,mr4 ,wallace never
 followed it up as it admitted and      
deserved4 ,it is too much to expect one 
man to do everything1 and his splendid  
studies in the geographical distribution
 of organisms may well have left him    
little time for work in this direction4 
,who can fail to see that the selection 
of psychical variations1 to the         

comparative neglect of physical         
variations1 was the opening of a new and
 greater act in the drama of creation8  
,since that new departure the ,creator's
 highest work has consisted not in      
bringing forth new types of body1 but in
 expanding and perfecting the psychical 
attributes of the one creature in whose 
life those attributes have begun to     
acquire predominance4 ,along this human 
line of ascent there is no occasion for 
any further genesis of species1 all     
future progress must continue to be not 
zological1 but psychological1 organic   
evolution gives place to civilization4  
,thus in the long series of organic     
beings ,man is the last2 the cosmic     
process1 having once evolved this       
masterpiece1 could thenceforth do       
nothing better than to perfect him4     
,illustration     ,,vi  ,the ,central   
,fact in the ,genesis of ,man   ,this   
conclusion1 which follows irresistibly  
from ,wallace's theorem1 that in the    
genesis of ,humanity natural selection  

began to follow a new path1 already     
throws a light of promise over our whole
 subject1 like the rosy dawn of a ,june 
morning4 ,but the explanation of the    
genesis of ,humanity is still far from  
complete4 ,if we compare man with any of
 the higher mammals1 such as dogs and   
horses and apes1 we are struck with     
several points of difference3 first1 the
 greater progressiveness of man1 the    
widening of the interval by which one   
generation may vary from its            
predecessor2 secondly1 the definite     
grouping in societies based on more or  
less permanent family relationships1    
instead of the indefinite grouping in   
miscellaneous herds or packs2 thirdly1  
the possession of articulate speech2    
fourthly1 the enormous increase in the  
duration of infancy1 or the period when 
parental care is needed4 ,twenty-four   
years ago1 in a course of lectures given
 yonder in ,holden ,chapel1 ,i showed   
that the circumstance last named is the 
fundamental one1 and the others are     

derivative4 ,it is the prolonged infancy
 that has caused the progressiveness and
 the grouping into definite societies1  
while the development of language was a 
consequence of the increasing           
intelligence and sociality thus caused4 
,in the genesis of ,humanity the central
 fact has been the increased duration of
 infancy4 ,now1 can we assign for that  
increased duration an adequate cause8 ,i
 think we can4 ,the increase of         
intelligence is itself such a cause4 ,a 
glance at the animal kingdom shows us no
 such thing as infancy among the lower  
orders4 ,it is with warm-blooded birds  
and mammals that the phenomena of       
infancy and the correlative parental    
care really begin4     ,illustration    
,,vii  ,the ,chief ,cause of ,man's     
lengthened ,infancy   ,the reason for   
this is that any creature's ability to  
perceive and to act depends upon the    
registration of experiences in his      
nerve-centres4 ,it is either individual 
or ancestral experience that is thus    

registered2 or1 strictly speaking1 it is
 both4 ,it is of the first importance   
that this point should be clearly       
understood1 and therefore a few words of
 elementary explanation will not be     
superfluous4  ,when you learn to play   
the piano1 you gradually establish      
innumerable associations between printed
 groups of notes and the corresponding  
keys on the key-board1 and you also     
train the fingers to execute a vast     
number of rapid and complicated motions4
 ,the process is full of difficulty1 and
 involves endless repetition4 ,after    
some years perhaps you can play at sight
 and with almost automatic ease a       
polonaise of ,liszt or a ballad of      
,chopin4 ,now this result is possible   
only because of a bodily change which   
has taken place in you4 ,countless      
molecular alterations have been wrought 
in the structure of sundry nerves and   
muscles1 especially in the gray matter  
of sundry ganglia1 or nerve-centres4    
,every ganglion concerned in the needful

 adjustments of eyes and fingers and    
wrists1 or in the perception of musical 
sounds1 has undergone a change more or  
less profound4 ,the nature of the change
 is largely a matter of speculation2 but
 that point need not in any way concern 
us4 ,it is enough for us to know that   
there is such a change1 and that it is a
 registration of experiences4 ,the      
pianist has registered in the intimate  
structure of his nervous system a world 
of experiences entirely foreign to      
persons unfamiliar with the piano2 and  
upon this registration his capacity     
depends4  ,now the same explanation     
applies to all bodily movements         
whatever1 whether complicated or simple4
 ,in writing1 in walking1 in talking1 we
 are making use of nervous registrations
 that have been brought about by an     
accumulation of experiences4 ,to pick up
 a pencil from the table may seem a very
 simple act1 yet a baby cannot do it4   
,it has been made possible only by the  
education of the eyes1 of the muscles   

that move the eyes1 of the arm and hand1
 and of the nerve-centres that          
coordinate one group of movements with  
another4 ,all this multiform education  
has consisted in a gradual registration 
of experiences4 ,in like manner all the 
actions of man upon the world about him 
are made up of movements1 and every such
 movement becomes possible only when a  
registration is effected in sundry      
nerve-centres4  ,but this is not the    
whole story4 ,the case is undoubtedly   
the same with those visceral movements1 
involuntary and in great part           
unconscious1 which sustain life2 the    
beating of the heart1 the expansion and 
contraction of the lungs1 the slight    
changes of calibre in the blood-vessels1
 even the movements of secretion that   
take place in glands4 ,all these actions
 are governed by nerves1 and these      
nerves have had to be educated to their 
work4 ,this education has been a        
registration of experiences chiefly     
ancestral1 throughout an enormous past1 

practically since the beginnings of     
vertebrate life4  ,with the earlier and 
simpler forms of animal existence these 
visceral movements are the only ones1 or
 almost the only ones1 that have to be  
made4 ,presently the movements of limbs 
and sense organs come to be added1 and  
as we rise in the animal scale1 these   
movements come to be endlessly various  
and complex1 and by and by implicate the
 nervous system more and more deeply in 
complex acts of perception1 memory1     
reasoning1 and volition4 ,obviously1    
therefore1 in the development of the    
individual organism the demands of the  
nervous system upon the vital energies  
concerned in growth must come to be of  
paramount importance1 and in providing  
for them the entire embryonic life must 
be most profoundly and variously        
affected4 ,though we may be unable to   
follow the processes in detail1 the     
truth of this general statement is plain
 and undeniable4  ,i say1 then1 that    
when a creature's intelligence is low1  

and its experience very meagre1         
consisting of a few simple perceptions  
and acts that occur throughout life with
 monotonous regularity1 all the         
registration of this experience gets    
effected in the nerve-centres of its    
offspring before birth1 and they come   
into the world fully equipped for the   
battle of life1 like the snapping       
turtle1 which snaps with decisive vigour
 as soon as it emerges from the egg4    
,nothing is left plastic to be finished 
after birth1 and so the life of each    
generation is almost an exact repetition
 of its predecessor4 ,but when a        
creature's intelligence is high1 and its
 experience varied and complicated1 the 
registration of all this experience in  
the nerve-centres of its offspring does 
not get accomplished before birth4      
,there is not time enough4 ,the most    
important registrations1 such as those  
needed for breathing and swallowing and 
other indispensable acts1 are fully     
effected2 others1 such as those needed  

for handling and walking1 are but       
partially effected2 others1 such as     
those involved in the recognition of    
creatures not important as enemies or   
prey1 are left still further from       
completion4 ,much is left to be done by 
individual experience after birth4 ,the 
animal1 when first born1 is a baby      
dependent upon its mother's care4 ,at   
the same time its intelligence is far   
more plastic1 and it remains far more   
teachable1 than the lower animal that   
has no babyhood4 ,dogs and horses1 lions
 and elephants1 often increase in       
sagacity until late in life2 and so do  
apes1 which1 along with a higher        
intelligence than any other dumb        
animals1 have a much longer babyhood4   
,we are now prepared to appreciate the  
marvellous beauty of ,nature's work in  
bringing ,man upon the scene4 ,nowhere  
is there any breach of continuity in the
 cosmic process4 ,first we have natural 
selection at work throughout the organic
 world1 bringing forth millions of      

species of plant and animal1 seizing    
upon every advantage1 physical or       
mental1 that enables any species to     
survive in the universal struggle4 ,so  
far as any outward observer1 back in the
 ,cretaceous or early ,eocene periods1  
could surmise1 this sort of confusion   
might go on forever4 ,but all at once1  
perhaps somewhere in the upper ,eocene  
or lower ,miocene1 it appears that among
 the primates1 a newly developing family
 already distinguished for prehensile   
capabilities1 one genus is beginning to 
sustain itself more by mental craft and 
shiftiness than by any physical         
characteristic4 ,forthwith does natural 
selection seize upon any and every      
advantageous variation in this craft and
 shiftiness1 until this favoured genus  
of primates1 this ,homo ,alalus1 or     
speechless man1 as we may call him1     
becomes preminent for sagacity1 as the  
mammoth is preminent for bulk1 or the   
giraffe for length of neck4             
,illustration     ,,viii  ,some of its  

,effects   ,in doing this1 natural      
selection has unlocked a door and let in
 a new set of causal agencies4 ,as ,homo
 ,alalus grows in intelligence and      
variety of experience1 his helpless     
babyhood becomes gradually prolonged1   
and passes not into sudden maturity1 but
 into a more or less plastic            
intermediate period of youth4           
,individual experience1 as contrasted   
with ancestral experience1 counts for   
much more than ever before in shaping   
his actions1 and thus he begins to      
become progressive4 ,he can learn many  
more new ways of doing things in a      
hundred thousand years than any other   
creature could have done in a much      
longer time4 ,thus the rate of progress 
is enhanced1 the increasing intelligence
 of ,homo ,alalus further lengthens his 
plastic period of life1 and this in turn
 further increases his intelligence and 
emphasizes his individuality4 ,the      
evidence is abundant that ,homo ,alalus1
 like his simian cousins1 was a         

gregarious creature1 and it is not      
difficult to see how1 with increasing   
intelligence1 the gestures and grunts   
used in the horde for signalling must   
come to be clothed with added           
associations of meaning1 must gradually 
become generalized as signs of          
conceptions4 ,this invention of spoken  
language1 the first invention of nascent
 humanity1 remains to this day its most 
fruitful invention4 ,henceforth         
ancestral experience could not simply be
 transmitted through its inheritable    
impress upon the nervous system1 but its
 facts and lessons could become external
 materials and instruments of education4
 ,then the children of ,homo ,alalus1 no
 longer speechless1 began to accumulate 
a fund of tradition1 which in the       
fulness of time was to bloom forth in   
history and poetry1 in science and      
theology4 ,from the outset the          
acquisition of speech must greatly have 
increased the rate of progress1 and     
enhanced the rudimentary sociality4     

,with the lengthening of infancy the    
period of maternal help and watchfulness
 must have lengthened in correspondence4
 ,natural selection must keep those two 
things nicely balanced1 or the species  
would soon become extinct4 ,but ,homo   
,alalus had not only a mother1 but      
brethren and sisters2 and when the      
period of infancy became sufficiently   
long1 there were a series of ,homunculi 
,alali1 the eldest of whom still needed 
more or less care while the third and   
the fourth were arriving upon the scene4
 ,in this way the sentiment of maternity
 became abiding4 ,the cow has strong    
feelings of maternal affection for      
periods of a few weeks at a time1 but   
lapses into indifference and probably   
cannot distinguish her grown-up calves  
as sustaining any nearer relation to    
herself than other members of the herd4 
,but ,femina ,alala1 with her vastly    
enlarged intelligence1 is called upon   
for the exercise of maternal affection  
until it becomes a permanent part of her

 nature4 ,in the same group of          
circumstances begins the permanency of  
the marital relation4 ,the              
warrior-hunter grows accustomed to      
defending the same wife and children and
 to helping them in securing food4      
,cases of what we may term wedlock1     
arising in this way1 occur sporadically 
among apes2 its thorough establishment1 
however1 was not achieved until after   
the genesis of ,humanity had been       
completed in most other respects4 ,the  
elaborate researches of ,westermarck    
have proved that permanent marriage     
exists even among savages2 it did not   
prevail1 however1 until the advanced    
stage of culture represented by the     
,aztecs in aboriginal ,america and the  
,neolithic peoples of ancient ,europe4  
,as for strict monogamy1 it is a        
comparatively late achievement of       
civilization4 ,what the increased and   
multiplied duration of infancy at first 
accomplished was the transformation of  
miscellaneous hordes of ,homines ,alali 

into organized clans recognizing kinship
 through the mother1 as exemplified     
among nearly all ,american ,indians when
 observed by ,europeans4  ,thus by      
gradual stages we have passed from      
four-footed existence into ,human       
,society1 and once more ,i would        
emphasize the fact that nowhere do we   
find any breach of continuity1 but one  
factor sets another in operation1 which 
in turn reacts upon the first1 and so on
 in a marvellously harmonious consensus4
 ,surely if there is anywhere in the    
universe a story matchless for its      
romantic interest1 it is the story of   
the genesis of ,man1 now that we are at 
length beginning to be able to decipher 
it4 ,we see that there is a good deal   
more in it than mere natural selection4 
,at bottom1 indeed1 it is all a process 
of survival of the fittest1 but the     
secondary agencies we have been         
considering have brought us to a point  
where our conception of the ,struggle   
for ,life must be enlarged4 ,out of the 

manifold compounding and recompounding  
of primordial clans have come the       
nations of mankind in various degrees of
 civilization1 but already in the clan  
we find the ethical process at work4    
,the clan has a code of morals well     
adapted to the conditions amid which it 
exists4 ,there is an ethical sentiment  
in the clan2 its members have duties    
toward it2 it punishes sundry acts even 
with death1 and rewards or extols sundry
 other acts4 ,we are1 in short1 in an   
ethical atmosphere1 crude and stifling1 
doubtless1 as compared with that of a   
modern ,christian homestead1 but still  
unquestionably ethical4                 
,illustration     ,,ix  ,origin of      
,moral ,ideas and ,sentiments   ,now1   
here at last1 in encountering the       
ethical process at work1 have we        
detected a breach of continuity8 ,has   
the moral sentiment been flung in from  
outside1 or is it a natural result of   
the cosmic process we have been         
sketching8 ,clearly it is the latter4   

,there has been no breach of continuity4
 ,when the prolongation of infancy      
produced the clan1 there naturally arose
 reciprocal necessities of behaviour    
among the members of the clan1 its      
mothers and children1 its hunters and   
warriors4 ,if such reciprocal           
necessities were to be disregarded the  
clan would dissolve1 and dissolution    
would be general destruction4 ,for1 bear
 in mind1 the clan1 when once evolved1  
becomes the unit whose preservation is  
henceforth the permanent necessity4 ,it 
is infancy that has made it so4 ,a      
miscellaneous horde1 with brief         
infancies for its younger members1 may  
survive a very extensive slaughter2 but 
in a clan1 where the proportion of      
helpless children is much greater1 and a
 considerable division of labour between
 nurses and warriors has become         
established1 the case is different4 ,an 
amount or degree of calamity sufficient 
to break up its organization will       
usually mean total ruin4 ,hence1 when   

,nature's travail has at length brought 
forth the clan1 its requirements        
forthwith become paramount1 and each    
member's conduct from babyhood must     
conform to them4 ,natural selection     
henceforth invests her chief capital in 
the enterprise of preserving the clan4  
,in that primitive social unit lie all  
the potentiality and promise of ,human  
,society through untold future ages4 ,so
 for age after age those clans in which 
the conduct of the individuals is best  
subordinated to the general welfare are 
sure to prevail over clans in which the 
subordination is less perfect4 ,as the  
maternal instinct had been cultivated   
for thousands of generations before     
clanship came into existence1 so for    
many succeeding ages of turbulence the  
patriotic instinct1 which prompts to the
 defence of home1 was cultivated under  
penalty of death4 ,clans defended by    
weakly loyal or cowardly warriors were  
sure to perish4 ,unflinching bravery and
 devoted patriotism were virtues        

necessary to the survival of the        
community1 and were thus preserved until
 at the dawn of historic times1 in the  
most grandly militant of clan societies1
 we find the word virtus connoting just 
these qualities1 and no sooner does the 
fateful gulf yawn open in the forum than
 a ,curtius joyfully leaps into it1 that
 the commonwealth may be preserved from 
harm4  ,now the moment a man's voluntary
 actions are determined by conscious or 
unconscious reference to a standard     
outside of himself and his selfish      
motives1 he has entered the world of    
ethics1 he has begun to live in a moral 
atmosphere4 ,egoism has ceased to be all
 in all1 and altruism--it is an         
ugly-sounding word1 but seems to be the 
only one available--altruism has begun  
to assert its claim to sovereignty4 ,in 
the earlier and purely animal stages of 
existence it was right enough for each  
individual to pursue pleasure and avoid 
pain2 it did not endanger the welfare of
 the species1 but on the contrary it    

favoured that welfare2 in its origin    
avoidance of pain was the surest        
safeguard for the perpetuation of life1 
and with due qualifications that is     
still the case4 ,but as soon as         
sociality became established1 and       
,nature's supreme end became the        
maintenance of the clan organization1   
the standard for the individual's       
conduct became shifted1 permanently and 
forever shifted4 ,limits were interposed
 at which pleasure must be resigned and 
pain endured1 even certain death        
encountered1 for the sake of the clan2  
perhaps the individual did not always   
understand it in that way1 but at all   
events it was for the sake of some rule 
recognized in the clan1 some rule which1
 as his mother and all his kin had from 
his earliest childhood inculcated upon  
him1 ought to be obeyed4 ,this          
conception of ought1 of obligation1 of  
duty1 of debt to something outside of   
self1 resulted from the shifting of the 
standard of conduct outside of the      

individual's self4 ,once thus           
externalized1 objectivized1 the ethical 
standard demanded homage from the       
individual4 ,it furnished the rule for a
 higher life than one dictated by mere  
selfishness4 ,speaking after the manner 
of naturalists1 ,i here use the phrase  
higher life advisedly4 ,it was the kind 
of life that was conducive to the       
preservation and further development of 
the highest form of animate existence   
that had been attained4 ,it appears to  
me that we begin to find for ethics the 
most tremendous kind of sanction in the 
nature of the cosmic process4  ,a word  
of caution may be needed4 ,it is not for
 a moment to be supposed that when      
primitive men began crudely shaping     
their conduct with reference to a       
standard outside of self1 they did so as
 the result of meditation1 or with any  
realizing sense of what they were doing4
 ,that has never been the method of     
evolution4 ,its results steal upon the  
world noiselessly and unobserved1 and   

only after they have long been with us  
does reason employ itself upon them4    
,the wolf does not eat the lamb because 
he regards a flesh diet as necessary to 
his health and activity1 but because he 
is hungry1 and1 like ,mr4 ,harold       
,skimpole1 he likes lamb4 ,it was no    
intellectual perception of needs and    
consequences that lengthened the        
maternal instinct with primeval mothers 
as the period of infancy lengthened4    
,nor was it any such intellectual       
perception that began to enthrone ,i    
ought in the place of ,i wish4 ,if in   
the world's recurrent crises ,nature had
 waited to be served by the flickering  
lamp of reason1 the story would not have
 been what it is4 ,her method has been1 
with the advent of a new situation1 to  
modify the existing group of instincts2 
and this work she will not let be       
slighted2 in her train follows the      
lictor with the symbols of death1 and   
there is neither pity nor relenting4 ,in
 the primeval warfare between clans1    

those in which the instincts were not so
 modified as to shift the standard of   
conduct outside of the individual's self
 must inevitably have succumbed and     
perished under the pressure of those in 
which the instincts had begun to        
experience such modification4 ,the moral
 law grew up in the world not because   
anybody asked for it1 but because it was
 needed for the world's work4 ,if it is 
not a product of the cosmic process1 it 
would be hard to find anything that     
could be so called4     ,illustration   
,x  ,the ,cosmic ,process exists purely 
for the ,sake of ,moral ,ends   ,i have 
not undertaken to make my outline sketch
 of the genesis of ,humanity approach to
 completeness1 but only to present      
enough salient points to make a closely 
connected argument in showing how       
morality is evolved in the cosmic       
process and sanctioned by it4 ,in a more
 complete sketch it would be necessary  
to say something about the genesis of   
,religion4 ,one of the most interesting1

 and in my opinion one of the most      
profoundly significant1 facts in the    
whole process of evolution is the first 
appearance of religious sentiment at    
very nearly the same stage at which the 
moral law began to grow up4 ,to the     
differential attributes of ,humanity    
already considered there needs to be    
added the possession of religious       
sentiment and religious ideas4 ,we may  
safely say that this is the most        
important of all the distinctions       
between ,man and other animals2 for to  
say so is simply to epitomize the whole 
of human experience as recorded in      
history1 art1 and literature4 ,along    
with the rise from gregariousness to    
incipient sociality1 along with the     
first stammerings of articulate speech1 
along with the dawning discrimination   
between right and wrong1 came the       
earliest feeble groping toward a world  
beyond that which greets the senses1 the
 first dim recognition of the ,spiritual
 ,power that is revealed in and through 

the visible and palpable realm of       
nature4 ,and universally since that time
 the notion of ,ethics has been         
inseparably associated with the notion  
of ,religion1 and the sanction for      
,ethics has been held to be closely     
related with the world beyond phenomena4
 ,there are philosophers who maintain   
that with the further progress of       
enlightenment this close relation will  
cease to be asserted1 that ,ethics will 
be divorced from ,religion1 and that the
 groping of the ,human ,soul after its  
,god will be condemned as a mere        
survival from the errors of primitive   
savagery1 a vain and idle reaching out  
toward a world of mere phantoms4 ,i     
mention this opinion merely to express  
unqualified and total dissent from it4  
,i believe it can be shown that one of  
the strongest implications of the       
doctrine of evolution is the            
,everlasting ,reality of ,religion4     
,but we have not time at present for    
entering upon so vast a subject4 ,let   

this reference suffice to show that it  
has not been passed over or forgotten in
 my theory of the genesis of ,humanity4 
,in an account of the evolution of the  
religious sentiment1 its first          
appearance as coeval1 or nearly so1 with
 the beginnings of the ethical process  
would assume great importance4 ,we have 
here been concerned purely with the     
ethical process itself1 which we have   
found to be--as ,huxley truly says in   
his footnote--part and parcel of the    
general process of evolution4 ,our      
historical survey of the genesis of     
,humanity seems to show very forcibly   
that a society of ,human ,souls living  
in conformity to a perfect ,moral ,law  
is the end toward which1 ever since the 
time when our solar system was a patch  
of nebulous vapour1 the cosmic process  
has been aiming4 ,after our cooling     
planet had become the seat of organic   
life1 the process of natural selection  
went on for long ages seemingly1 but not
 really at random2 for our retrospect   

shows that its ultimate tendency was    
towards singling out one creature and   
exalting his intelligence4  ,now we have
 seen that this increase of intelligence
 itself1 by entailing upon ,man the     
helplessness of infancy1 led directly to
 the production of those social         
conditions that called the ethical      
process into play and set it actively to
 work4 ,thus we may see the absurdity of
 trying to separate the moral nature of 
,man from the rest of his nature1 and to
 assign for it a separate and           
independent history4 ,the essential     
solidarity in the cosmic process will   
admit of no such fanciful detachment of 
one part from another4 ,all parts are   
involved one in another4 ,again1 the    
ethical process is not only part and    
parcel of the cosmic process1 but it is 
its crown and consummation4 ,toward the 
spiritual perfection of ,humanity the   
stupendous momentum of the cosmic       
process has all along been tending4     
,that spiritual perfection is the true  

goal of evolution1 the divine end that  
was involved in the beginning4 ,when    
,huxley asks us to believe that the     
cosmic process has no sort of relation  
to moral ends1 ,i feel like replying    
with the question1 ,does not the cosmic 
process exist purely for the sake of    
moral ends8 ,subtract from the universe 
its ethical meaning1 and nothing remains
 but an unreal phantom1 the figment of  
false metaphysics4  ,we have now arrived
 at a position from which a glimmer of  
light is thrown upon some of the dark   
problems connected with the moral       
government of the world4 ,we can begin  
to see why misery and wrongdoing are    
permitted to exist1 and why the creative
 energy advances by such slow and       
tortuous methods toward the fulfilment  
of its divine purpose4 ,in order to     
understand these things1 we must ask1   
,what is the ultimate goal of the       
ethical process8 ,according to the      
utilitarian philosophy that goal is the 
completion of human happiness4 ,but this

 interpretation soon refutes itself4 ,a 
world of completed happiness might well 
be a world of quiescence1 of stagnation1
 of automatism1 of blankness2 the       
dynamics of evolution would have no     
place in it4 ,but suppose we say that   
the ultimate goal of the ethical process
 is the perfecting of human character8  
,this form of statement contains far    
more than the other4 ,consummation of   
happiness is a natural outcome of the   
perfecting of character1 but that       
perfecting can be achieved only through 
struggle1 through discipline1 through   
resistance4 ,it is for him that         
overcometh that the crown of life is    
reserved4 ,the consummate product of a  
world of evolution is the character that
 creates happiness1 that is replete with
 dynamic possibilities of fresh life and
 activity in directions forever new4    
,such a character is the reflected image
 of ,god1 and in it are contained the   
promise and potency of life everlasting4
  ,no such character could be produced  

by any act of special creation in a     
garden of ,eden4 ,it must be the        
consummate efflorescence of long ages of
 evolution1 and a world of evolution is 
necessarily characterized by slow       
processes1 many of which to a looker-on 
seem like tentative experiments1 with an
 enormous sacrifice of ephemeral forms  
of life4 ,thus while the ,earth ,spirit 
goes on1 unhasting1 yet unresting1      
weaving in the loom of ,time the visible
 garment of ,god1 we begin to see that  
even what look like failures and        
blemishes have been from the outset     
involved in the accomplishment of the   
all-wise and all-holy purpose1 the      
perfecting of the spiritual ,man in the 
likeness of his ,heavenly ,father4      
,these points will receive further      
indirect illustration as we complete our
 outline sketch of the cosmic process in
 the past4 ,it is self-evident that in  
the production of an ethical character1 
altruistic feelings and impulses must   
coperate4 ,let us look1 then1 for some  

of the beginnings of altruism in the    
course of the evolution of life4        
,illustration     ,,xi  ,maternity and  
the ,evolution of ,altruism   ,from an  
early period of the life-history of our 
planet1 the preservation of the species 
had obviously become quite as imperative
 an end as the preservation of          
individuals2 one is at first inclined to
 say more imperative1 but if we pause   
long enough to remember that total      
failure to preserve individuals would be
 equivalent to immediate extinction of  
the species1 we see that the one        
requirement is as indispensable as the  
other4 ,individuals must be preserved1  
and the struggle for life is between    
them2 species must be preserved1 and in 
the rivalry those have the best chance  
in which the offspring are either most  
redundant in numbers or are best cared  
for4 ,in plants and animals of all but  
the higher types1 the offspring are     
spores or seeds1 larv or spawn1 or      
self-maturing eggs4 ,in the absence of  

parental care the persistence of the    
species is ensured by the enormous      
number of such offspring4 ,a single     
codfish1 in a single season1 will lay   
six million eggs1 nearly all of which   
perish1 of course1 or else in a few     
years the ocean could not hold all the  
codfishes4 ,but the princess in the     
,arabian tale1 who fought with the      
malignant ,jinni1 could not for her life
 pick up all the scattered seeds of the 
pomegranate2 and in like manner of the  
codfish eggs1 one in a million or so    
escapes and the species is maintained4  
,but in the highest types of animal life
 in birds and mammals--with their       
four-chambered hearts1 completely       
arterialized blood1 and enhanced        
consciousness--parental care becomes    
effective in protecting the offspring1  
and the excessive production diminishes4
 ,with birds1 the necessity of          
maintaining a high temperature for the  
eggs leads to the building of nests1 to 
a division of labour in the securing of 

food1 to the development of a temporary 
maternal instinct1 and to conjugal      
alliances which in some birds last for a
 lifetime4 ,as the eggs become          
effectively guarded the number          
diminishes1 till instead of millions    
there are half a dozen4 ,when it comes  
to her more valuable products1 ,nature  
is not such a reckless squanderer after 
all4 ,so with mammals1 for the most part
 the young are in litters of half a     
dozen or so2 but in ,man1 with his      
prolonged and costly infancy parental   
care reaches its highest development and
 concentration in rearing children one  
by one4  ,from the dawn of life1 ,i need
 hardly say1 all the instincts that have
 contributed to the preservation of     
offspring must have been favoured and   
cultivated by natural selection1 and in 
many cases even in types of life very   
remote from ,humanity1 such instincts   
have prompted to very different actions 
from such as would flow from the mere   
instinct of self-preservation4 ,if you  

thrust your walking-stick into an       
ant-heap1 and watch the wild hurry and  
confusion that ensues when part of the  
interior is laid bare1 you will see that
 all the workers are busy in moving the 
larv into places of safety4 ,it is not  
exactly a maternal instinct1 for the    
workers are not mothers1 but it is an   
altruistic instinct involving acts of   
self-devotion4 ,so in the case of fish  
that ascend rivers or bays at spawning  
time1 the actions of the whole shoal are
 determined by a temporarily predominant
 instinct that tends towards an         
altruistic result4 ,in these and lower  
grades of life there is already         
something at work besides the mere      
struggle for life between individuals2  
there is something more than mere       
contention and slaughter2 there is the  
effort towards cherishing another life  
than one's own4 ,in these regions of    
animate existence we catch glimpses of  
the cosmic roots of love and            
self-sacrifice4 ,for the simplest and   

rudest productions of ,nature mere      
egoism might suffice1 but to the        
achievement of any higher aim some      
adumbration of altruism was             
indispensable4  ,before such divine     
things as love and self-sacrifice could 
spring up from their cosmic roots and   
put forth their efflorescence1 it was   
necessary that conscious personal       
relations should become established     
between mother and infant4 ,we have     
already observed the critical importance
 of these relations in the earliest     
stages of the evolution of human        
society4 ,we may now add that the       
relation between mother and child must  
have furnished the first occasion for   
the sustained and regular development of
 the altruistic feelings4 ,the capacity 
for unselfish devotion called forth in  
that relation could afterward be        
utilized in the conduct of individuals  
not thus related to one another4  ,of   
all kinds of altruism the mother's was  
no doubt the earliest2 it was the       

derivative source from which all other  
kinds were by slow degrees developed4   
,in the evolution of these altruistic   
feelings1 therefore1--feelings which are
 an absolutely indispensable constituent
 in the process of ethical              
development1--the first appearance of   
real maternity was an epoch of most     
profound interest and importance in the 
history of life upon the earth4  ,now   
maternity1 in the true and full sense of
 the word1 is something which was not   
realized until a comparatively recent   
stage of the earth's history4 ,god's    
highest work is never perfected save in 
the fulness of time4 ,for countless ages
 there were parents and offspring before
 the slow but never aimless or wanton   
cosmic process had brought into         
existence the conscious personal        
relationship between mother and child4  
,protection of eggs and larv scarcely   
suffices for the evolution of true      
maternity2 the relation of moth to      
caterpillar is certainly very far from  

being a prototype of it4 ,what spectacle
 could be more dreary than that of the  
,jurassic period1 with its lords of     
creation1 the oviparous dinosaurs1      
crawling or bounding over the land1     
splashing amid the mighty waters1       
whizzing bat-like through the air1      
horrible brutes innumerable1 with bulky 
bodies and tiny brains1 clumsy1 coarse  
in fibre1 and cold-blooded4             
,dragons of the prime1     ,that tare   
each other in their slime4  ,the        
remnants of that far-off dismal age have
 been left behind in great abundance1   
and from them we can easily reconstruct 
the loathsome picture of a world of     
dominating egoism1 whose redemption     
through the evolution of true maternity 
had not yet effectively begun4 ,for such
 a world might ,caliban's theology      
indeed seem fitted4 ,nearly nine tenths 
of our planet's past life-history1      
measured in duration1 had passed away   
without achieving any higher result than
 this1--a fact which for impatient      

reformers may have in it some crumbs of 
consolation4  ,for1 though the mills of 
,god grind slowly1 the cosmic process   
was aiming at something better than     
egoism and dinosaurs1 and at some time  
during the long period of the ,chalk    
deposits there began the tremendous     
world-wide rivalry between these dragons
 and the rising class of warm-blooded   
viviparous mammals which had hitherto   
played an insignificant part in the     
world4 ,the very name of this class of  
animals is taken from the function of   
motherhood4 ,the offspring of these     
mammas come into the world as           
recognizable personalities1 so far      
developed that the relation between     
mother and child begins as a relation of
 personal affection4 ,the new-born      
mammal is not an egg nor a caterpillar1 
but a baby1 and the baby's dawning      
consciousness opens up a narrow horizon 
of sympathy and tenderness1 a horizon of
 which the expansion shall in due course
 of ages reveal a new heaven and a new  

earth4 ,at first the nascent altruism   
was crude enough1 but it must have      
sufficed to make mutual understanding   
and cooperation more possible than      
before2 it thus contributed to the      
advancement of mammalian intelligence1  
and prepared the way for gregariousness1
 by and by to culminate in sociality1 as
 already described4 ,in the history of  
creation the mammals were moderns1      
equipped with more effective means of   
ensuring survival than their oviparous  
antagonists4 ,the development of        
complete mammality was no sudden thing4 
,some of the dinosaurs may have been    
ovoviviparous1 like some modern         
serpents4 ,the ,australian duck-bill1 a 
relic of the most ancient incipient     
mammality1 is still oviparous2 the      
opossum and kangaroo preserve the record
 of a stage when viviparousness was but 
partially achieved2 but with the advent 
of the placental mammals the break with 
the old order of things was complete4   
,the results of the struggle are        

registered in the ,eocene rocks4 ,the   
ancient world had found its ,waterloo4  
,gone were the dragons who so long had  
lorded it over both                     
hemispheres1--brontosaurs1 iguanodons1  
plesiosaurs1 llaps1 pterodactyls1--all  
gone2 their uncouth brood quite vanished
 from the earth1 and nothing left alive 
as a reminder1 save a few degenerate    
collateral kin1 such as snakes and      
crocodiles1 objects of dread and        
loathing to higher creatures4 ,never in 
the history of our planet has there been
 a more sweeping victory than that of   
the mammals1 nor has ,nature had any    
further occasion for victories of that  
sort4 ,the mammal remains the highest   
type of animal existence1 and subsequent
 progress has been shown in the         
perfecting of that type where most      
perfectible4     ,illustration     ,,xii
  ,the ,omnipresent ,ethical ,trend     
,with the evolution of true maternity   
,nature was ready to proceed to her     
highest grades of work4 ,intelligence   

was next to be lifted to higher levels1 
and the order of mammals with greatest  
prehensile capacities1 the primates with
 their incipient hands1 were the most   
favourable subjects in which to carry on
 this process4 ,the later stages of the 
marvellous story we have already passed 
in review4 ,we have seen the            
accumulating intelligence lengthen the  
period of infancy1 and thus prolong the 
relations of loving sympathy between    
mother and child2 we have seen the human
 family and human society thus brought  
into existence2 and along therewith we  
have recognized the necessity laid upon 
each individual for conforming his      
conduct to a standard external to       
himself4 ,at this point1 without        
encountering any breach of continuity in
 the cosmic process1 we crossed the     
threshold of the ethical world1 and     
entered a region where civilization1 or 
the gradual perfecting of the spiritual 
qualities1 is henceforth ,nature's      
paramount aim4 ,to penetrate further    

into this region would be to follow the 
progress of civilization1 while the     
primitive canoe develops into the       
,cunard steamship1 the hieroglyphic     
battle-sketch into epics and dramas1    
sun-catcher myths into the ,newtonian   
astronomy1 wandering tribes into mighty 
nations1 the ethics of the clan into the
 moral law for all men4 ,the story shows
 us ,man becoming more and more clearly 
the image of ,god1 exercising creative  
attributes1 transforming his physical   
environment1 incarnating his thoughts in
 visible and tangible shapes all over   
the world1 and extorting from the       
abysses of space the secrets of vanished
 ages4 ,from lowly beginnings1 without  
breach of continuity1 and through the   
cumulative action of minute and         
inconspicuous causes1 the resistless    
momentum of cosmic events has tended    
toward such kind of consummation2 and   
part and parcel of the whole process1   
inseparably wrapped up with every other 
part1 has been the evolution of the     

sentiments which tend to subordinate    
mere egoism to unselfish and moral ends4
  ,a narrow or partial survey might fail
 to make clear the solidarity of the    
cosmic process4 ,but the history of     
creation1 when broadly and patiently    
considered1 brings home to us with fresh
 emphasis the profound truth of what    
,emerson once said1 that the lesson of  
life 444 is to believe what the years   
and the centuries say against the hours2
 to resist the usurpation of            
particulars2 to penetrate to their      
catholic sense4 ,when we have learned   
this lesson1 our misgivings vanish1 and 
we breathe a clear atmosphere of faith4 
,though in many ways ,god's work is     
above our comprehension1 yet those parts
 of the world's story that we can       
decipher well warrant the belief that   
while in ,nature there may be divine    
irony1 there can be no such thing as    
wanton mockery1 for profoundly          
underlying the surface entanglement of  
her actions we may discern the          

omnipresent ethical trend4 ,the moral   
sentiments1 the moral law1 devotion to  
unselfish ends1 disinterested love1     
nobility of soul1--these are ,nature's  
most highly wrought products1 latest in 
coming to maturity2 they are the        
consummation1 toward which all earlier  
prophecy has pointed4 ,we are right1    
then1 in greeting the rejuvenescent     
summer with devout faith and hope4      
,below the surface din and clashing of  
the struggle for life we hear the       
undertone of the deep ethical purpose1  
as it rolls in solemn music through the 
ages1 its volume swelled by every       
victory1 great or small1 of right over  
wrong1 till in the fulness of time1 in  
,god's own time1 it shall burst forth in
 the triumphant chorus of ,humanity     
purified and redeemed4     ,,the        
,,everlasting ,,reality ,,of ,,religion 
,here sits he shaping wings to fly2     
,his heart forebodes a mystery3     ,he 
names the name ,eternity4      ,that    
type of ,perfect in his mind     ,in    

,nature can he nowhere find1     ,he    
sows himself on every wind4      ,he    
seems to hear a ,heavenly ,friend1      
,and through thick veils to apprehend   
,a labour working to an end4            
,,tennyson1 ,the ,two ,voices4          
,illustration     ,i  ,deo erexit       
,voltaire   ,the visitor to ,geneva     
whose studies have made him duly        
acquainted with the most interesting    
human personality of all that are       
associated with that historic city will 
never leave the place without making a  
pilgrimage to the chateau of ,ferney4   
,in that refined and quiet rural        
homestead things still remain very much 
as on the day when the aged ,voltaire   
left it for the last visit to ,paris1   
where his long life was worthily ended  
amid words and deeds of affectionate    
homage4 ,one may sit down at the table  
where was written the most perfect      
prose1 perhaps1 that ever flowed from   
pen1 and look about the little room with
 its evidences of plain living and high 

thinking1 until one seems to recall the 
eccentric figure of the vanished        
,master1 with his flashes of shrewd     
wisdom and caustic wit1 his insatiable  
thirst for knowledge1 his consuming     
hatred of bigotry and oppression1 his   
merciless contempt for shams1 his       
boundless enthusiasm of humanity4 ,as we
 stroll in the park1 that quaint        
presence goes along with us till all at 
once in a shady walk we come upon       
something highly significant and        
characteristic1 the little parish church
 with its ,latin inscription over the   
portal1 ,deo erexit ,voltaire1 i4 e4    
,voltaire built it for ,god1 and as we  
muse upon it1 the piercing eyes and     
sardonic but not unkindly smile seem    
still to follow us4 ,what meant this    
eccentric inscription8  ,when ,voltaire 
became possessor of the manor of        
,ferney1 the church was badly out of    
repair1 and stood where it obstructed   
the view from certain windows of the    
chateau4 ,so he had it cleared away1 and

 built in a better spot the new church  
that is still there4 ,it was duly       
consecrated1 and the ,pope further      
hallowed it with some relics of ancient 
saints1 and there for many a year the   
tenants and dependents of the manor     
assembled for divine service4 ,nowhere  
in ,france had ,voltaire ever seen a    
church dedicated simply to ,god2 it was 
always to ,our ,lady of ,this or ,saint 
,so-and-so of ,that2 always there was   
some intermediary between the devout    
soul and the ,god of its worship4 ,not  
thus should it be with ,voltaire's      
church1 built upon his own estate to    
minister to the spiritual needs of his  
people4 ,it should be dedicated simply  
and without further qualification to the
 worship and service of ,god4           
,furthermore1 it was built and          
dedicated1 not by any ecclesiastical or 
corporate body1 but by the lord of that 
manor1 the individual layman1 ,voltaire4
  ,this1 ,i say1 was highly             
characteristic and significant4 ,it gave

 terse and pointed expression to        
,voltaire's way of looking at such      
things4 ,church and theology were       
ignored1 and the individual soul was    
left alone with its ,god4 ,the          
,protestant reformers and other         
freethinkers had stopped far short of   
this4 ,in place of an infallible ,church
 they had left an infallible ,book2 if  
they rejected transubstantiation1 they  
retained as obligatory such doctrines as
 those of the incarnation and atonement2
 if they laughed at the miracles of     
medival saints1 they would allow no     
discredit to be thrown upon those of the
 apostolic age2 in short1 they left     
standing a large part1 if not the larger
 part1 of the supernatural edifice      
within which the religious mind of      
,europe had so long been sheltered4 ,but
 ,voltaire regarded that whole          
supernatural edifice as so much rubbish 
which was impeding the free development 
of the human mind1 and ought as quickly 
as possible to be torn to pieces and    

cleared away4 ,his emotions as well as  
his reason were concerned in this       
conclusion4 ,organized ,christianity1 as
 it then existed in ,france1 was        
responsible for much atrocious          
injustice1 and in neighbouring lands the
 ,inquisition still existed4            
,ecclesiastical bigotry1 the prejudice  
of ignorance1 whatever tended to hold   
people in darkness and restrain them    
from the free and natural use of their  
faculties1 ,voltaire hated with all the 
intensity of which he was capable4 ,he  
summed it all up in one abstract term   
and personified it as ,the ,infamous1   
and the watchword of that life of       
tireless vigilance was ,crush the       
,infamous6 ,supernatural theology had   
been too often pressed into the service 
of ,the ,infamous1 and for supernatural 
theology ,voltaire could find no place  
in his scheme of things4 ,he lost no    
chance of assailing it with mockery and 
sarcasm made terrible by the earnestness
 of his purpose1 until he came in many  

quarters to be regarded as the most     
inveterate antagonist the ,church had   
ever known4  ,yet among the great men of
 letters in ,france contemporary with   
,voltaire1 the most part went           
immeasurably farther than he1 and went  
in a different direction withal1 for    
they denied the reality of ,religion4   
,few of them1 indeed1 believed in the   
existence of ,god1 or would have had    
anything to do with building a house of 
worship4 ,it is related of ,david ,hume 
that when dining once in a party of     
eighteen at the house of ,baron         
d',holbach1 he expressed a doubt as to  
whether any person could anywhere be    
found to avow himself dogmatically an   
atheist4 ,indeed1 my dear sir1 quoth the
 host1 you are this moment sitting at   
table with seventeen such persons4      
,among that group of philosophers were  
men of great intelligence and lofty     
purpose1 such as ,d',alembert1 ,diderot1
 ,helvtius1 ,condorcet1 ,buffon1 men    
with more of the real spirit of         

,christianity in their natures than     
could be found in half the churches of  
,christendom4 ,the roots of their       
atheism were emotional rather than      
philosophical4 ,it was part of the      
generous but rash and superficial       
impatience with which they disowned all 
connection whatever with a ,church that 
had become subservient to so much that  
was bad4 ,their atheism was one of the  
fruits of the vicious policy which had  
suppressed ,huguenotism in ,france2 it  
was an early instance of what has since 
been often observed1 that materialism   
and atheism are much more apt to        
flourish in ,romanist than in           
,protestant countries4 ,the form of     
religion which is already to some extent
 purified and rationalized awakens no   
such violent revulsion in free-thinking 
minds as the form that is more heavily  
encumbered with remnants of obsolete    
primitive thought4 ,moreover1 the       
rationalizing religion of ,protestant   
countries is commonly found in alliance 

with political freedom4 ,in ,france     
under the ,old ,rgime1 the ,catholic    
religion was stigmatized as an ally of  
despotism1 as well as a congeries of    
absurd doctrines and ceremonies4 ,the   
best minds felt their common sense      
shocked by it no less than their reason4
 ,no very deep thinking was done on the 
subject2 their treatment of it was in   
general extremely shallow4  ,the forms  
which religious sentiment had assumed in
 the ,middle ,ages had become           
unintelligible2 the most highly endowed 
minds were dead to the sublimity of     
,gothic architecture1 and saw nothing   
but grotesque folly in ,dante's poetry4 
,they seriously believed that religious 
doctrines and ecclesiastical government 
were originally elaborate systems of    
fraud1 devised by sagacious and crafty  
tyrants for the sole purpose of         
enslaving the multitude of mankind4 ,no 
discrimination was shown4 ,they were as 
ready to throw away belief in ,god as in
 the miracles of ,st4 ,columba1 and to  

scout at the notion of a future life in 
the same terms as those in which they   
denounced the forged donation of        
,constantine4 ,the flippant ease with   
which they disposed of the greatest     
questions1 in crass ignorance of the    
very nature of the problem to be solved1
 was well illustrated in the remark of  
the astronomer ,lalande1 that he had    
swept the entire heavens with his       
telescope and found no ,god there4 ,a   
similar instance of missing the point   
was furnished about fifty years ago by  
the eminent physiologist ,moleschott1   
when he exclaimed1 ,no thought without  
phosphorus1 and congratulated himself   
that he had forever disposed of the     
human soul4 ,i am inclined to think that
 those are the two remarks most colossal
 in their silliness that ever appeared  
in print4  ,very different in spirit was
 the acute reply of ,laplace when       
reminded by ,napoleon that his great    
treatise on the dynamics of the solar   
system contained no allusion to ,god4   

,sire1 said ,laplace1 ,i had no need of 
that hypothesis4 ,this remark was       
profound in its truth1 for it meant that
 in order to give a specific explanation
 of any single group of phenomena1 it   
will not do to appeal to divine action1 
which is equally the source of all      
phenomena4 ,science can deal only with  
secondary causes4 ,in the eighteenth    
century men of science were learning    
that such is the case2 men like ,diderot
 and ,d',alembert had come to realize   
it1 and they believed that the logical  
result was atheism4 ,this was because   
the only idea of ,god which they had    
ever been taught to entertain was the   
,latin idea of a ,god remote from the   
world and manifested only through       
occasional interferences with the order 
of nature4 ,when they dismissed this    
idea they declared themselves atheists4 
,if they had been familiar with the     
,greek idea of ,god as immanent in the  
world and manifested at every moment    
through the orderly sequence of its     

phenomena1 their conclusions would      
doubtless have been very different4  ,to
 these philosophers ,voltaire's unshaken
 theism seemed a mere bit of eccentric  
conservatism4 ,but along with that queer
 and intensely independent personality  
there went a stronger intellectual grasp
 and a more calm intellectual vision    
than belonged to any other ,frenchman of
 the eighteenth century4 ,in the facts  
of ,nature1 despite the lifeless        
piecemeal fashion in which they were    
then studied1 ,voltaire saw a rational  
principle at work which atheism could in
 nowise account for4 ,to him the        
universe seemed full of evidences of    
beneficent purpose1 and more than once  
he set forth with eloquence and power   
the famous argument from design1 which  
is as old as ,xenophon's ,memorabilia1  
and which received its fullest          
development at the hands of ,paley and  
the authors of the ,bridgewater         
,treatises4 ,there is thus yet another  
significance added to the little church 

at ,ferney4 ,not only was it the sole   
church in ,france dedicated simply to   
,god1 and not only was its builder a    
layman hostile to ecclesiastical        
doctrines and methods1 but he was almost
 alone among the eminent freethinkers of
 his age and country in believing in    
,god and asserting the everlasting      
reality of religion4  ,it is therefore  
that ,i have cited ,voltaire as a kind  
of text for the present discourse2 for  
it is my purpose to show that1 apart    
from all questions of revelation1 the   
light of nature affords us sufficient   
ground for maintaining that religion is 
fundamentally true and must endure      
forever4 ,it appears to me1 moreover1   
that the materialism of the present day 
is merely a tradition handed down from  
the ,french writers whom ,voltaire      
combated4 ,when ,moleschott made his    
silly remark about phosphorus1 it was   
simply an inheritance of silliness from 
,lalande4 ,when ,haeckel tells us that  
the doctrine of evolution forbids us to 

believe in a future life1 it is not     
because he has rationally deduced such a
 conclusion from the doctrine1 but      
because he takes his opinions on such   
matters ready-made from ,ludwig ,bchner1
 who is simply an echo of the eighteenth
 century atheist ,la ,mettrie4 ,we shall
 see that the doctrine of evolution has 
implications very different from what   
,haeckel supposes4  ,but first let me   
observe in passing that in the          
,english-speaking world there has never 
been any such divorce between           
rationalism and religion as in ,france1 
and among the glories of ,english       
literature are such deeply reverent and 
profoundly philosophical writings as    
those of ,hooker and ,chillingworth1 of 
,bishop ,butler and ,jonathan ,edwards1 
and in our own time of ,dr4 ,martineau4 
,nowhere in history1 perhaps1 have faith
 and reason been more harmoniously      
wedded together than in the history of  
,english ,protestantism4 ,but the       
disturbance that affected ,france in the

 age of ,voltaire now affects the whole 
,christian world1 and every question    
connected with religion has been probed 
to depths of which the existence was    
scarcely suspected a century ago4 ,one  
seldom1 indeed1 hears the frivolous     
mockery in which the old ,french writers
 dealt so freely2 that was an ebullition
 of temper called forth by a tyranny    
that had come to be a social nuisance4  
,the scepticism of our day is rather sad
 than frivolous2 it drags people from   
long cherished notions in spite of      
themselves2 it spares but few that are  
active-minded2 it invades the church1   
and does not stop in the pews to listen 
but ascends the pulpit and preaches4    
,there is no refuge anywhere from this  
doubting and testing spirit ,of the age4
 ,in the attitude of civilized men      
towards the world in which we live1 the 
change of front has been stupendous2 the
 old cosmology has been overthrown in   
headlong ruin1 attacks upon doctrines   
have multiplied1 and rituals1 creeds1   

and ,scriptures are overhauled and      
criticised1 until a young generation    
grows up knowing nothing of the sturdy  
faith of its grandfathers save by       
hearsay2 for it sees everything in      
heaven and earth called upon to show its
 credentials4     ,illustration     ,,ii
  ,the ,reign of ,law1 and the ,greek   
,idea of ,god   ,the general effect of  
this intellectual movement has been to  
discredit more than ever before the     
,latin idea of ,god as a power outside  
of the course of nature and occasionally
 interfering with it4 ,in all directions
 the process of evolution has been      
discovered1 working after similar       
methods1 and this has forced upon us the
 belief in the ,unity of ,nature4 ,we   
are thus driven to the ,greek conception
 of ,god as the power working in and    
through nature1 without interference or 
infraction of law4 ,the element of      
chance1 which some atheists formerly    
admitted into their scheme of things1 is
 expelled4 ,nobody would now waste his  

time in theorizing about a fortuitous   
concourse of atoms4 ,we have so far     
spelled out the history of creation as  
to see that all has been done in strict 
accordance with law4 ,the method has    
been the method of evolution1 and the   
more we study it the more do we discern 
in it intelligible coherence4 ,one part 
of the story never gives the lie to     
another part4  ,so beautiful is all this
 orderly coherence1 so satisfying to    
some of our intellectual needs1 that    
many minds are inclined to doubt if     
anything more can be said of the        
universe than that it is a ,reign of    
,law1 an endless aggregate of           
coexistences and sequences4 ,when we say
 that one star attracts another star1 we
 do not really know that there is any   
pulling in the case2 all we know is that
 a piece of cosmical matter in the      
presence of another piece of matter     
alters its space-relations in a certain 
specified way4 ,among the coexistences  
and sequences there is an order which we

 can detect1 and a few thinkers are     
inclined to maintain that this is the   
whole story4 ,such a state of mind1     
which rests satisfied with the mere     
content of observed facts1 without      
seeking to trace their ultimate         
implications1 is the characteristic of  
what ,auguste ,comte called ,positivism4
 ,it is a more refined phase of atheism 
than that of the guests at ,baron       
d',holbach's1 but its adherents are few2
 for the impetus of modern scientific   
thought tends with overwhelming force   
towards the conception of a single      
,first ,cause1 or ,prime ,mover1        
perpetually manifested from moment to   
moment in all the ,protean changes that 
make up the universe4 ,as ,i have       
elsewhere sought to show1 this is       
practically identical with the          
,athanasian conception of the immanent  
,deity4#c ,modern men of science often  
call this view of things ,monism1 but if
 questioned narrowly concerning the     
immanent ,first ,cause1 they reply with 

a general disclaimer of knowledge1 and  
thus entitle themselves to be called by 
,huxley's term ,agnostics4 ,thirty-five 
years ago ,spencer1 taking a hint from  
,sir ,william ,hamilton1 used the phrase
 ,the ,unknowable as an equivalent for  
the immanent ,deity considered per se2  
but ,i always avoid that phrase1 for in 
practice it invariably leads to wrong   
conceptions1 and naturally1 since it    
only expresses one side of the truth4   
,if on the one hand it is impossible for
 the finite ,mind to fathom the         
,infinite1 on the other hand it is      
practically misleading to apply the term
 ,unknowable to the ,deity that is      
revealed in every pulsation of the      
wondrously rich and beautiful life of   
the ,universe4 ,for most persons no     
amount of explanation will prevent the  
use of the word ,unknowable from seeming
 to remove ,deity to an unapproachable  
distance1 whereas the ,deity revealed in
 the process of evolution is the        
ever-present ,god without whom not a    

sparrow falls to the ground1 and whose  
voice is heard in each whisper of       
conscience1 even while his splendour    
dwells in the white ray from yonder star
 that began its earthward flight while  
,abraham's shepherds watched their      
flocks4 ,it is clear that many persons  
have derived from ,spencer's use of the 
word ,unknowable an impression that he  
intends by means of metaphysics to      
refine ,god away into nothing2 whereas  
he no more cherishes any such intention 
than did ,st4 ,paul1 when he asked1 ,who
 hath known the mind of the ,lord1 or   
who hath been his counsellor8--no more  
than ,isaiah did when he declared that  
even as the heavens are higher than the 
earth1 so are ,jehovah's ways higher    
than our ways and his thoughts than our 
thoughts4   ,,footnotes3  #c ,the ,idea 
of ,god as affected by ,modern          
,knowledge1 ,boston1 #ahhe4             
,illustration     ,,iii  ,weakness of   
,materialism   ,just here comes along   
the materialist and asks us some        

questions1 tries to serve on us a kind  
of metaphysical writ of quo warranto4   
,if modern physics leads us inevitably  
to the conception of a single infinite  
,power manifested in all the phenomena  
of the knowable ,universe1 by what      
authority do we identify that ,power    
with the indwelling ,deity as conceived 
by ,st4 ,athanasius8 ,the ,athanasian   
,deity is to some extent fashioned in   
,man's image2 he is1 to say the least1  
like the psychical part of ourselves4   
,after making all possible allowances   
for the gulf which separates that which 
is ,infinite and ,absolute from that    
which is ,finite and ,relative1 an      
essential kinship is asserted between   
,god and the ,human ,soul4 ,by what     
authority1 our materialist will ask1 do 
we assert any such kinship between the  
,human ,soul and the ,power which modern
 physics reveals as active throughout   
the universe8 ,is it not going far      
beyond our knowledge to assert any such 
kinship8 ,and would it not be more      

modest and becoming in us to simply     
designate this ever active universal    
,power by some purely scientific term1  
such as ,force8  ,this argument is      
to-day a very familiar one1 and it wears
 a plausible aspect2 it is couched in a 
spirit of scientific reserve1 which wins
 for it respectful consideration4 ,the  
modest and cautious spirit of science   
has done so much for us1 that it is     
always wise to give due heed to its     
warnings4 ,let us beware of going beyond
 our knowledge1 says the materialist4   
,we know nothing but phenomena as       
manifestations of an indwelling force2  
nor have we any ground for supposing    
that there is anything psychical1 or    
even quasi-psychical1 in the universe   
outside of the individual minds of men  
and other animals4 ,moreover1 continues 
the materialist1 the psychical phenomena
 of which we are conscious--reason1     
memory1 emotion1 volition--are but      
peculiarly conditioned manifestations of
 the same indwelling force which under  

other conditions appears as light or    
heat or electricity4 ,all such          
manifestations are fleeting1 and beyond 
this world of fleeting phenomena we have
 no warrant1 either in science or in    
common sense1 for supposing that        
anything whatever exists4 ,this world   
that is cognizable through the senses is
 all that there is1 and the story of it 
that we can decipher by the aid of      
terrestrial experience is the whole     
story2 the ,unseen ,world is a mere     
figment inherited from the untutored    
fancy of primeval man4 ,such is the     
general view of things which            
,materialism urges upon us with the plea
 of scientific sobriety and caution2 and
 to many minds1 as already observed1 it 
wears a plausible aspect4               
,nevertheless1 when subjected to        
criticism1 this theory of things soon   
loses its sober and plausible appearance
 and is seen to be eminently rash and   
shallow4 ,in the first place1 there is  
no such correlation or equivalence as is

 alleged between physical forces and the
 phenomena of consciousness4 ,the       
correlations between different modes of 
motion have been proved by actual       
quantitative measurement1 and never     
could have been proved in any other way4
 ,we know1 for example1 that heat is a  
mode of motion2 the heat that will raise
 the temperature of a pound of water by 
one degree of ,fahrenheit is exactly    
equivalent to the motion of #ggb pounds 
falling through a distance of one foot4 
,in similar wise we know that light1    
electricity1 and magnetism are modes of 
motion1 transferable one into another2  
and1 although precise measurements have 
not been accomplished1 there is no      
reason for doubting that the changes in 
brain tissue1 which accompany each      
thought and feeling1 are also modes of  
motion1 transferable into the other     
physical modes4 ,but thought and feeling
 themselves1 which can neither be       
weighed nor measured1 do not admit of   
being resolved into modes of motion4    

,they do not enter into the closed      
circuit of physical transformations1 but
 stand forever outside of it1 and       
concentric with that segment of the     
circuit which passes through the brain4 
,it may be that thought and feeling     
could not continue to exist if that     
physical segment of the circuit were    
taken away4 ,it may be that they could4 
,to assume that they could not is surely
 the height of rash presumption4 ,the   
correlation of forces exhibits ,mind as 
in nowise a product of ,matter1 but as  
something in its growth and             
manifestations outside and parallel4 ,it
 is incompatible with the theory that   
the relation of the human soul to the   
body is like that of music to the harp2 
but it is quite compatible with the     
time-honoured theory of the human soul  
as indwelling in the body and escaping  
from it at death4  ,in the second place1
 when we come to the denial of all      
kinship between the human soul and the  
,infinite ,power that is revealed in all

 phenomena1 the materialistic theory    
raises difficulties as great as those   
which it seeks to avoid4 ,the           
difficulties which it wishes to avoid   
are those which inevitably encumber the 
attempt to conceive of ,deity as        
,personality exerting volition and      
cherishing intelligent purpose4 ,such   
difficulties are undeniably great2 nay1 
they are insuperable4 ,when we speak of 
,intelligence and ,will and             
,personality1 we must use these words   
with the meanings in which experience   
has clothed them1 or we shall soon find 
ourselves talking nonsense4 ,the only   
intelligence we know is strictly serial 
in its nature1 and is limited by the    
existence of independent objects of     
cognition4 ,what flight of analogy can  
bear us across the gulf that divides    
such finite intelligence from that      
unlimited ,knowledge to which all things
 past and future are ever present8      
,volition1 as we know it1 implies       
alternative courses of action1          

antecedent motives1 and resulting       
effort4 ,like intelligence1 its         
operations are serial4 ,what1 then1 do  
we really mean1 if we speak of          
omnipresent ,volition achieving at one  
and the same moment an infinite variety 
of ends8 ,so1 too1 with ,personality3   
when we speak of personality that is not
 circumscribed by limits1 are we not    
using language from which all the       
meaning has evaporated8  ,such          
difficulties are insurmountable4 ,words 
which have gained their meanings from   
finite experience of finite objects of  
thought must inevitably falter and fail 
when we seek to apply them to that which
 is ,infinite4 ,but we do not mend      
matters by emptying terms taken from the
 inorganic world rather than from human 
personality4 ,to designate the universal
 ,power by some scientific term1 such as
 ,force1 does not help us in the least4 
,all our experience of force is an      
experience of finite forces antagonized 
by other forces4 ,we can frame no       

conception whatever of ,infinite ,force 
comprising within itself all the myriad 
antagonistic attractions and repulsions 
in which the dynamic universe consists4 
,we go beyond our knowledge when we     
speak of ,infinite ,force quite as much 
as we do when we speak of ,infinite     
,personality4 ,indeed1 no word or phrase
 which we seek to apply to ,deity can be
 other than an extremely inadequate and 
unsatisfactory symbol4 ,from the very   
nature of the case it must always be so1
 and if we once understand the reason   
why1 it need not vex or puzzle us4  ,it 
is not only when we try to speculate    
about ,deity that we find ourselves     
encompassed with difficulties and are   
made to realize how very short is our   
mental tether in some directions4 ,this 
world1 in its commonest aspects1        
presents many baffling problems1 of     
which it is sometimes wholesome that we 
should be reminded4 ,if you look at a   
piece of iron1 it seems solid2 it looks 
as if its particles must be everywhere  

in contact with one another4 ,and yet1  
by hammering1 or by great pressure1 or  
by intense cold1 the piece of iron may  
be compressed1 so that it will occupy   
less space than before4 ,evidently1     
then1 its particles are not in contact1 
but are separated from one another by   
unoccupied tracts of enveloping space4  
,in point of fact1 these particles are  
atoms arranged after a complicated      
fashion in clusters known as molecules4 
,the word atom means something that     
cannot be cut4 ,now1 are these iron     
atoms divisible or indivisible8 ,if they
 are divisible1 then what of the parts  
into which each one can be divided2 are 
they also divisible8 and so on forever4 
,but if these iron atoms are            
indivisible1 how can we conceive such a 
thing8 ,can we imagine two sides so     
close together that no plane of cleavage
 could pass between them8 ,can we       
imagine cohesive tenacity too great to  
be overcome by any assignable disruptive
 force1 and therefore infinite8         

,suppose1 now1 we heat this piece of    
iron to a white heat4 ,scientific       
inquiry has revealed the fact that its  
atom-clusters are floating in an ocean  
of ether1 in which are also floating the
 atom-clusters of other bodies and of   
the air about us4 ,the heating is the   
increase of wave motion in this ether1  
until presently a secondary series of   
intensely rapid waves appear as white   
light4 ,now this ether would seem to be 
of infinite rarity1 since it does not   
affect the weight of bodies1 and yet its
 wave-motions imply an elasticity far   
greater than that of coiled steel4 ,how 
can we imagine such powerful resilience 
combined with such extreme tenuity8     
,these are a few of the difficulties of 
conception in which the study of        
physical science abounds1 and ,i cite   
them because it is wholesome for us to  
bear in mind that such difficulties are 
not confined to theological subjects4   
,they serve to show how our powers of   
conceiving ideas are strictly limited by

 the nature of our experience4 ,the     
illustration just cited from the        
luminiferous ether simply shows how     
during the past century the study of    
radiant forces has introduced us to a   
mode of material existence quite        
different from anything that had        
formerly been known or suspected4 ,in   
this mode of matter we find attributes  
united which all previous experience had
 taught us to regard as contradictory   
and incompatible4 ,yet the facts cannot 
be denied2 hard as we may find it to    
frame the conception1 this light-bearing
 substance is at the same time almost   
infinitely rare and almost infinitely   
resilient4 ,if such difficulties        
confront us upon the occasion of a fresh
 extension of our knowledge of the      
physical world1 what must we expect when
 we come to speculate upon the nature   
and modes of existence of ,god8 ,bearing
 this in mind1 let us proceed to        
consider the assumption that the        
,infinite ,power which is manifested in 

the universe is essentially psychical in
 its nature2 in other words1 that       
between ,god and the ,human ,soul there 
is real kinship1 although we may be     
unable to render any scientific account 
of it4 ,let us consider this assumption 
historically1 and in the light of our   
general knowledge of ,evolution4        
,illustration     ,,iv  ,religion's     
,first ,postulate3 the ,quasi-,human    
,god   ,it is with purpose that ,i use  
the word assumption4 ,as a matter of    
history1 the existence of a quasi-human 
,god has always been an assumption or   
postulate4 ,it is something which men   
have all along taken for granted4 ,it   
probably never occurred to anybody to   
try to prove the existence of such a    
,god until it was doubted1 and doubts on
 that subject are very modern4 ,omitting
 from the account a few score of        
ingenious philosophers1 it may be said  
that all mankind1 the wisest and the    
simplest1 have taken for granted the    
existence of a ,deity1 or deities1 of a 

psychical nature more or less similar to
 that of ,humanity4 ,such a postulate   
has formed a part of all human thinking 
from primitive ages down to the present 
time4 ,the forms in which it has        
appeared have been myriad in number1 but
 all have been included in this same    
fundamental assumption4 ,the earliest   
forms were those which we call fetishism
 and animism4 ,in fetishism the wind    
that blows a tree down is endowed with  
personality and supposed to exert       
conscious effort2 in animism some ghost 
of a dead man is animating that gust of 
wind4 ,in either case a conscious       
volition similar to our own1 but outside
 of us1 is supposed to be at work4      
,there has been some discussion as to   
whether fetishism or animism is the more
 primitive1 and some writers would      
regard fetishism as a special case of   
animism2 but it is not necessary to my  
present purpose that such questions     
should be settled4 ,the main point is   
this1 that in the earliest phases of    

theism each operation of ,nature was    
supposed to have some quasi-human       
personality behind it4 ,such phases we  
find among contemporary savages1 and    
there is abundant evidence of their     
former existence among peoples now      
civilized4 ,in the course of ages there 
was a good deal of generalizing done4   
,poseidon could shake the land and      
preside over the sea1 angry ,apollo     
could shoot arrows tipped with          
pestilence1 mischievous ,hermes could   
play pranks in the summer breezes1 while
 as lord over all1 though with somewhat 
fitful sway1 stood ,zeus on the summit  
of ,olympus1 gathering the rain-clouds  
and wielding the thunderbolt4 ,nothing  
but increasing knowledge of nature was  
needed to convert such ,polytheism into 
,monotheism1 even into the strict       
,monotheism of our own time1 in which   
the whole universe is the multiform     
manifestation of a single ,deity that is
 still regarded as in some real and true
 sense quasi-human4 ,as the notion of   

,deity has thus been gradually          
generalized1 from a thousand local gods 
to one omnipresent ,god1 it has been    
gradually stripped of its grosser       
anthropomorphic vestments4 ,the tutelar 
,deity of a savage clan is supposed to  
share with his devout worshippers in the
 cannibal banquet2 the ,gods of ,olympus
 made war and love1 and were moved to   
fits of inextinguishable laughter4 ,from
 our modern ,monotheism such accidents  
of humanity are eliminated1 but the     
notion of a kinship between ,god and man
 remains1 and is rightly felt to be     
essential to theism4 ,take away from our
 notion of ,god the human element1 and  
the theism instantly vanishes2 it ceases
 to be a notion of ,god4 ,we may retain 
an abstract symbol to which we apply    
some such epithet as ,force1 or ,energy1
 or ,power1 but there is nothing        
theistic in this4 ,some ingenious       
philosopher may try to persuade us to   
the contrary1 but the ,human ,soul knows
 better2 it knows at least what it      

wants2 it has asked for ,theology1 not  
for ,dynamics1 and it resents all such  
attempts to palm off upon it stones for 
bread4  ,our philosopher will here      
perhaps lift up his hands in dismay and 
cry1 ,hold6 what matters it what the    
,human ,soul wants8 ,are cravings1      
forsooth1 to be made to do duty as      
reasons8 ,it is proper to reply that we 
are trying to deal with this whole      
subject after the manner of the         
naturalist1 which is to describe things 
as they exist and account for them as   
best we may4 ,i say1 then1 that mankind 
have framed1 and for long ages          
maintained1 a notion of ,god into which 
there enters a human element4 ,now if it
 should ever be possible to abolish that
 human element1 it would not be possible
 to cheat mankind into accepting the    
non-human remnant of the notion as an   
equivalent of the full notion of which  
they had been deprived4 ,take away from 
our symbolic conception of ,god the     
human element1 and that aspect of theism

 which has from the outset chiefly      
interested mankind is gone4             
,illustration     ,v  ,religions ,second
 ,postulate3 the undying ,human ,soul   
,that supremely interesting aspect of   
theism belongs to it as part and parcel 
of the general belief in an ,unseen     
,world1 in which human beings have an   
interest4 ,the belief in the personal   
continuance of the individual human soul
 after death is a very ancient one4 ,the
 savage custom of burying utensils and  
trinkets for the use of the deceased    
enables us to trace it back into the    
,glacial ,period4 ,we may safely say    
that for much more than a hundred       
thousand years mankind have regarded    
themselves as personally interested in  
two worlds1 the physical world which    
daily greets our waking senses1 and     
another world1 comparatively dim and    
vaguely outlined1 with which the        
psychical side of humanity is more      
closely connected4 ,the belief in the   
,unseen ,world seems to be coextensive  

with theism2 the animism of the lowest  
savages includes both4 ,no race or tribe
 of men has ever been found destitute of
 the belief in a ghost-world4 ,now1 a   
ghost-world implies the personal        
continuance of human beings after death1
 and it also implies identity of nature 
between the ghosts of man and the       
indwelling spirits of sun1 wind1 and    
flood4 ,it is chiefly because these     
ideas are so closely interwoven in      
savage thought that it is often so      
difficult to discriminate between       
fetishism and animism4 ,these savage    
ideas are of course extremely crude in  
their symbolism4 ,with the gradual      
civilization of human thinking1 the     
refinement in the conception of the     
,deity is paralleled by the refinement  
in the conception of the ,other ,world4 
,from ,valhalla to ,dante's ,paradise1  
what an immeasurable distance the human 
mind has travelled6 ,in our modern      
,monotheism the assumption of kinship   
between ,god and the ,human ,soul is the

 assumption that there is in ,man a     
psychical element identical in nature   
with that which is eternal4 ,belief in a
 quasi-human ,god and belief in the     
,soul's immortality thus appear in their
 origin and development1 as in their    
ultimate significance1 to be inseparably
 connected4 ,they are part and parcel of
 one and the same efflorescence of the  
human mind4 ,mankind has always         
entertained them in common1 and so      
entertains them now2 and were it        
possible 7which it is not7 for science  
to disprove the ,soul's immortality1 a  
theism deprived of this element would   
surely never be accepted as an          
equivalent for the theism entertained   
before4 ,the ,positivist argument that  
the only worthy immortality is survival 
in the grateful remembrance of one's    
fellow creatures would hardly be        
regarded as anything but a travesty and 
trick4 ,if the world's long cherished   
beliefs are to fall1 in ,god's name let 
them fall1 but save us from the         

intellectual hypocrisy that goes about  
pretending we are none the poorer6      
,illustration     ,,vi  ,religions      
,third ,postulate3 the ,ethical         
,significance of the ,unseen ,world     
,our account of the rise and progress of
 the general belief in an ,unseen ,world
 is1 however1 not yet complete4 ,no     
mention has been made of an element     
which apparently has always been present
 in the belief4 ,i mean the ethical     
element4 ,the savage's primeval         
ghost-world is always mixed up with his 
childlike notions of what he ought to do
 and what he ought not to do4 ,the      
native of ,tierra del ,fuego1 who       
foreboded a snowstorm because one of    
,mr4 ,darwin's party killed some birds  
for specimens1 furnishes an excellent   
illustration4 ,in a tribe living always 
on the brink of starvation1 any wanton  
sacrifice of meat must awaken the wrath 
of the tutelar ancestral ghost-deities  
who control the weather4 ,notions of a  
similar sort are connected with the     

direful host of omens that dog the      
savage's footsteps through the world4   
,whatever conduct the necessities of    
clan or tribe have prohibited soon comes
 to wear the aspect of sacrilege4  ,thus
 inextricably intertwined from the      
moment of their first dim dawning upon  
the consciousness of nascent ,humanity1 
have been the notion of ,deity1 the     
notion of an ,unseen ,world1 and the    
notions of ,right and ,wrong4 ,in their 
beginnings theology and ethics were     
inseparable2 in all the vast historic   
development of religion they have       
remained inseparable4 ,the grotesque    
conceptions of primitive men have given 
place to conceptions framed after wider 
and deeper experience1 but the union of 
ethics with theology remains undisturbed
 even in that most refined religious    
philosophy which ventures no opinion    
concerning the happiness or misery of a 
future life1 except that the seed sown  
here will naturally determine the fruit 
to be gathered hereafter4 ,all the      

analogies that modern knowledge can     
bring to bear upon the theory of a      
future life point to the opinion that   
the breach of physical continuity is not
 accompanied by any breach of ethical   
continuity4 ,such an opinion relating to
 matters beyond experience cannot of    
course be called scientific1 but whether
 it be justifiable or not1 my point is  
that neither in the crude fancies of    
primitive men nor in the most refined   
modern philosophy can theology divorce  
itself from ethics4 ,take away the      
ethical significance from our           
conceptions of the ,unseen ,world and   
the quasi-human ,god1 and no element of 
significance remains4 ,all that was     
vital in theism is gone4                
,illustration     ,,vii  ,is the        
,substance of ,religion a ,phantom1 or  
an ,eternal ,reality8   ,we are now     
prepared to see what is involved in the 
,reality of ,religion4 ,speaking        
historically1 it may be said that       
,religion has always had two sides3 on  

the one side it has consisted of a      
theory1 more or less elaborate1 and on  
the other side it has consisted of a    
group of sentiments conformable to the  
theory4 ,now in all ages and in every   
form of ,religion1 the theory has       
comprised three essential elements3     
first1 belief in ,deity1 as quasi-human2
 secondly1 belief in an ,unseen ,world  
in which human beings continue to exist 
after death2 thirdly1 recognition of the
 ethical aspects of human life as       
related in a special and intimate sense 
to this ,unseen ,world4 ,these three    
elements are alike indispensable4 ,if   
any one of the three be taken away1 the 
remnant cannot properly be called       
,religion4 ,is then the subject-matter  
of ,religion something real and         
substantial1 or is it a mere figment of 
the imagination8 ,has ,religion through 
all these weary centuries been dealing  
with an eternal verity1 or has it been  
blindly groping after a phantom8 ,can   
that history of the universe which we   

call the ,doctrine of ,evolution be made
 to furnish any lesson that will prove  
helpful in answering this question8 ,we 
shall find1 ,i think1 that it does      
furnish such a lesson4  ,but first let  
us remember that along with the three   
indispensable elements here specified1  
every historic ,religion has also       
contained a quantity of cosmological    
speculations1 metaphysical doctrines1   
priestly rites and ceremonies and       
injunctions1 and a very considerable    
part of this structure has been         
demolished by modern criticism4 ,the    
destruction of beliefs has been so great
 that we can hardly think it strange if 
some critics have taken it into their   
heads that nothing can be rescued4 ,but 
let us see what the doctrine of         
evolution has to say4 ,our inquiry may  
seem to take us very far afield1 but    
that we need not mind if we find the    
answer by and by directing us homeward4 
,illustration     ,,viii  ,the          
,fundamental ,aspect of ,life   ,i often

 think1 when working over my plants1 of 
what ,linnus once said of the unfolding 
of a blossom3 ,i saw ,god in ,his glory 
passing near me1 and bowed my head in   
worship1 ,the scientific aspect of the  
same thought has been put into words by 
,tennyson3--      ,flower in the        
crannied wall1     ,i pluck you out of  
the crannies1     ,i hold you here1 root
 and all1 in my hand1     ,little       
flower1--but if ,i could understand     
,what you are1 root and all1 and all in 
all1     ,i should know what ,god and   
man is4  ,no deeper thought was ever    
uttered by poet4 ,for in this world of  
plants1 which with its magician         
chlorophyll conjuring with sunbeams is  
ceaselessly at work bringing life out of
 death1--in this quiet vegetable world  
we may find the elementary principles of
 all life in almost visible operation4  
,it is one of these elementary          
principles--a very simple and broad     
one--that here concerns us4  ,one of the
 greatest contributions ever made to    

scientific knowledge is ,herbert        
,spencer's profound and luminous        
exposition of ,life as the continuous   
adjustment of inner relations to outer  
relations4 ,the extreme simplicity of   
the subject in its earliest             
illustrations is such that the student  
at first hardly suspects the wealth of  
knowledge toward which it is pointing   
the way4 ,the most fundamental          
characteristic of living things is their
 response to external stimuli4 ,if you  
come upon a dog lying by the roadside   
and are in doubt whether he is alive or 
dead1 you poke him with a stick2 if you 
get no response you presently conclude  
that it is a dead dog4 ,so if the tree  
fails to put forth leaves in response to
 the rising vernal temperature1 it is an
 indication of death4 ,pour water on a  
drooping plant1 and it shows its life by
 rearing its head4 ,the growth of a     
plant is in its ultimate analysis a     
group of motions put forth in adjustment
 to a group of physical and chemical    

conditions in the soil and atmosphere4  
,a fine illustration is the spiral      
distribution of leaves about the stem1  
at different angular intervals in       
different kinds of plants1 but always so
 arranged as to ensure the most complete
 exposure of the chlorophyll to the     
sunbeams4 ,every feature of the plant is
 explicable on similar principles4 ,it  
is the result of a continuous adjustment
 of relations within the plant to       
relations existing outside of it4 ,it is
 important that we should form a clear  
conception of this1 and a contrasted    
instance will help us4 ,take one of     
those storm-glasses in which the        
approach of atmospheric disturbance sets
 up a feathery crystallization that     
changes in shape and distribution as the
 state of the air outside changes4 ,here
 is something that simulates vegetable  
life1 but there is a profound           
difference4 ,in every one of these      
changes the liquid in the storm-glass is
 passive2 it is changed and waits until 

it is changed again4 ,but in the case of
 a tree1 when the increased supply of   
solar radiance in spring causes those   
internal motions which result in the    
putting forth of leaves1 it is quite    
another affair4 ,here the external      
change sets up an internal change which 
leads to a second internal change that  
anticipates a second external change4   
,it is this active response that is the 
mark of life4  ,all life upon the globe1
 whether physical or psychical1         
represents the continuous adjustment of 
inner to outer relations4 ,the degree of
 life is low or high1 according as the  
correspondence between internal and     
external relations is simple or complex1
 limited or extensive1 partial or       
complete1 perfect or imperfect4 ,the    
relations established within a plant    
answer only to the presence or absence  
of a certain quantity of light and heat1
 and to sundry chemical and physical    
relations in atmosphere and soil4 ,in a 
polyp1 besides general relations similar

 to these1 certain more special         
relations are established in            
correspondence with the eternal         
existence of mechanical irritants2 as   
when its tentacles contract on being    
touched4 ,the increase of extension     
acquired by the correspondences as we   
ascend the animal scale may be seen by  
contrasting the polyp1 which can simply 
distinguish between soluble and         
insoluble matter1 or between opacity and
 translucence in its environment1 with  
the keen-scented bloodhound and the     
far-sighted vulture4 ,and the increase  
of complexity may be appreciated by     
comparing the motions respectively gone 
through by the polyp on the one hand1   
and by the dog and vulture on the other1
 while securing and disposing of their  
prey4 ,the more specific and accurate1  
the more complex and extensive1 is the  
response to environing relations1 the   
higher and richer1 we say1 is the life4 
,illustration     ,,ix  ,how the        
,evolution of ,senses expands the ,world

   ,the whole progression of life upon  
the globe1 in so far as it has been     
achieved through natural selection1 has 
consisted in the preservation and the   
propagation of those living creatures in
 whom the adjustment of inner relations 
to outer relations is most successful4  
,this is only a more detailed and       
descriptive way of saying that natural  
selection is equivalent to survival of  
the fittest4 ,the shapes of animals1 as 
well as their capacities1 have been     
evolved through almost infinitely slow  
increments of adjustment upon           
adjustment4 ,in this way1 for instance1 
has been evolved the vertebrate         
skeleton1 through a process of which    
,spencer's wonderful analysis is as     
thrilling as a poem4 ,or consider the   
development of the special organs of    
sense4 ,among the most startling        
disclosures of embryology are those     
which relate to this subject4 ,the most 
perfect organs of touch are the vibriss 
whiskers of the cat1 which act as long  

levers in communicating impulses to the 
nerve-fibres that terminate in clusters 
about the dermal sacs in which they are 
inserted4 ,these cat-whiskers are merely
 specialized forms of such hairs as     
those which cover the bodies of most    
mammals1 and which remain in evanescent 
shape upon the human skin imbedded in   
minute sacs4 ,now in their origin the   
eye and ear are identical with vibriss4 
,in the early stages of vertebrate life1
 while the differentiations of dermal   
tissue went mostly to the production of 
hairs or feathers or scales1 sundry     
special differentiations went to the    
production of ears and eyes4 ,embryology
 shows that in mammals the bulb of the  
eye and the auditory chamber are        
extremely metamorphosed hair-sacs1 the  
crystalline lens is a differentiated    
hair1 and the aqueous and vitreous      
humours are liquefied dermal tissue6    
,the implication of these wonderful     
facts is that sight and hearing were    
slowly differentiated from the sense of 

touch4 ,one can seem to discern how in  
the history of the eye there was at     
first a concentration of pigment grains 
in a particular dermal sac1 making that 
spot exceptionally sensitive to light2  
then came by slow degrees the heightened
 translucence1 the convexity of surface1
 the refracting humours1 and the        
multiplication of nerve-vesicles        
arranging themselves as retinal rods4   
,and what was the result of all this for
 the creature in whom organs of vision  
were thus developed8 ,there was an      
immense extension of the range1         
complexity1 and definiteness of the     
adjustment of inner relations to outer  
relations2 in other words1 there was an 
immense increase of life4 ,there came   
into existence1 moreover1 for those with
 eyes to see it1 a mighty visible world 
that for sightless creatures had been   
virtually non-existent4  ,with the      
further progress of organic life1 the   
high development of the senses was      
attended or followed by increase of     

brain development and the correlative   
intelligence1 immeasurably enlarging the
 scope of the correspondences between   
the living creature and the outer world4
 ,in the case of ,man1 the adjustments  
by which we meet the exigencies of life 
from day to day are largely psychical1  
achieved by the aid of ideal            
representations of environing           
circumstances4 ,our actions are guided  
by our theory of the situation1 and it  
needs no illustration to show us that a 
true theory is an adjustment of one's   
ideas to the external facts1 and that   
such adjustments are helps to successful
 living4 ,the whole worth of education  
is directed toward cultivating the      
capacity of framing associations of     
ideas that conform to objective facts4  
,it is thus that life is guided4        
,illustration     ,x  ,nature's ,eternal
 ,lesson is the ,everlasting ,reality of
 ,religion   ,so as we look back over   
the marvellous life-history of our      
planet1 even from the dull time when    

there was no life more exalted than that
 of conferva scum on the surface of a   
pool1 through ages innumerable until the
 present time when ,man is learning how 
to decipher ,nature's secrets1 we look  
back over an infinitely slow series of  
minute adjustments1 gradually and       
laboriously increasing the points of    
contact between the inner ,life and the 
,world environing4 ,step by step in the 
upward advance toward ,humanity the     
environment has enlarged4 ,the world of 
the fresh-water alga was its tiny pool  
during its brief term of existence2 the 
world of civilized man comprehends the  
stellar universe during countless ons of
 time4 ,every stage of enlargement has  
had reference to actual existences      
outside4 ,the eye was developed in      
response to the outward existence of    
radiant light1 the ear in response to   
the outward existence of acoustic       
vibrations1 the mother's love came in   
response to the infant's needs1 fidelity
 and honour were slowly developed as the

 nascent social life required them2     
everywhere the internal adjustment has  
been brought about so as to harmonize   
with some actually existing external    
fact4 ,such has been ,nature's method1  
such is the deepest law of life that    
science has been able to detect4  ,now  
there was a critical moment in the      
history of our planet1 when love was    
beginning to play a part hitherto       
unknown1 when notions of right and wrong
 were germinating in the nascent ,human 
,soul1 when the family was coming into  
existence1 when social ties were        
beginning to be knit1 when winged words 
first took their flight through the air4
 ,it was the moment when the process of 
evolution was being shifted to a higher 
plane1 when civilization was to be      
superadded to organic evolution1 when   
the last and highest of creatures was   
coming upon the scene1 when the dramatic
 purpose of creation was approaching    
fulfilment4 ,at that critical moment we 
see the nascent ,human ,soul vaguely    

reaching forth toward something akin to 
itself not in the realm of fleeting     
phenomena but in the ,eternal ,presence 
beyond4 ,an internal adjustment of ideas
 was achieved in correspondence with an 
,unseen ,world4 ,that the ideas were    
very crude and childlike1 that they were
 put together with all manner of        
grotesqueness1 is what might be         
expected4 ,the cardinal fact is that the
 crude childlike mind was groping to put
 itself into relation with an ethical   
world not visible to the senses4 ,and   
one aspect of this fact1 not to be      
lightly passed over1 is the fact that   
,religion1 thus ushered upon the scene  
coeval with the birth of ,humanity1 has 
played such a dominant part in the      
subsequent evolution of human society   
that what history would be without it is
 quite beyond imagination4 ,as to the   
dimensions of this cardinal fact there  
can thus be no question4 ,none can deny 
that it is the largest and most         
ubiquitous fact connected with the      

existence of mankind upon the earth4    
,now if the relation thus established in
 the morning twilight of ,man's         
existence between the ,human ,soul and a
 world invisible and immaterial is a    
relation of which only the subjective   
term is real and the objective term is  
non-existent1 then1 ,i say1 it is       
something utterly without precedent in  
the whole history of creation4 ,all the 
analogies of ,evolution1 so far as we   
have yet been able to decipher it1 are  
overwhelming against any such           
supposition4 ,to suppose that during    
countless ages1 from the seaweed up to  
,man1 the progress of life was achieved 
through adjustments to external         
realities1 but that then the method was 
all at once changed and throughout a    
vast province of evolution the end was  
secured through adjustments to external 
non-realities1 is to do sheer violence  
to logic and to common sense4 ,or1 to   
vary the form of statement1 since every 
adjustment whereby any creature sustains

 life may be called a true step1 and    
every maladjustment whereby life is     
wrecked may be called a false step2 if  
we are asked to believe that ,nature1   
after having throughout the whole round 
of her inferior products achieved       
results through the accumulation of all 
true steps and pitiless rejection of all
 false steps1 suddenly changed her      
method and in the case of her highest   
product began achieving results through 
the accumulation of false steps2 ,i say 
we are entitled to resent such a        
suggestion as an insult to our          
understandings4 ,all the analogies of   
,nature fairly shout against the        
assumption of such a breach of          
continuity between the evolution of ,man
 and all previous evolution4 ,so far as 
our knowledge of ,nature goes the whole 
momentum of it carries us onward to the 
conclusion that the ,unseen ,world1 as  
the objective term in a relation of     
fundamental importance that has         
coexisted with the whole career of      

,mankind1 has a real existence2 and it  
is but following out the analogy to     
regard that ,unseen ,world as the       
theatre where the ethical process is    
destined to reach its full consummation4
 ,the lesson of evolution is that       
through all these weary ages the ,human 
,soul has not been cherishing in        
,religion a delusive phantom1 but in    
spite of seemingly endless groping and  
stumbling it has been rising to the     
recognition of its essential kinship    
with the ever-living ,god4 ,of all the  
implications of the doctrine of         
evolution with regard to ,man1 ,i       
believe the very deepest and strongest  
to be that which asserts the            
,everlasting ,reality of ,religion4  ,so
 far as ,i am aware1 the foregoing      
argument is here advanced for the first 
time4 ,it does not pretend to meet the  
requirements of scientific              
demonstration4 ,one must not look for   
scientific demonstration in problems    
that contain so many factors            

transcending our direct experience4 ,but
 as an appeal to our common sense1 the  
argument here brought forward surely has
 tremendous weight4 ,it seems to me far 
more convincing than any chain of subtle
 metaphysical reasoning can ever be2 for
 such chains1 however1 invincible in    
appearance1 are no stronger than the    
weakest of their links1 and in          
metaphysics one is always uneasily      
suspecting some undetected flaw4 ,my    
argument represents the impression that 
is irresistibly forced upon one by a    
broad general familiarity with ,nature's
 processes and methods2 it therefore    
belongs to the class of arguments that  
survive4  ,observe1 too1 that it is far 
from being a modified repetition of the 
old argument that beliefs universally   
accepted must be true4 ,upon the view   
here presented1 every specific opinion  
ever entertained by man respecting      
religious things may be wrong1 and in   
all probability is exceedingly crude1   
and yet the ,everlasting ,reality of    

,religion1 in its three indispensable   
elements as here set forth1 remains     
unassailable4 ,our common-sense argument
 puts the scientific presumption        
entirely and decisively on the side of  
religion and against all atheistic and  
materialistic explanations of the       
universe4 ,it establishes harmony       
between our highest knowledge and our   
highest aspirations by showing that the 
latter no less than the former are a    
normal result of the universal cosmic   
process4 ,it has nothing to fear from   
the advance of scientific discovery1 for
 as these things come to be better      
understood1 it is going to be realized  
that the days of the antagonism between 
,science and ,religion must by and by   
come to an end4 ,that antagonism has    
been chiefly due to the fact that       
religious ideas were until lately allied
 with the doctrine of special creations4
 ,they have therefore needed to be      
remodelled and considered from new      
points of view4 ,but we have at length  

reached a stage where it is becoming    
daily more and more apparent that with  
the deeper study of ,nature the old     
strife between faith and knowledge is   
drawing to a close2 and disentangled at 
last from that ancient slough of despond
 the ,human ,mind will breathe a freer  
air and enjoy a vastly extended horizon4
     ,illustration     ,l',,envoi       
,yesterday1 when weary with writing1 and
 my mind quite dusty with considering   
these atoms1 ,i was called to supper1   
and a salad ,i had asked for was set    
before me4 ,it seems1 then1 said ,i     
aloud1 that if pewter dishes1 leaves of 
lettuce1 grains of salt1 drops of       
vinegar and oil1 and slices of eggs1 had
 been floating about in the air from all
 eternity1 it might at last happen by   
chance that there would come a salad4   
,yes1 says my wife1 but not so nice and 
well dressed as this of mine            
is6--,,kepler1 apud ,tait and ,stewart1 
,paradoxical ,philosophy4               
,,electrotyped ,,and ,,printed ,,by ,h4 

,o4 ,,houghton ,,and ,,co4  ,the        
,riverside ,press  ,,cambridge1 ,,mass41
 ,u4 ,s4 ,a4     ,,the ,,writings ,,of  
,,john ,,fiske  ,illustration   ,,the   
,,discovery ,,of ,,america      ,with   
some ,account of ,ancient ,america and  
the ,spanish ,conquest4     ,with a     
steel portrait of ,mr4 ,fiske1 many     
maps1 facsimiles1 etc4     #b vols4     
crown #hvo1 gilt top1 #d4jj4  ,those who
 care for geography and for primitive   
culture will doubtless find this        
,discovery of ,america1 as we have found
 it1 one of the most agreeable and      
instructive books on both those topics  
that have appeared in a good many       
years4444 ,the book brings together a   
great deal of information hitherto      
accessible only in special treatises1   
and elucidates with care and judgment   
some of the most perplexing problems in 
the history of discovery4--,the ,speaker
 7,london74   ,,old ,,virginia ,,and    
,,her ,,neighbours      #b vols4 crown  
#hvo1 gilt top1 #d4jj4  ,mr4 ,fiske's   

,old ,virginia and ,her ,neighbours adds
 another to those valuable and          
delightful studies of our early history 
which are fast approaching the          
completeness and adequacy of a          
comprehensive history of the beginnings 
of the ,american people4 ,history has   
rarely been invested with such interest 
and charm as in these volumes4--,the    
,outlook 7,new ,york74   ,,the          
,,beginnings ,,of ,,new ,,england       
,or1 the ,puritan ,theocracy in its     
,relations to ,civil and     ,religious 
,liberty4 ,crown #hvo1 #b4jj4           
,illustrated ,edition4     ,containing  
,portraits1 ,maps1 ,facsimiles1         
,contemporary ,views1     ,prints1 and  
other ,historic ,materials4 #b vols4    
#hvo1 gilt top1     #d4jj4  ,having in  
the first chapters strikingly and       
convincingly shown that ,new ,england's 
history was the birth of centuries of   
travail1 and having prepared his readers
 to estimate at their true importance   
the events of our early colonial life1  

,mr4 ,fiske is ready to take up his task
 as the historian of the ,new ,england  
of the ,puritans4444 ,the last chapters 
give a broad and fair account of the    
history of the time1 but it is easy to  
see that in his choice of facts1 the    
author has exercised a large power of   
selection1--a selection which we may    
note is wonderful in its unfailing      
accuracy of estimate4 ,as he is busy    
with the progress towards civil and     
religious liberty which culminated in   
the ,revolution1 his facts are chosen to
 illustrate that progress4--,boston     
,daily ,advertiser4   ,,the ,,american  
,,revolution      ,with ,plans of       
,battles1 and a ,steel ,portrait of     
,washington4 #b     vols4 crown #hvo1   
gilt top1 #d4jj4 ,illustrated ,edition4 
,containing about #cjj ,illustrations4  
#b vols4 #hvo1 gilt top1     #h4jj4     
,the reader may turn to these volumes   
with full assurance of faith for a fresh
 rehearsal of the old facts1 which no   
time can stale1 and for new views of    

those old facts1 according to the larger
 framework of ideas in which they can   
now be set by the master of a           
captivating style and an expert in      
historical philosophy4--,new ,york      
,evening ,post4   ,,the ,,war ,,of      
,,independence      ,in ,riverside      
,library for ,young ,people4 ,with      
,maps4 #afmo1 #ge     cents4  ,john     
,fiske's ,war of ,independence is a     
miracle4444 ,a book brilliant and       
effective beyond measure4444 ,it is a   
statement that every child can          
comprehend1 but that only a man of      
consummate genius could have            
written4--,,mrs4 ,,caroline ,h4 ,,dall1 
in the ,springfield ,republican4   ,,the
 ,,critical ,,period ,,of ,,american    
,,history1 #aghc-aghi      ,with ,map1  
,notes1 etc4 ,crown #hvo1 gilt top1     
#b4jj4 ,illustrated     ,edition4       
,containing about #agj ,illustrations4  
#hvo1 gilt top1     #d4jj4  ,the author 
combines in an unusual degree the       
impartiality of the trained scholar with

 the fervor of the interested           
narrator4444 ,the volume should be in   
every library in the land4--,the        
,congregationalist 7,boston74  ,an      
admirable book4444 ,mr4 ,fiske has a    
great talent for making history         
interesting to the general reader4--,new
 ,york ,times4   ,a ,,history ,,of ,,the
 ,,united ,,states ,,for ,,schools      
,with ,topical ,analysis1 ,suggestive   
,questions1 and ,directions for         
,teachers1 by ,f4 ,a4 ,hill1 and        
,illustrations and ,maps4 ,crown #hvo1  
#a4jj1 net4  ,it is doubtful if ,mr4    
,fiske has done anything better for his 
generation than the preparation of this 
text-book1 which combines in a rare     
degree accuracy1 intelligent            
condensation1 historical discrimination1
 and an attractive style4--,the ,outlook
 7,new ,york74   ,,civil ,,government   
,,in ,,the ,,united ,,states            
,considered with some ,reference to its 
,origins4 ,with ,questions     on the   
,text by ,frank ,a4 ,hill1 and          

,bibliographical ,notes by ,mr4         
,fiske4 ,crown #hvo1 #a4jj1 net4  ,it is
 most admirable1 alike in plan and      
execution1 and will do a vast amount of 
good in teaching our people the         
principles and forms of our civil       
institutions4--,,moses ,,coit ,,tyler1  
,professor of ,american ,constitutional 
,history and ,law1 ,cornell ,university4
   ,,outlines ,,of ,,cosmic ,,philosophy
      ,based on the ,doctrine of        
,evolution1 with ,criticisms on the     
,positive ,philosophy4 ,in two volumes1 
#hvo1 #f4jj4  ,you must allow me to     
thank you for the very great interest   
with which ,i have at last slowly read  
the whole of your work4444 ,i never in  
my life read so lucid an expositor 7and 
therefore thinker7 as you are2 and ,i   
think that ,i understand nearly the     
whole1 though perhaps less clearly about
 cosmic theism and causation than other 
parts4--,,charles ,,darwin4  ,this work 
of ,mr4 ,fiske's may be not unfairly    
designated the most important           

contribution yet made by ,america to    
philosophical literature4--,the ,academy
 7,london74   ,,darwinism1 ,,and ,,other
 ,,essays      ,crown #hvo1 gilt top1   
#b4jj4  ,if ever there was a spirit     
thoroughly invigorated by the joy of    
right understanding1 it is that of the  
author of these pieces4444 ,no less     
confident and serene than his acceptance
 of the utmost logical results of recent
 scientific discovery is ,mr4 ,fiske's  
assurance that the foundations of       
spiritual truths1 so called1 cannot     
possibly be shaken thereby4--,the       
,atlantic ,monthly 7,boston74   ,,the   
,,unseen ,,world      ,and ,other       
,essays4 ,crown #hvo1 gilt top1 #b4jj4  
,to each study the writer seems to have 
brought1 besides an excellent quality of
 discriminating judgment1 full and fresh
 special knowledge1 that enables him to 
supply much information on the subject1 
whatever it may be1 that is not to be   
found in the volume he is               
noticing4--,boston ,advertiser4         

,,excursions ,,of ,,an ,,evolutionist   
,crown #hvo1 gilt top1 #b4jj4  ,among   
our thoughtful essayists there are none 
more brilliant than ,mr4 ,john ,fiske4  
,his pure style suits his clear thought4
 ,he does not write unless he has       
something to say2 and when he does      
write1 he shows not only that he has    
thoroughly acquainted himself with the  
subject1 but that he has to a rare      
degree the art of so massing his matter 
as to bring out the true value of the   
leading points in artistic relief4444   
,the same qualities appear to good      
advantage in his new volume1 which      
contains his later essays on his        
favorite subject of evolution4--,the    
,nation 7,new ,york74   ,,myths ,,and   
,,myth-,,makers      ,old ,tales and    
,superstitions interpreted by           
,comparative     ,mythology4 ,crown     
#hvo1 gilt top1 #b4jj4  ,mr4 ,fiske has 
given us a book which is at once        
sensible and attractive1 on a subject   
about which much is written that is     

crotchety or tedious4--,w4 ,r4 ,s4      
,,ralston1 in ,the ,athenum 7,london74  
,,the ,,destiny ,,of ,,man      ,viewed 
in the ,light of ,his ,origin4 #afmo1   
gilt top1 #a4jj4  ,one is charmed by the
 directness and clearness of his style1 
his simple and pure ,english1 and his   
evident knowledge of his subject4444 ,of
 one thing we may be sure3 that none are
 leading us more surely or rapidly to   
the full truth than men like the author 
of this little book1 who reverently     
study the works of ,god for the lessons 
which ,he would teach his               
children4--,christian ,union 7,new      
,york74   ,,the ,,idea ,,of ,,god       
,as ,affected by ,modern ,knowledge4    
#afmo1 gilt top1 #a4jj4  ,the vigor1 the
 earnestness1 the honesty1 and the      
freedom from cant and subtlety in his   
writings are exceedingly refreshing4 ,he
 is a scholar1 a critic1 and a thinker  
of the first order4--,christian         
,register 7,boston74   ,,through        
,,nature ,,to ,,god      #afmo1 gilt    

top1 #a4jj4  ,,contents3 ,the ,mystery  
of ,evil2 ,the ,cosmic ,roots of ,love  
and ,self-,sacrifice2 ,the ,everlasting 
,reality of ,religion4  ,this book      
discusses1 in ,mr4 ,fiske's large and   
luminous way1 the important subjects    
indicated in the contents4 ,it falls in 
the same group with his ,idea of ,god   
and ,destiny of ,man1 which have been an
 inspiration and a source of strength   
and light to a multitude of readers4    
99       99       99       99       99  
asterism ,for sale by all ,booksellers4 
,sent by mail1 postpaid1 on receipt of  
price by the ,publishers1  ,,houghton1  
,,mifflin  ,,co4  #d ,park ,street1     
,boston2 #aa ,east #agth ,street1 ,new  
,york4