THOUGHTS FROM THE PROGRESSIVE ERA

THE MEANING OF MODERN LIFE 

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW THE REAL MEANING OF THE PROGRESSIVE ERA OF THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY  THE ERA TODAY'S #GOP HATES

WHERE #RADICALS, #CONSERVATIVES AND #LIBERALS ALL AGREED THAT THE FUTURE WAS OURS TO BUILD  (IN FACT THEY WERE ALL CLASSIC LIBERALS, EVEN #FABIAN SOCIALIST HG WELLS )


II THE DANGER
Problems To Be Met 
Theodore Roosevelt, LL.D., 
President of the United States. 

VII. THE BIRTH OF CONSCIENCE 
Morality of Nature 
Prince Peter Alexeyevich Kropotkin. 

XXX. #ANARCHISM
Thou Shalt Not Kill
Count Leo Tolstoi.

XL OUR COUNTRY 
The Making of the Nation 
Woodrow Wilson, LL.D., 
President of Princeton University

XXVIII. THE TOILERS 

Labor Organizations in America 

Carroll D. Wright, LL.D., 

President of Clark College; 

former Labor Commissioner of the United States. 

XX. THE CHILD 
The Beginnings of the Mind 
H. G. Wells, B.Sc. 

IT INCLUDED SCIENCE AND METAPHYSICS

III. THE BELIEFS 
Religion, Science, and Miracle 
Sir Oliver Lodge, LL.D., 
President University of Birmingham, England. 

IN SHORT IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF #MODERNISM 

THEN THIS SMALL VOLUME OF ESSAYS (904 PAGES)  IS THE BOOK TO READ  HERE IS ITS CONTENTS AND FORWARD TO WET YOUR APPETITE 

texts

The meaning of modern life as sought for and interpreted in a series of lectures and addresses by the leaders of modern thought and modern action;

by Horne, Charles F. (Charles Francis), 1870-1942

Published 1907

Lecture 

I. THE OUTLOOK 
The Trend of the Century 
^ Seth Low, LL.D., 
Former President of Columbia University. 


III. THE BELIEFS 
Religion, Science, and Miracle 
Sir Oliver Lodge, LL.D., 
President University of Birmingham, England. 

IV. THE SUCCESSES 
Five American Contributions to Civilization 
Charles W. Eliot, LL.D., 
President of Harvard University. 

V. THE BEGINNINGS 
The Man of the Past 
E. Kay Robinson. 

VI. THE ORIGIN OF LIFE 
Its Chemical Creation by Science 
John Butler Burke, M.A., 
Cambridge University. 

VII. THE BIRTH OF CONSCIENCE 
Morality of Nature 

Prince Peter Alexievitch Kropotkin. 

VIII. THE SOUL IN BEASTS 
Growth of Modern Idea of Animals 
Countess E. Martinengo Cesaresco. 

IX. THE FAILURE OF EVOLUTION 
Evolution and Marriage 
Alfred R. Wallace, LL.D., D.C.L., F.R.S. 

X. THE LATEST KNOWLEDGE 
Scientific Investigation and Progress 
Ira Remsen, LL.D., 
President of Johns Hopkins University 

XL OUR COUNTRY 
The Making of the Nation 
Woodrow Wilson, LL.D., 
President of Princeton University. 

Xil. PATRIOTISM AND POLITICS 
The Duties of Good Citizenship 
His Eminence James, Cardinal Gibbons. 

XIII. AMBITION 
The Conditions of Success 
Max Nordau, M.D., '' 
President of Congress of Zionists. 

XIV. OUR PAST 
The Lesson of the Past 
Maurice Maeterlinck. 

XV. ART 
The What and the How in Art 
William Dean Howells, A.M., L.H.D.. 

XVI. ART AND MORALITY 
Their Essential Union for Culture 
Ferdinand Brunetiere, LL.D., 
Ex-President of L'Academie
 Francaise. 

XVII. WOMAN 
Marriage Customs and Their Moral Value 
Elizabeth Diack, 
William S. Lilly, M.A., J.P., 
Secretary of the Catholic Society of Great Britain. 

XVIII. UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE 
The Essential Equality of Man and Woman 
' Frances Cobbe, William K. Hill. 

XIX. SOCIETY 
The Role of Women in Society 
Lady Mary Ponsonby. 

XX. THE CHILD 
The Beginnings of the Mind 
H. G. Wells, B.Sc. 

XXI. LIFE'S INTERCOURSE 
Language as the Interpreter of Life 
Benjamin Ide Wheeler, LL.D., 
President of the University of California. 

XXII. THE BOY 
His Preparation for Manhood 
Daniel Coit Oilman, LL.D., 
Former President of Johns Hopkins University 
and of the Carnegie Institution. 

XXIII. HOW TO THINK 
Edward Everett Hale, LL.D., 
Chaplain of the United State^ Senate. 

XXIV. THE GIRL 
The Thing To Do 
Whitelaw Reid, LL.D., 
Chancellor of the University of the State of New 
York; Ambassador to England. 

XXV. MANHOOD 
Selection of One's Life-Work 
E. Benjamin Andrews, LL.D., 
President of the University of Nebraska. 

XXVI. THE COLLEGE GRADUATE 
• The College Man in Business 
Charles F. Thwing, LL.D.,
President of Western Reserve University. 

XXVII. SPORT 
The Mission of Sport and Outdoor Life 
Grover Cleveland, LL.D., 
Ex-President of the United States. 

XXVIII. THE TOILERS 
Labor Organizations in America 
Carroll D. Wright, LL.D., 
President of Clark College; former Labor Com- 
missioner of the United States. 

XXIX. THE SOIL 
Land and Its Ownership in the Past 
Alfred R. Wallace, LL.D., D.C.L., F.R.S., 
President of the Land Naturalization Society. 

XXX. ANARCHISM 
Thou Shalt Not Kill 
Count Leo Tolstoi. 

XXXI. WAR 
A Demonstration of Its Futility 
David Starr Jordan, LL.D., 
President of Leland Stanford University; 

Carl Schurz, LL.D., 
Former United States Senator. 

XXXII. ARBITRATION 
A League of Peace 
Andrew Carnegie, LL.D., 
Lord Rector St. Andrews University. 

XXXIII. HISTORY 
Value oj History in the Formation oj Character 
Caroline Hazard, M.A., Litt.D., 
President of Wellesley College. 

XXXIV. THE POWER OF RELIGION 
Religion Still the Key to History 
Simeon Eben Baldwin, LL.D., 
Former President American Historical Associa- 
tion, Professor of Constitutional Law at Yale 
University. 

XXXV. CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION 
Social Culture in Education and Religion 
William T. Harris, LL.D., 
Former United States Commissioner of Education. 

XXXVI. THE MYSTERIES 
What Has Psychic Research Accomplished? 
William F. Barrett, F.R.S., J.P., 
Royal College, Dublin; former President of the 
Society for Psychical Research. 

XXXVII. HYPNOTISM 
Its History, Nature, and Use 
Harold M. Hays, M.D., 
Mount Sinai Hospital. 

XXXVIII. THE WILL 
Its Cultivation and Power 
Jules Finot, LL.D., 
Editor of the Revue. 

XXXIX. OUR HOPE 
The Unknown God 
Sir Henry Thompson, M.D. 

XL. OUR GOAL 
The Making of a National Spirit 
Edwin A. Alderman. LL.D., 
President of the University of Virginia. 

Education and Democracy 
George Harris, LL.D., 
President of Amherst College. 

FOREWORD 

WHEN, as sometimes happens, a tattered manuscript of medieval times is resurrected from amid forgotten rubbish heaps, scholars hesitate and argue as to the century of its  production. Accidental outward marks may guide them ; but as to the thought, the outlook, the opinions, there is little to discriminate one century from the next, or the next. Mankind did march onward, it is true, but with such slow step that they seemed often to he merely marking time without advance. The unsolved problems of one generation were still disputed by their children's children. 

Now, however, we move at railroad speed. The problems of to-day are not those of two decades ago and at such accelerating rate do we rush onward that soon a year may see changes such as once engrossed a century. Nay, so swiftly are we swept 
face to face with new issues that the dead past at times forgets to bury its dead. There are elderly gentlemen among us, held  by a comfortable income in some eddy of the current, who still  maintain that the only vital issue of to-day is England's attitude towards us in the Civil War or the fact that Japan began her modern career under our tutelage in 1834. 

To these pleasantly reminiscent gentlemen, charming after- 
dinner speakers, interesting relics of an extinct age, the present 
series of addresses can possess little interest, except for its ''new- 
ness," the radical spirit of its thought. But to more active brains, 
to the men who, in office, in factory, or in field, are "making the 
nation'' of to-day, it must have an obvious value. Each one 
of us is so busy in his own life that he cannot keep abreast of the 
lives of others. A well- known literary man, a twenty years^ 
graduate of my college, wrote me the other day for a copy of the 
college register. By mistake a clerk forwarded him instead a 
pamphlet containing the requisites for admission to the freshman 
class, whereon my literary friend wrote back to me, only half 
in jest, that despite my vigorous hint he must abandon any idea 
of retaking his college course, as he could not possibly pass the 
entrance examinations. 

The schools of to-day do not teach what was taught twenty 
years ago. Our colleges are wholly different institutions. The 
man who closed his scholastic education in the " eighties,^^
 perhaps even in the "nineties,''^ and went out into life, his brain 
awhirl with certain problems which he and his generation must 
some day solve perforce, that man is surprised now by stumbling, 
in his newspaper, on some casual reference to his special diffi- 
culty as a thing done with, dismissed, and half forgotten. He 
realizes for a moment that the age has somehow swept along with- 
out him, that progress has passed him by. Then, being a busy 
man, he turns again to his own personal problem, with perhaps 
only a half-formed wish that he had kept more nearly abreast 
of the times, a half -formed resolve that ''some day'' he will "read 
up'' again. 

To that man, and to every one among us who seeks to maintain
 the fulness of his heritage as " heir to all the ages, " is offered 
the present series of addresses. They give the most recent thought 
on each vital issue of the moment. They are written by men and 
women, the foremost leaders of the battle. Each name is a guarantee
 not only that the address is notable and worth the reading, 
but also that it is broadly thoughtful and deeply true. These 
are no hurried, superficial views, held to-day to be dismissed 
to-morrow ; they are the meditated opinions of the greatest 
specialists. Each address is worth incorporating into the 
reader's permanent body of thought, his outlook upon life. 

Several of the series have already received the stamp of public 
approval. They have been delivered as recent speeches, some 
before vast audiences of the people, others before learned societies, 
small bodies of the selected few. Surely, under such circum- 
stances if ever, under the criticism and approval of his fellow men, 
restrained from exaggeration by the sceptic's smile, stimulated 
to passion and power by the applause of all whose voiceless 
thoughts he has nobly interpreted in speech, then if ever does a 
speaker rise above his hearers, above himself, and become '^inspired." 
Essays of inspiration these, and needful indeed was 
it that their earnest words should not perish on the breeze that 
caught them, but should be here preserved in print and given 
permanent weight — heralded to a wider audience. Others of the 
series have been written specially for this occasion. Others again 
have appeared in some temporary printed shape, and are now 
given permanent form. These, wherever necessary, have been 
revised by the author, or under his supervision, for the present 
purpose. 

For there is a purpose, an ''increasing purpose," which 
runs through them all. They are liot a hap- hazard collection 
of famous speeches, chance thrown together. Their themes have 
been laboriously selected, their sequence studied, their expression 
placed in the hands of those best fitted for the task. Thus, though 
each author speaks upon a different subject, there is a carefully 
outlined harmony runs through the whole. Here is, in brief, 
not many books, but one book. Each address does but face an- 
other aspect of the same great riddle and gives a strong man's 
reading of its secret. Taken as a whole, the series may be found 
to answer better than any one volume could, better than any one 
man could, the question that faces each among us, the question
suggested by the title as to the meaning, the cause, and the issue 
of the life we live. 

A special introduction for this opening number of the series 
seems scarcely needful. Seth Low is so widely known for his 
long and honorable career, as President of Columbia University 
during its period of widest development, as Mayor of New York 
in days of peculiar stress and strain, as one of the foremost citizens 
of our land in every moment of need, that his voice must every- 
where receive attention, his views command respect. This 
address, delivered by him before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of 
Harvard, was published in the Atlantic Monthly and is here 
reproduced by the kind permission of the publishers, after being 
revised under Mr. Low^s supervision for its present use. It 
looks, as its title page suggests, over the general field of life, and 
indicates briefly the general character of some of the problems 
which the ensuing addresses must view at closer range. 

Perhaps he who will go step by step with our authors through 
each one's thought may before closing with the last find himself 
strengthened to give his own answer to the riddle. He may 
take a new attitude more confident, more self-assured towards 
life itself. 

C. F. H. 

1867 Speech of Louis-Joseph Papineau at the Institut canadien

"When the right to freethinking, whether religious, political or scientific, is as generally proclaimed as it is it by the laws, the values and the practice of our days, it cannot be lost. Judicious people will not need to demand it later."

THIS IS PAPINEAU'S DENUNCIATION OF CONFEDERATION AS A SCAM OF THE RULING CLASSES IN QUEBEC AND ONTARIO, THE SAME GROUP KNOWN AS THE "FAMILY COMPACT" WHICH RULED BOTH COLONIES.  

THE FATHERS OF CONFEDERATION WERE A SMALL GROUP OF THESE WHITE MEN, BOTH CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT, WHO SIGNED THE ACTS WITHOUT TAKING THEM TO THE PEOPLE

IT IS FOR THIS BASIC DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLE OF NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION THAT PAPINEAU ACCUSES THEM FAILING TO GET CANADIANS  AND CANADIENS APPROVAL. THE CONSTITUTION THAT EVERYONE IS AFRAID TO OPEN AND DISCUSS TODAY IS BECAUSE THERE NEVER WAS A DISCUSSION OR VOTE BY THE ENFRANCHISED PEOPLE AT THE TIME OF CONFEDERATION 

THIS DOCUMENT WILL SHOW YOU THAT WHILE THE CANADIAN RADICALS OF 1827

PAPINEAU AND MACKENZIE KING WERE IMPRESSED BY ASPECTS OF AMERICA

PAPINEAU EXPLAINS WHY CANADA HAS A DIFFERENT SET OF LIBERAL IDEALS 

THAN OUR SOUTHERN NEIGHBOUR. 

HE WAS SO FAR SEEING THAT HE PREDICTS THE COMING OF CHINESE IMMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION FROM ASIA IN GENERAL TELLING CANADIANS TO LOOK TO THE WEST ACROSS THE PACIFIC FOR CANADA'S FUTURE 

THIS  SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING IN ALL SOCIAL STUDIES AND HISTORY CLASSES IN CANADA IF WE STILL HAVE THEM IN K-12

1867 Speech of Louis-Joseph Papineau at the Institut canadien 

Among the most important and useful truths, those that pertain the the better political organization of a society are at the forefront. They are among those of which it is a shame to have not studied carefully, and cowardly to dare not proclaim, when we believe that those we possess are true and therefore useful.

The good political doctrines of modern times, I find them condensed, explained and delivered for the love of peoples and for their regeneration, in a few lines of the 1776 Declaration of Independence, and the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

The true sociological doctrines of modern times can be summed up in a few words: Recognizing that, in the political and temporal order, the only legitimate authority is the one to which the majority of the nation has given its consent; that are wise and beneficial constitutions only those for which the governed have been consulted, and to which the majorities have given their free approbation; that all which is a human institution is destined to successive change; that the continuous perfectibility of man in society gives him the right and imposes him the duty to demand the improvements which are appropriate for new circumstances, for the new needs of the community in which he lives and evolves.

It is not the precipitated acceptance of the butchered Quebec Act of confederation that can prove the wisdom of the statesmen of England. It is not their work; it was prepared in hiding, without the authorization of their constituents, by some colonists anxious to stud themselves to the power that had escaped them. The sinistre project is the works of badly famed and personally interested men, it is the achievement of evil at the British Parliament, surprised, misled, and inattentive to what it was doing.

At first sight, the act of confederation cannot have the approval of those who believe in the wisdom and the justice of the Parliament and the excellency of the English constitution, since it violates its fundamental principles, by taking control over the sums of money belonging to the colonists alone and not to the metropolis nor to any authority in the metropolis. It is guiltier than any of the preceding acts. It has the same defects, and it has new ones, which are unique to it, and which are more exorbitant against the colonists than were those of the parliamentary charters granted or imposed before. 

The others were given in times and conditions that were difficult and exceptional. The transfer of a new country, with a majority whose religious beliefs and political education differed deeply from those of the minority, could have let us fear that the latter be exposed to denials of justice. Full religious tolerance, the most important of the rights which belong to men in society, had not been understood nor allowed at the time. England was persecuting at home, insane and unjust; she was insane and unjust here, here more than elsewhere, because the public law was supposed to protect us from evil. She ignored it. If she had restricted herself to protective measures for the minorities, she would have been praised; but she exceeded the goal, she oppressed the majority, she did wrong. But it was then a common error which misled her and which excuses her. The odious laws of intolerance are repudiated by all of the civilized world today, except for Rome and St. Petersbourg. There too however, sooner or later it will be necessary to render justice at the sight of the benefits which it pours on the States which respect it.

The concision in the word of Cavour: "The free Church in the free State", is one of the most beautiful titles given to respect, love and admiration, justly acquired by this famous statesman. These happy words, which once stated can never be forgotten, which, in a short sentence, contain a complete and perfect code on the subject they expose and explain, in one moment, -- as if all the tongues of fire of the Coterie had touched all those which tried to retain them -- allow us to understand, love, and proclaim the full truth which was only obscurely perceived and timidly loved before. And yet this revelation, sudden for a lot of people, is already codified, since a long time, for all, in the thirty-six States of the Union next door.

The free, independent Churches, separated from the State, do not require anything from it in presence of one another, are the happiest and become most useful, because of this separation from the State and the proximity of their rivals. They rely on their knowledge and their virtues, they do not require nothing else. They as nothing of what they consider useful to the promotion of their cult, all to the benefit of all their ministers, their charity, and their benevolent organizations. Watching one another, they are eminently moral, because the exposure and publicity would punish each fault they commit. No fault being able to go by unpunished, one will rarely occur. Where only one Church rules, it is not useful, it represses heresies, schisms and witches. Its adversaries claim: "it must necessarily be that it is wrong, if it is so cruel." and its friends say: "it must necessarily be that it is divine, if it obtains support in spite of these cruelties."

When the right to freethinking, whether religious, political or scientific, is as generally proclaimed as it is it by the laws, the values and the practice of our days, it cannot be lost. Judicious people will not need to demand it later.

Other parliamentary acts against Canada were acts of rigour, following disorders which would have been prevented by a tiny portion of the concessions that were granted much too late. The merit of these concessions is small and has little value, because they were made only after executions which were murders.

(The reference here is to the rebellion of 1837 in Upper and Lower Canada which Papineau was a leader of SEE I Am Canadien http://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2007/07/i-am-canadien.htm)

The present act was inflicted to provinces which were peaceful, where there no longer existed animosities of race or religion to calm down. Where nobody was guilty, all were punished, since they received a law for which they were not consulted.

This new governmental plan reveals, more than the others, the violent animosity of that the aristocracy feels towards elective institutions. It was only after long years of ceaseless efforts that the Legislative Councils were made elective. 

Did those who had been morally glorified by tearing off this important concession to the colonial and metropolitan authorities glorify themselves much today by ravishing it to their compatriots? On the contrary, they felt and they knew that they would not escape the contempt that these tergiversations deserved. They fought among themselves with eagerness to obtain nobility titles from overseas. They defrauded on the one hand their country and other the other they were even defrauding among themselves for the superiority of the rank; and they found ways to associate many accomplices to their shame, as if it was less dark because it was shared! They promised the elected councillors to have them counsellors for life. They created themselves a fake aristocracy, that became such by their participation in an obvious violation of the law. All these intrigues were immoral enough to please the English cabinet and to push it to adopt an act even worse than almost all its past wrongs. These reactionaries were asking the institutions of the Middle Ages back at the very moment the noble English people was demolishing them.

No, it is not true that the political discussions, which were as sharp in both Canadas, were a fight between races. They were as rough in Upper Canada, where there was only one nationality, than here, where there were two. The majorities of both of them were uninterested friends of rights freedoms, and privileges due to all the English subjects. They were voluntarily exposing themselves to lie full slanderings, to dangerous angers, to sanguinary revenges sometimes, from egoistic minorities, by themselves weak, but supported by the strength of the baionnettes paid with the gold of the people, but everywhere directed against the people.

The privileged people always think that the prayers and the complaints against the abuses which benefit them are an invitation to repress them by violence. 


Proud, just and enlightened men, whose convictions are intense because they are the result of strong studies and long meditations, have faith in the empire of reason, and it is for reason alone that they ask the correction of the abuses. Their efforts are addressed to all, to the powerful ones initially, to inspire them sympathy for the people that are suffering and that were impoverished by the abuses. They present them with glory and happiness to conquer, if they know how to render the society of their time more prosperous and more moral that it was it in the times which preceded. They address them initially and preferably, because their mind being more cultivated, they would be better prepared to be able to consider questions of general interest under all their various aspects, and to solve them quickly and correctly when selfishness does not blind them. They address the masses after, to say them that the sabre is not in their hands, but that reason is the richest and most invaluable of divine gifts and that it was separated almost equally amongst all, that the culture of the mind can centuplicate its fruitfulness and strength; that to clear the land one needs physical strength enlightened by experience, but that in order to make good constitutions and good laws, and to apply them wisely, it is necessary to have before all a strong reason, enlightened not only by serious studies, but above all by a real devotion to the country, and the absence of any personal covetousness of ambition or interest. Here is what could seen before, here is what has since become so rare, now that fortunes acquired at the expense of the public and personal honor, have become so numerous! How badly do these reproaches of propensity to violence come from those who constantly have recourse to violence to prevent the free discussion of political or social questions, physical violence by means of the law, moral violence by the anathema!

Papineau was 81 years old when he appeared at the Institute in 1867


Papineau Bio See https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/qc/manoirpapineau/decouvrir-discover/natcul1/a

#Canada150 #confederation #papineau #cdnpoli 

A RELIGIOUS REFUTATION OF CREATION 1883

Evolution and natural theology

by Kirby, W. F. (William Forsell), 1844-1912

Published 1883

INTRODUCTION. 

"I cannot but feel surprised that a theory -which thus teaches us humility for the past, faith in the present, and hope for the future, should have been regarded as opposed to the principles of Christianity, or the interests of true religion." 

LUBBOCK'S "Prehistoric Times," 2nd edition, p. 581.

THE Theory of the Evolution of Living Beings, more familiarly known as the Theory of the Origin of Species, has continued to attract an increasing amount of public attention, ever since 1 859, when Darwin published his great work on the subject.

Although the principle of Evolution was not new, yet the crude and unscientific speculations of the earlier Evolutionists had failed to produce any deep or permanent impression on either the scientific or the popular mind ; and it was left for Darwin and Wallace to promulgate a theory which could be seen to be both scientifically probable, and easily intelligible, and capable of accounting for a great number of familiar facts which had previously been regarded as lying almost beyond the domain of science, and therefore as incapable of explanation.

It is universally acknowledged that no one can read one of Darwin's elaborate works on this subject, without admiring the great amount of learning and industry displayed in the marvellous array of facts collected from every conceivable source, which are brought forward to illustrate even the most trifling point under discussion.

The literature of the subject has now become very extensive, and Darwin's views are accepted, with more or less reservation, by nearly all scientific men, as a key to the mysteries of Nature. Among the supporters of Evolution may be found men of every shade of opinion, from Herbert Spencer, who asserts that Atheism, Pantheism and Theism are all equally untenable, to St. George Mivart, who attempts to show that the teachings of the Fathers of the Church are in accordance with Evolution.

But although the main principle of Evolution is now conceded by most naturalists, there is a great difference of opinion on matters of detail, and the subject is evidently still in its infancy. It must not be supposed that Darwin's views, comprehensive and valuable as they are, are by any means final ; and every general work on Evolution attempts to develop the subject more extensively, or to throw light on certain questions which still remain obscure.

It is often as important to point out the fallacies in the conclusions of others, as to state a new truth ; for in science, as in arithmetic, a mistake in one figure will often affect the whole sum. There is little doubt that Evolution is still far from presenting the aspect which it will ultimately assume in the science of the future.

The religious aspects of Evolution, though frequently discussed, are still far from having received a satisfactory solution. One reason may be that pure science resembles pure mathematics in only being able to deal with subjects which fall directly within its grasp.

Pure science will not conduct us far if the theological aspect of a theory has to be considered ; for religious questions depend upon the constitution of the human mind, and we cannot call in science to enable us to analyse our own minds by their own powers from any really independent or scientifically unexceptionable standpoint.

Nevertheless, a man is not justified in rejecting Religion, because (even after eliminating absurd or contradictory dogmas, with nothing to support them but authority) it presents him with insoluble enigmas if argued out by strict logic. .

A physiologist might as well refuse food as long as any problem connected with the process of x Introduction. digestion remained unsolved; or a philosopher might as well refuse to eat, because he admits himself to be incapable of proving either his own existence or that of his dinner, it is perhaps unnecessary to add that the above remarks are intended to apply to Religion in the abstract, quite independently of any system of dogmatic theology.

As, however, the bias of an author must affect his whole work, it may be stated that the existence and perfection of the Deity are here assumed from the outset, without any discussion of evidences, which would lead us too far from our main object.

The chief points which we have endeavoured to establish are : (1) the worthlessness of the opinions of antiquity on matters of natural science ; (2) the great superiority from a scientific point of view, as well as in physical and moral evidence, of the Theory of Evolution over that of Special Creation; and (3) that Evolution is perfectly consistent with an enlightened Theism.

Some of the supporters of Evolution claim for it that it is wholly opposed to the belief in a God, and many of its opponents brand it as thoroughly Atheistic in its tendencies. We shall attempt to show that this is not the case : but that as the Theory of Special Creation has become scientifically untenable, it is this theory, and not that of Evolution, which is positively Atheistic in its tendencies.

The principles of Evolution may be traced throughout every branch of Science without exception ; but we are here principally concerned with that branch of the subject known as the Origin of Species, and our illustrations are taken chiefly from Zoology. The conclusions of previous authors (including those of Darwin himself) are freely criticised ; and it is possible that new light may be found to be thrown on certain phases of the subject.

There is no real conflict between Religion and Science ; it is only the worn-out theological beliefs of past ages which conflict with the latter, when the increased light of the present age demonstrates them to be false, or even immoral. Religion and Science both lead us on to the discovery of higher and higher truths ; and the progress of truth is the advancement of the human race on the path which God has indicated by science and history as that by which it is His intention ultimately to lead all living beings, whether regarded as species or individuals, to Himself.

The interests of truth are in all cases best promoted by the freest discussion ; and it is hoped that the xii Introduction. present attempt to throw light on some of the important religious and scientific questions of the day, from a somewhat unusual standpoint, may not be considered altogether uninteresting

TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER  PAGE

PREFACE v

INTRODUCTION vii

 CHAPTER I.
ANCIENT AND MODERN VIEWS OF NATURE.
The Universe as it appeared to the Ancients Finite Nature of the Ancient Gods Zeus Othin Elohim Indra The Universe as it appears to the Moderns Progress of Science Progress of Religion- ... 1 NOTES. The Sacrifice of Serpents Buddhism God as the Spiritual Sun . . . 13

CHAPTER II.
THEORY OF DIRECT CREATION.
Difference between Ancient and Modern Thought Sporadic Nature of the Highest Genius Ancient Opinions on Matters of Physical Science Worthless Theory of Special Creation necessarily held by the Ancients Miracles Universality of Natural Law The Witch Mania and its Effects . 15

CHAPTER III.
EVOLUTION IN ASTRONOMY AND PHILOLOGY.
Infinite Change throughout the Universe Evolution an Established Principle in all Sciences Astronomy Philology Analogy between Philological and Biological Evolution 30 xiv Contents.

CHAPTER IV.
EARLIER THEORIES CONNECTED WITH EVOLUTION.
The System of Nature Speculations of the Earlier Evolutionists Theory of Degradation Inspiration necessarily Opposed to Infallibility Importance of Correct Views of Modern Science and Ancient Literature . . .41 NOTE. The Book of Genesis . ,49

CHAPTER V.
DARWIN AND HIS CRITICS.
Sketch of the Theory of Natural Selection Objections Theological Objections Origin of Man Beauty and Design in Nature Mivart Strictures on Darwinism Sense-Organs Origin of Species not always Gradual Limits of Variability Absence of Transitional Forms Species and Races Bree's Objections to Darwinism . 50

CHAPTER VI.
USE AND DISUSE, REVERSION AND HYBRIDISM.
Vital Energy Its Limits Variations in Offspring of the same Parents Reversion Hybrids and Mongrels Effects of Domestication on Animals . . . .69

CHAPTER VII.
HOMOLOGY.
Probable Unity of Matter Unity of Structure throughout Organic Nature Somites of Annulosa Neck of Vertebrata Rudimentary Organs Organs of the Senses Homology of the Sexes Homology only to be explained by Evolution

CHAPTER VIII.
EMBRYOLOGY.
Importance of Embryological Characters in Classification Close Resemblance of Early Stages of Embryos Rudimentary Organs in the Embryo Ancestral Characters Gradually Transferred to Embryo Importance of this Principle 95 Contents. xv

CHAPTER IX.
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.
PAGE Traditions of tlie Deluge Islands Sea Barriers Local Variations in Size of Animals America and the Old World Australia Introduced Species American Waterweed Madagascar The Canaries and the East Indies 103


CHAPTER X.
VARIATION UNDER DOMESTICATION.
Effects of Domestication Sheep Pigeons Explanations on the Theory of Special Creation Domestication in Ancient Times Importance of Variation to Man . 119

CHAPTER XI.
ORIGIN OF LIFE ON THE EARTH.
Origin of Life a Mystery Biassed Theories Prochronism . Voltaire's Theory of Fossils Sir W. Thomson's Meteoric Theory Origin of Mundane Life probably Terrestrial Lowest Living Organisms Ultimate Origin of Life . .126

CHAPTER XII.
COURSE OF DEVELOPMENT ON THE EARTH.
Succession of Forms Theory of Direct Creation Subversive of the Argument from Design Immutability and Universality of the Laws of Nature Wallace's View of the Origin of Man Absolute and Relative Perfection Progress of Vertebrate Animals Man Geologically Analogous to a Class Extinction of Species Small Species usually Survive Larger Apparent Exceptions Social Hymenoptera Intelligence of Vertebrate Animals The Dog Indestructibility of Life Preexistence and Successive Existences . 137 xvi Contents.

CHAPTER XIII.
THE DESTRUCTIVE AGENCIES OF NATURE.
PAGE Necessity of Destruction Man's Influence Primeval State of the Earth Glacial Periods Changes of Climate Influence of Pestilence Eras of Rest State of Ice- land No Real Destruction . .158

CHAPTER XIV.
PROGRESS OF MAN.
Alternation of Races Children and Savages Men only Equal Theoretically Beliefs dependent on Race and Geographical Distribution All Religions of Divine Origin Missionaries Hereditary Influences Proportion of the Sexes Alleged Degeneracy of Man The Ancient Athenians Celibacy in the Church Cruelty and Immorality of the Ancients Re-action in Modern Times 167 NOTES. Religion of the Semites and Aryans Mohammadanism . .199

CHAPTER XV.
HARMONY OF NATURE.
Balance of Nature Strength of Small Animals Limits of Variation Of Multiplication Heavy Fruits Relative Perfection of the Universe . . 201

CHAPTER XVI.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION . 205