transported thither from the neighboring continent. But beetles are slow and clumsy fliers, and on these wind-swept islands those which flew most would be blown out to sea and drowned. Those which flew the least, and these would include the individuals with more poorly developed wings, would survive. There I would thus be a survival in every generation of a larger proportion of those having the poorest wings, and destruction of those whose wings were strong, or whose habits most active. We have here a natural selection which must in time produce a species with rudimentary or aborted wings, just as surely as a human breeder, by artificial selection can produce such an animal as a pug or a poodle. These, like sin, are a human device; nature should not be held responsible

for them.

Let us think

But you may urge that the variation which would take place in a single generation would be, as a rule, too slight to be of any practical value to the animal, and could not be fostered by natural selection until greatly enhanced by some other means. a moment. If ten ordinary men run in a foot-race, the two foremost may lead by several feet. But if the num ber of runners be continually increased the finish will be ever closer until finally but an atom more wind or muscle or pluck would make all the difference between winning and losing the prize.

of insect in a

Similarly the million or more young of any species given area may be said to run a race of which the prize is life, and the losing of which means literally death. The competition is inconceivably How indefinitely slight will be the difference between the poorest of the 2,000 or 20,000 survivors

severe.

14 THE

The very

slightest favorable variation i

may make all the

and the best of the more than 900,000 which perish.
difference between life and sure death. And yet these
indefinitely slight variations continued and aggregated
through ages would foot up an immense total diver.
e chalk cliffs of England have been built

gence.

The

of microscopic shells.

up

I have tried to give you very briefly a sketch of the essential points of Mr. Darwin's theory of evolution. But you should all read that marvel of patience, industry, clear insight, close reasoning, and grand honesty, the "Origin of Species." I have no time to give the jections which may arise in your minds. I ask you to believe only this much; that the theory is accepted with practical unanimity by scientific men because it,

and it alone, furnishes an

explanation for the facts

your while

which they discover in their daily work. And this is
the strongest proof of the truth of any accepted theory.
Inasmuch as it is accepted by all scientists and
largely by the public, it is certainly worth y
to know whether it has any bearing on the great moral
and religious questions which you are considering.
And in these lectures I shall take for granted, what
some scientists still doubt, that man also is a product
of evolution. For the weight of evidence in favor of
this view is constantly increasing, and seems already
to strongly preponderate. Also I wish in these lect-
ures to grant all that the most ardent evolutionist can
possibly claim. Not that I would lower man's posi-
tion, but I have a continually increasing respect for
the so-called "lower animals."

Now if the theory of evolution be true, and really

only on this condition, life has had a history; and human history began ages before man's actual appearance on the globe, just as American history began to be fashioned by Anglo-Saxons, Danes, and Normans before they set foot even in England. We study history mainly to deduce its laws; and that knowing them we may from the past forecast the future, prepare for its emergencies, and avoid or wisely meet, its dangers. And we rely on these laws of history because they are the embodiment of ages of human experience.

prac

Fire

Whatever be our system of philosophy we all tically rely on past experience and observation. burns and water drowns. This we know, and this knowledge governs our daily lives, whatever be our theories, or even our ignorance, of the laws of heat and respiration. Now human history is the embodi ment of the experience of the race; and we study it in the full confidence that, if we can deduce its laws, we can rely on racial experience certainly as safely as on that of the individual. Furthermore, if we can discover certain great movements or currents of human action or progress moving steadily on through past centuries, we have full confidence that these movements will continue in the future. The study of history should make us seers.

But the line of human progress is like a mountain road, veering and twisting, and often appearing to turn back upon itself, and having many by-roads, which lead us astray. If we know but a few miles of it we cannot tell whether it leads north or south or due But if from any mountain-top we can gain a clear bird's-eye view of its whole course, we easily dis

west.

16

THE

WHENCE AND THE WHITHER OF MAN

tinguish the main road, its turns become quite insignificant, we see that it leads as directly as any engineering skill could locate it through the mountains to the fertile plains and rich harvests beyond.

Now our

knowledge of the history of man covers so brief a period that we can scarcely more than hazard a guess as to the trend of human progress. Many of the most promising social movements are like by-roads which, at first less steep and difficult, end sooner or later against impassable obstacles. And even if there be a main line of march, advance seems to alternate waves rush onward only to fall back with retreat, progress with retrogression. To illustrate

further, the great

again, and we can hardly tell whether the tide is flow

ing or ebbing.

Yet already certain tendencies appear fairly clear. Governments tend to become democratic, if we define ' democracy as "any form of government in which the will of the people finds sovereign expression." The tendency of society seems to be toward furnishing all its members equality of opportunity to make the most of their natural endowments. But if we are convinced that these statements express even vaguely the tendency of human development in all its past history, we are confident that these tendencies will continue in the future for a period somewhat proportional to their time of growth in the past. If we are wise, we try to make our own lives and actions, and those of fellows, conform to and advance them. Otherwise our lives will be thrown

Our

tory is only the last page

If

away.

But if the theory of evolution be true, human his-
of the one history of all life.
to gain any adequate, true, extensive view of

we

are

human progress, we must read more than this. We must take into account the history of man when he I was not yet man. And if we believe in the future continuance of tendencies of a few centuries' growth, we shall rest assured of the permanence of tendencies which have grown and strengthened through the

ages.

Our confidence in the results of historical study is therefore proportioned to the extent and thoroughness of the experience which they record, and to the time during which these laws can be proven to have held good. If I can make it even fairly probable that these laws, on obedience to which human progress and success seem to depend, are merely quoted from a grander code applicable to all life in all times, your confidence in them will be even greater. I trust I can prove to you that the animal kingdom has not drifted aimlessly at the mercy of every wind and tide and current of circumstance. I hope to show that along one line it has from the beginning through the ages held a steady course straight onward, and that deviation from this course has always led to failure or degeneration. From so vast a history we may hope to deduce some

of the great laws of true success in life. Furthermore, if along this central line, at the head of which man stands, there always has been progress, we cannot doubt that future progress will be as certain, and perhaps far more rapid. In all the struggle of life we shall have the sure hope of success and victory; if not for ourselves still for those who shall come after us. "We are saved by hope." And we may be confident that this hope will never make us ashamed.

Finally, even from our present knowledge of the