IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) m. .<^ .%> /A / ^^ M^y LO LI 1.25 '-IIM IIM *- IIM iim ^ m III 2.0 1.4 1.8 1.6 <^ Vi ^/ /: <^i em. ■ jy >P>- r %:^' .^^' "# ^w ^ h. Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 *i €> CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de micrortproductions historiques 1980 Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may L. bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, ate checked below. L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la m6thode normale de filmage sont indiqu6s ci-dessous. D D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagde Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur6e et/ou pellicul6e □ Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur n Pages damaged/ Pages endommag^es n Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaur^es et/ou pelliculdes D D D n D D Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque V □ Coloured maps/ Cartes gdographiques en couleur Coloured inl< (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La reliure serr6e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge intdrieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajouties lors d'une restau ration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas dt6 film6es. D Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages ddcolordes, tachet6es ou piqudes n Pages detached/ Pages d6tach6es □ Showthrough/ Transparence □ Quality of print varies/ Qualite indgale de I'impression I I Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du matdriel supplementaire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponib'e Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totaiement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6t6 filmdes d nouveau de fapon d obtenir la meilleure image possible. D Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppl^mentaires; y This item is filmed at the reduction ratfo checked below/ Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiqud ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 21K 26X aox J 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X 9 itails B du lodifier r une Image The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Ralph Pickard Bell Library Mount Allison University The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copv and in keeping with the filming contract s', ecifications. L'exemplaire filmd fut reproduit grAce A la g6nArosit6 de: Ralph Pickard Bell Library Mount Allison University Les images suivantes ont AtA reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetA de l'exemplaire film6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. >s Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. Ail other original copies are filmed be^jinning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol —^- (meaning "CON- TINUED "), or the symbol 7 (meaning "END "), whichever applies. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimAe sont film6s en commenp ant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmAs en commenpant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte (''impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole —^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Tho^e too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc peuvent Atre filmAs A des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichA, il est filmA A partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. errata I to t ) pelure, on A n 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDING? THREE LECTURES ON TBI REALITY AND WORTH OF HUMAN PROGRESS. BY THE REV. M. HARVEY, Author of " Newfoundland, — the Oldest British Colony"; "Lecture*, Literary and Biographical"; Articles "Newfoundland" and "Labrador" in the Encyclopadia Britannica; " Tert-Book of Newfoundland History," etc. w —1 ui "^■ > I o >- < OD BOSTON: DOYLE AND WHITTLE. 1886. Copyright, 1886, bt doylk and whittle. All rights reserved. PreB» of Kockwell and Churcblll, 39 Arch Htreet, Boston. PREFACE. ;0 most thoughtful minds the reality of human prog- ress is a subject profoundly interesting. At the present time this problem lias especial attractions because it is felt that it underlies many of the great questions regard- ing humanity wliieh r ^upy the mind of the age. If human prog- ress be real and possessed of substantial value, and if it can be shown to be continuous, then light is thrown on many dark points in the problem of existence. If humanity has been advancing in the past and is still gaining loftier heights, and if an all-pervad- ing law of progress be discernible, then life has a meaning, and is the development of a divine purpose working towards an exalted end. Notwithstanding present imperfections, if we are really ad- vancing, liowever slowly, towards a better condition, even though it should not be one of absolute perfection, life has then a noble purpose, and presents a great hope to animate human endeavor. It must be admitted, however, that progress presents a most complicated problem, and one which is far from being so easily solved as some enthusiastic optimists seem to Ihink. It is, in fact, a question encompassed with doubts and difHculties. That progress is slow and often wavering ; that it has been accomplished through conflict, pain, and terrible sacrifices; that it has licen attended with drawbacks and disappointments ; that, even at the present day, it is the exception, and not the rule ; and that vast masses of man- kind are living in a state of contented ignorance and stagnation, — all this must be fully admitted. The pessimist can readily find a certain justification of his views iu the many dark and discouraging facts of human existence. Still, I believe there are ample grounds for holding human progress to be a grand reality. In Ibis little work I have eu- PREFACE. I (leavored to show that it is verifiable, and that ntjodorn scienco furnishes a basis on which a belief in its value and reality may safely rest. The diflleulties and objections suggested by pessi- mists are freely stated, for wo cannot reach safe conclusions by ignoring these. I have rested a belief in the reality of progress on the slow and gradual accretions of good which the past has witnessed, and the steady diminution of evil which is also clearly discernible. The investigations of science show that these gradual ameliorations are the outcome of that wondrous evolution of life on tiie globe which is ever attended witli more complicated and higher results, though involving much tiitit is to us darli and in- explicable. In tiiis brief discussion of the question I have retained the form of lectures, the substance of the whole having been originally delivered as an Athenajum K'ctiu'e before a popular audience. For Ibis the high authority of F. Max Miiller may be cited, who says, in his preface to " India — What Can it Teach Us? " : "I am fond of the form of lectures, because it seems to mo the most natural form which in our age didactic composition ought to take. As in ancient Greece the dialo:j;ue reflected most truly the intel- lectual life of the peoi)le, and as :n the Middle Ages learned literature naturally assumed witii the recluse in his monastic cell the form of a long monologue, so with us the lecture places the writer most readily in tliat position in which he is accustomed to deal with his fellow-men, and to communicate his knowledge to others It has, no doubt, certain disadvantages. In a lecture which is meant to be didactic, we have, for the sake of complete- ness, to say and to repeat certain things which must be familiar to some of our readers, while we are also forced to leave out informa- tion which, even in its imperfect form, we should probably not hesitate to submit to our fellow-sludents, but which we feel we have not yet sufliciently mastered and matured to enable us to place it clearly and simply before a larger public. But the advantages outweigh the disadvantages." M. H. St. John's, Newfoundland, December, 1885. CONTENTS LECTLKE FIRST. PAOI The Question stated : Is Man Uetrof^radinu, Stationary, or Projjressing? — Argument in Favor of Human Proijress. — lleneflts of Steam and Electricity. — Splendid Achicvoments of Science. — Their Bearing on Progress. — Advances in Art, Literature, and Moral- ity. — Objections to the Doctrine of Progress. — Pauperism. — The Milifary System. — War. — Antagonism of Capital and Labor. — Disease, etc. — Drawbacks of Civilization. — The Blind, De- structive Forces of Nature at Work. — The Dark Side of Nature. — Uses of Pessimism. — Its View Imperfect. — Magnificent Results of Science. — Its Beneficent Tendency. — Its Future Prospects and Possible Benefits. — The Pessimist's Reply to the Boasts of Science. — Achievements of the Ancients and Moderns Compared. — Egypt, Babylon, Tyre, Etruria, Baalbec, Rome. — The New World. — Easter Island. — Central America. — Mexico, Peru. — The Mound-Builders. — Ancient and Modern Literature. — Man- kind not More Moral or Happier than of Old. — Motlern Civiliza- tion Doomed to Perish. — Review of the Pessimist's Argument. — Intellectual Man existed Early. — Ancient and Modern Civiliza- tions Contrasted. — Human Progress a Slow and Painful Process, but Real LECTURE SECOND. Man's Earthly Destiny Enveloped in Shadows, but Lighted with Qlcams of Hope. — Slow Development through Conflict and I'ain. — The Death of the Weakest. — Tiie Life of the Strongest. — Waste of Life. — Prevalence of Suffering. — The Difllculty and Sadness of Existence. — The Mystery of it all, but a Progressive Plan Evi- dent. — Higher and Nobler Types following each Other. — Evil Diminishing. — Good Increasing. — Development in Accordance with Unswerving Law the Great Idea of the Age. — The Great Question, How things came to be as they are? — A Divine CONTENTS. PAoa IntcUiffpnco (n>>*iniisni. — Its View Iin(K;rfeet. — Ma;;- niflccnt Uesiilts of .Scienee. — Its IJenelicent T-Mulency. — lis Future Prospects nnd I'ossible Ikncfits, — The Pessimist's Reply to the Boosts of .Science. — .Vehievemcnts of the Ancients and Moderns t'ompai-cd. — Kiryjit, liabrlon. Tyre, Kti'uria, Itaalbec, Home. — Tlie New World. — I'^astcr Island. — Ccnli-ul America. — Mexico, Peru. — The Mound-Huildcrs. — Ancient and Modern Literature. — Mankind not More Moral or Happier than of Old. — Modern Civilization Doomed to Perish. — llevicw of the Pessimist's Ar;,'unient. — Intellectual Man cxistcil Karly. — Ancient and Modern Civilizations Conti-asted. — Human PiT><;re8s a Slow and Puiuful Process, but Ileal. N tlie following IcctiiiTs I pr()[)o.so to discuss hriofly the question, Where are we, of the present generation, in the great historic march of mankind, and whither does the host, of which we are a part, seem to he tending? Are wc really a conquering, advancing army, with victorious banners floating over us, with fresh triinnphs awaiting us ; and if so, how far have we scaled the lieights, and wh.'it are the residts of the onward move- ment? Or are we, after all, only fragments of a hroken, discomfited host, fighting desperately but hopelessly in a retreat, our lines in disorder, our banners torn and tramjded in the dust, — no victories awaiting us, but only shame and fresh defeats? Has the course of humanity, since it started in the far East, long before the dawn of history, been, on the whole, progressive or retrogressive, or, like the swing of the pen- dulum, constantly traversing the same arc of a circle, always in H WHERE A HE WE AM) WHITHER TEXniSdt motion without inukiii^ any adviinco? After all the toilt), ttor- rowM, and conHictM of liutnanity, have wo now any 8oIi(l gain8 to nIiow in regard to what cotiHtitittcs the grand essentialn of e.\irtten(!L'? Are we heconiing rieher in mind ami heart, in vvi^4dom and true goodness, as the ages roll along? Is human life growitig more heautifid and preeious with loftier aims and widening ideals? Is tlu; little aggregate ol' atoms we eidl earth advuiM'ing towards a maturity, and are its denizens tend- ing towards higher levels in virtue and hapfjiness? Or is our hoasted progress a foncM und cleans our hoots, nnd promises to heeonic the; {^reiit motor of the tuturc. Listen to the roar of our machinery as it ceasch'ssly turns out nil that minister to hutnan wants, nnd |>la(*es within reach of the poor- (>st comforts nnd luxuries which noliles could nut once com- mand. The ;;reat carrier, steam, takes up the harvests of the far West of America, and distrihutes them over Kurope swiltly nnd cheaply. All the rouj^'h w«)rk of the worhl will noon he performed hy the same miirhty a<;cnt, and human toil immensely lessened. Consider the achievements of the printin;^-|)rcss, in difi'usinj^ knowledge and (piiekening thought among all classes. By our world-emhra ing commerce the products of all countries are exchanged, and thus human life is enriched and heautified. "Where are we, then?'' AVhy, of course, " in the foremost files of time." We are mastering the great forces of nature nnd chaining them, as humhle slaves, at our triumphant chariot- wheels. We elude or disarm inanv of the destructive! a'jr*'n<'it-S around us which once wrought such havcu; among our ranks ; and om* extending knowledge of Nature's laws hriugs within a measurahle distance the era when " there shall he nothing to hurt or destroy," and man shall he completely adjusted to his environment. Kead Sir John Luhhock's " Fifty Years of Sci- ence," and learn what keen-eyed Science has done a. id promises to achieve. With patient, courageous, and not irreverent de- meanor Seienci' is now searching all things in the heavens ahove and in the earth beneath. She gauges the galaxies; analyzes the nebula), those films of light on the outskirts of creation which arc slowly curdling into worlds, and hy her spectroscope reveals the constitution of the sun and stars. At the other end of the scale, by the micr«)scope, she measures the atoms and molecules out of which the Creator has constructed the uni- verse, and brings them under the dominion of mathematical laws. She has penetrated many wf the secrets of light, heat, and electricity, and proved that force, as well as matter, is inde- 10 WHERE ARE WE AND WHIT HER TENDING f structiblo ; thus reaching tho \i\\\ of tlio conservation of energy, — one of the grandest generalizations of the human mind. The h)fty aim of our modern science is to answer the questions, Ilow things came to be as they arc. What is the order of nature, and What the causes of appearances ? Andah'cady marvellous arc her achievements. The geologist Avill take up a bit of gran- ite, chalk, or coal, and trace out for you its history, through the {Tons of the past, whose records are engraved in the solid rocks, and in the strange vegetable and aniiral forms of pre- ceding worlds entombed beneath our feet. The researches associated with the great name of Darwin have revolutionized our views of nature, by linking all animated existences in one vast chain, their bond of union being com- munity of descent. Man himself is but the topmost branch of the genealogical tree whose roots arc found among the earliest traces of life on our globe. From a few simple, primeval forms, as Evolution shows, all the varied and complicated vege- table and animal existences have been developed through the ages of the past. This is what the piercing eye of Science has disclosed, showing us nature as one great whole, — one beauti- ful cosmos. But Science is beneficent as well as prying. She is teaching man to dread no facts or realities of existence, but to love all truth for its own sake, and search for it "as for hidden treasure." She is delivering man from that dread of nature, — that terror of the imknown, which marked his earlier history, and which became the fruitful parent of superstition, with all its baleful brood. She teaches him that if brave and patient in the investigation of physical facts, he will discover everywhere the permanence of imswerving law and the beauty of order, and that these laws, intelligently apprehended and obeyed, will secure his well-being, and guard him from a thou- sand evils. The positive gains from science are patent and verifiable. It is at this r;ioment, througli its discoveries, furnishing employ- ment and food to millions, and every year adding enormously to the world's wealth. In the detection of the causes of disease and the discovery of their remedies and alleviations it has done WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDING f 11 much to lessen human sufferings. In the one gift of chloroform it has bestowed a priceless boon on humanity. In tracing the laws of heredity and the conditions of health it has pointed out the way to secure "a sound mind in a sound body," thus helping man to become more and more master of his own destiny. It has severed the ciiains of a thousand errors with which ignorance had bound us, and, by giving freedom to the intellect, has secured boundless possibilities of advance. Nor is it in science alone that progress is discernible. There is an advance all along the line. Look at the vast accumulated stores of our literature, and the healthful intluence it is exert- ing. Never before was it so pure, and animated by such lofty aims. The same is true of art in its grand advances. Con- sider, too, the ameliorations wrought out, during the last fifty years, by legislation : how rauny class privileges and selfish monopolies have been abolished ; what wrongs redressed ; what grievances swept away ; what sliamcful tyrannies and cruel enactments removed. The interests of the masses, the good of the whole, arc now, at least professedly, paramount considera- tions in legislation. In fact, when we consider not only the broad advances of material civilization, but the onward sweep of intellectual and moral good, have not we, of the present time, reason for self-congratulation, and for pronouncing our mother-age the brightest an! noblest of all its predecessors? Surely it is the most glorious birth of time ; the bearer of a new Apocalypse ; the li-'Toinger of the new era of peace and happiness. Its watchword is ; — " Lot in light, the holy light, — Brothers, fuar it never; Darkness smiles and wrong grows right, — Let in light forever." Such is the prean we often hear chanted in these days by the enthusiastic champions of progress, — tlic brave optimistic eingers of '' the good time coming." Though there may be a touch of exagjjeration and sentimentalism, and a strain of unreasoned hopefulness in their utterances, it must be allowed 12 WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDING? that their case ia a good one, and that their song of triumph has a certain amount of justification in fact. But I can easily conceive a cool, matter-of-fact, unimaginative individual, with a tinge of cynical pessimism in his composition, rising and making a weighty rejoinder to all this niuetecnth-century self-glorification. We can fancy him pouring forth his oration something after this fashion : " My imaginative, progressive friends, scientific and sentimental, permit me to point out that you have reached your pleasant conclusions about the wonder- ful advance of the human race Gy^iuFtlng your eyes to all that 'Tiiilltates against your theory, and ignoring all the disagreeable facts connected with man's present position on earth. You boast of the increase of Icnowledge, the grandeur of scientific discoveries, and the advance of mankind in comfort, peace, and happiness ; and you draw a charming picture of the blessings of civilization. I do not altogether disjnite your statements ; but, by overlooking all the foul blots of modern civilization, and blinding j'ourselves to the dark background of the i)icture, y ou have })roduced a ia|se inij)rc8s^ion, and your conclusions regarding ])rogres8 are vitiated. You fail, for example, to take account of that c ancerous ulce r called pauperism , which is to-day eating into the very vitals of the social body. In every European community it is at work ; it is the despair of politi- cal economists, the terror of statesmen, the perplexity of social science. ' What to do with our paupers,' is the despair- ing cry amiil all the glitter and pomp of increasing wealth. In Great Britain and Ireland alone this huge, hungry pau- perism nu mbers one million of human beings, deei)-sunk in igno rance and wretched ness ; without guidance or Tiope ; in- capable and helpless ; adding to the population but detracting from its strength, and barely kept from starvation or rebellion by th e expedient of a po or-law. The cost of their mainten- ance is ten millions annuallv. TThat an ufflv blotch is this on your boasted civilization ! What a frightful spectre generated in '^> oul swau»ps ot humanity I This host of paupers is ever swelling its ranks, and like a column of locusts it advances and deepens year by year, in spite of the enormous increase of WHERE ARE WE AND WIIITnER TENDING f 13 wealth. P auperism is no mere accident : it is the inscjiarable shadow of civilization. It is becominj^ rampant in the New World as well as in the Old, and must l)c regarded as a necee- Bary product of your so-called profj^rcss. "Then," continues the speaker, " let me further point out to our enthusiastic progressionists the millions of men and women who, by hard struggles, are just able to keep out of the mael- strom of pauperism, but for most of whom life has little joy or hope, — t he pale factory -workers, the distressed needle-women, the laborers, rural and urban, asking for leave to toil, and often asking in vain. Consider how vast multitudes of the poor are housed in the great cities of the Old World. They are living in the f oulest conditions, under which no purity or decency could grow up ; the air they breathe poisonous ; pure water unknown ; the light of heaven shut out ; the darkened, filthy dwelling a type of the darkened souls within ; hideous vices and crimes rampant. In the worst of them human beings do not so much live as wallow, like the lowest animals, in mud and slime. Read the recent revelations of the press regarding 'Outcast London,' where the misery of the poor, amid poisonous surroundings, is on the most gigantic scale and has reached the utmost ])itch of intensity. The picture of these horrible ' slums and rookeries,' in the very heart (S the great- est and wealthiest city in the world, has made the whole nation shudder. It is well that they have been unveiled in r.ll their naked hideousness, tTiat men mayTnow Tiow mucli misery exists alongside of a glittering civilizaticm and an enormous" incTcase of wealth. On a sinaller scale all tlie great centres of popu- KiTIon in Eiigland and on the contiiu^nt of Europe repeat the doleful tale of the London slums. The misery is so vast in its dimensions that i)hilantlin)py shrinks away in despair from the hopeless task of grappling with it. Nor are these foul condi- tions connected with the housing of the poor confined to city slums. A few years ago the census sliowed that in Scotland there were 7,ll()4 houses without windows, and 220,001 houses — one-third of the whole — with but one room. England is but little better. Even in the New World, with its ample, un- 14 WHERE ARE WE AND WnirUER TENDING f occiipicd spaces and unexhausted resources, pau|>crlsm is assum- ing gigantic proportions in all the great cities. A report on the city of New York, published a few years ago, showed that there, in proportion to population, pauperism was greater than in Ireland, and the death-rate higher than that of London ; that 18,000 persons were living in cellars ; that a large proportion of the city is unprovided with sewerage ; and that nearly half a milli o n of inhabitants are packed into narrow streets, lanes, and courts, nt the rate of 240,000 within the square mile. Such are the conditions of lif e in the Empire City of the New World ; so little avails monarciiy or republicanism in dealing with this formidable enemy. What are your vast railways , your electric lights, Adimtic cables, steam-driven ocean-rangers, and printing-presses, to tiicse sunken masses — these barbarians of civilization ? AVhat a poor offset arc your nebular hypotheses and molecular theories, your spectroscopic investigatwns of sun and stars, with these seething, wretched masses of humanity weltering in helpless misery at your door s ! In Nineveh.Baljyjqnj o r Home was ther e anything (piite so bad"?" " Or, to cast a ray of light on other portentous facts, let me j)oint my self-deceiving friends, who think it all right with the world, to the existing military system. Europe is at this moment a vast camp, with more tiian seven millions of men withdrawn, wholly or partially, from productive industries, armed to the teeth with all that human ingenuity can invent in the shape of destructive engineering, waiting for some man of ' blood and iron ' to ' cry havoc and let sli[) tlie dogs of war.' Look at the battle-fields of Sadowa, (iravelotte, and Sedan, in the Old World, and at Gettysburg in the New ; at the grim struggles of the Parisian Connnune ; at the awful carnage of Plevna ; the campaigns in Afghanistan, South Africa, and Egypt. What a grim comment these on the approaching brotherhood of man and the * the federation of the world ! ' Ivemember, too, that ever since history got her first page written, and long before, the sat"' bloody struggles have been going im, war being tT»e nor .1 .,ndition of society, and peace the exception. WHERE ARE WE AND WUITIIER TENDING t 15 In dealing with the criminal classes, modern ciTilization has achieved no_grcater success than m the case of pauperism. The low-browed, ferocious criminal class has multiphcd till prison room can scarce be fou nd for them, and property ha s to be guarded, not only by armies of police, but with rev6lver8 and heaviest bolts and safes. The labor question , too, is another unattractive feature of progress. Capital and labor arc at present in the most hostile relations, and we have had already some terrible warnings of _thc convulsions that may arise. "Some of the profoundest thinkers are now anticipating a revolutionary epoch in Europe, from the prevalence of Social- ism, Communism, and Nihilism among the working classes. Hardly a year elapses without news from some quarter of a million of human beings perishing by famine and i)lag ue. The land question has recently assumed prominence, and presses for a solution, the rights of property being seen to conflict sorely with the rights of man. The state of society in Ireland has long been a standing 0[)probrium of British statesnumship, — :i, dark blot in the jiistory of civilization. The triuniphs of medi- cal science, I grant, are not lo be dcs[)iscd ; but how insig- nificant they look in j)resence of the thousands, in every land, who are slowly dying of consumption and cancer, for which, as yet, no remedy is found, perishing by cholera and phigiie, and burning in deadly fevers f Science lias still ample room to work when thousands of miners are destroyed every year by the. deadly fire-damp, and when cvcry^oast is Btrev yn_Avith the corpses of d rowned seamen. Is it not rather premature to raise your hymns of triumph when, amid the incctJtiant roar of commerce and the accunuilation of piles of wealth, count- less nmhitudes are cowering into awful dens of want and sin and shame, and rolliuj; down to forgotten graven), vainlv seeking help from man and hcjpe in God ; wiien the cry from nudti- tudes of fallen womanhood goes up in a terrii)le shriek to hcii wen ? '" Hear ' The Cry of the Human ' as voiced by ^Nlrs. Browning, and let its wail quiet your enthusiasm : — 16 WHERE ARE WE AND wmTlIER TENDWOf " ' The curse of pohl upon tlie land The lack of brond enforces ; The rail-curs snort from strand to strand, Like more of death's white horses I The rich j)reach " rights " and future days, And hear no angel scoflSng — The poor die mute, with starving gaze On corn-ships in the oiHng. Be pitiful, O God ! ' " All this constitutes a heavy discount on your civilization and boasted [)rogrcs3. Social and moral ev ils raise their heads all around, and hevvildered philanthropy fails to grapple with them. The tragic face of want and woe looks out from the mask of modern wealth. The coveted results are shared by a very few, thouglT i)ro(ruce(l at an inunensc cost to mankind. That delicate embroidery worn bv the votary of fashion is the work of some hfdf-starvcd girl, who earned sixpence a day by sixteen hours of labor : — " ' Uending backward from her toil, Lest her tears the work should spoil, Shapinf? from her bitter thongiit Ileart's-ease and forget-me-not.' "That Brussels lace which adorns the head of beauty on her bridal morn is the product of j)oor lace-weavers who must work in damp and cold apartments, — for otherwise the thread so attenuated coidd not be drawn out, — so chili and moisture- laden that consuniption rides in the air and mows down its victims in four or five years. Truly, I think we are far enough from ' the land flowing with milk and honey ' when these are the emblems of our civilization. "Still oiu- sentimental optimists continue to murumr that * Whatever is, is right ; ' and they point to the beauty, the order, and beneficent arrangements of nature, and argue that such a fair casinos, through which ' one increasing purpose runs,' is working out slowly but surely a benevolent design, and that all will be riijht in the end, however dark and mvsteri- ous may be [)resent ap[)earances. IVIy well-meaning friends,' exclaims the pessimist rather fiercely, 'let me entreat you to WHERE ARE ,VE AND WHITHER TEyPINGt 17 'dear your minds of cant,' and look at things as thoy really are. You say beneficent nature will make all right and work out gracious results. But what are the facts of the case? Nature, in many of her aspects, is, as Tennyson puts it, ' red in tooth and daw.' Nature is the spotted panther, — fair to sight, but cruel, merciless, indifferent to human weal or woe. AN'ith lavi-sh and reckless profusion she calls living creatures into existence and in the end slavs them all, often amid terrible tortures. The law under which all animals exist is 'cat and be eaten.' In this scene of teen)ing life the most striking characteristic is universal conflict and slaughter. Every or- ganism is ceaselessly engaged in pursuing and devouring its prey, and dependent for its existence on doing this successfully. Listen to the sounds of a tropical forest at night and you hear the roar of the hungry beasts of prey, the cries of the pursued, the groans of the wounded and dying. The ocean is a scene of unending conflict, life being ever sustained by the destruc- tion of life. For destructive ends nature has armed animals^ with claws, talons, teeth, beaks, stings, and malignant poisons,, and implanted in them those instincts which i)r<)m})t their deadly use. All terrestrial life, according to your theory of development, has had a tragic history, and ' the struggle for existence,' resulting in * the survival of the fittest,' or, rather.. ' the strongest,' presents a ghastly record. Improvements, a& you name them, have been accomplished through terrible struggles, and at the cost of the defeat and extirpation of all but the few, the weakest ami most helpless being mercilessly eliminated. JVIan himself is no exception to the law. From the semi-brute condition he has risen through pei'petual conflicts and struggles. As Carlylc puts it, the primary question of savage man to man was, ' Can I kill thee or canst thou kill me?' Tribes, races, nations have fought since the dawn of the human period, — one wave of population overwhelming its predecessor, to meet in turn a similar doom. " The wheels of the chariot of progress are splashed with blood. Such is nature's method. Why mince the matter? Each race, since man stepped on the scene, has assassinated its 18 WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDING f predecessor. The River Drift men chipped their flints, nnd fought the nininmoths, till the advancing glaciers, bringing the Cuvc men, 8W(4)t them away. Neolithic man, accom[>anicd by the dog, the ox, and sheep, next appeared on the scene, and annihilated ihe Cave men. Tiie swarthy Iberians in turn were driven back l)y the tall, fair-skinned Aryans, who arrived from the great breeding-grounds of humanity, in Central Asia, two thousand years before Christ ; and the intermixture of the last two waves of po[)ulation produced the present inhabitants of Europe, lirutnl, ceaseless couHicts of race with race marked the whole development, and, an\id unspeakable miseries and torrents of blood, civilization has been won. Through fierce, deadly competition and the stern regimen of natural selection men have reached their present intellectual life ; but to name the [)rocess a perfect, beneficent arrangement is surely a per- version of language. The more extended our acrpiaintance with the phenomena of nature, and the history of man, the more dearly we discern the awfid amount of physical and moral evil in the world within us and without us. "Your 'blessings in disguse ' theorv is seen to be a miserable delusion as knowledge advances ; and your buoyant o[)timi8m a rose-colored vision, which is dissipated like a morning dream. No doubt there is glory in the sunlight, and splendor in flow- ers, and beauty in the grass and the waving foliage of the trees, and much that gladdens and adorns human life, and many a beneficent service rendered by nature. Still, we cannot disguise from ourselves (he fact, that nature's modes of procedure are marked by innumerable imperfections ; that her iron laws grind on regardless of the havoc they work among her sentient off"- spring, which arc produced with such reckless fecundity ; and that her awful machinery of destruction 'has neither morals nor heart.' In such assertions I am not ' throwing stones at our beautiful mother,' but stating truths which only a super- stitious delusion prevents us from recognizing. The cosmic forces, which overawe us with their grandeur and might, have an infinite capacity for destruction, and, in their ruthless play, inflict the moat terrible evils. We look in vain among them WHERE ARE WE AND WUITUER TENDING f 19 for (liscrimlnating beneficence. The best nnd tlie worst of men, tbe grandest and the basest of enterprises, are alike over- whelmed by their inexorable operations, to which tears and prayers are addressed in vain. The earthquakes of Ischia and Java, in 1883, destroyed from 80,000 to 100,000 Innnan beings. In the same year tornadoes, cyclones, and floods caused n fearful destruction of luiinan and animal life, and an incalculable loss of property. The year 1884 was but little less calamitous. We stand aghast at the iiorrors of the French Revolution ; but what are we to say of the reckless cruelties inflicted by these jirocedures of nature ? ' A slight chemical change ' in the potato is followed by the death of a million of people. Science has made us acqiiainted with microscopic bacteria which furnish the germs of consumpti(m, cholera, 8mall-pox, diphtheria, and hosts of other deadly diseases; and, as Tyndall puts it, 'millions of men die that bacteria may live.' The atmosphere is loaded with these death-dealing germs, and science is feebly endeavoring to counteract their calamitous operations. " The misertes inflicted on a large portion of the human race by that contemptible insect, the mosquito, are beyond all calcu- lation. Nature has furnished its proboscis with a complete surgical apparatus, consisting of cutting blades or lancets, notched saws, and a central tube through which the poison is injected. Even these insects are harmless conqjarcd with hundreds of other species, to say nothing of the broods of serpents, armed with poison-fangs, with which the tropical rejjions abound. Talk of the beneficent arranijements of nature I In point of fact, man's great task here is to elude or disarm or turn aside the maleficent forces of nature which threaten to destroy him ; and the great benefit of observing and studying nature is to enable him to counteract one law by another, and thus to move safely amid the crushing wheels and projecting shafts and blades on which he is liable to be crushed or impaled. Ail that is good in human life has been won by patient, watchful conflict with nature. The coal and minerals have been excavated, with sore toil, from the depths in which 20 WITEIiE ARE WE AND WUITnER TEXDTNn f nature hid them ; the Hwamp hna been (lrjiince looked at as well as the smooth, presentable side. There is nothing like bold criticism and dis- cussion for eliciting the truth. The pessimist, to whose views of nature's dark side I have given a place, and who sees a crack in everything, and is disposed to take the least hopeful view of matters, has his uses. For one thing, he furnishes a valuable corrective to the excesses of good-natured but weak optimism, which would have us believe that all things are in ex- cellent condition ; that the universe is advancing most satis- factorily ; and that we shall soon have paradise restored, shutting our eyes to all the sins and sorrows and miseries of the WHERE ARE WE AND WIflTlfKR TENDINO f 21 world. We Imvc, ill these (lavH, ii imilt ittide of henevoh >nt Hi'UtiincntaliHtt) ; ovcr- t*aiijf (line jliilantlirop istH, with their l>et ]>an!i(M>)u 1 tor Imtiiiui ilLs, and tlie general reeonstnietion of eoeiety ; relormers with tiieir special schemes tor the rapid ex- tir[)ation ot" |K)verty and all evil. They are determined to " hurry up " the millennium and drag in the goMen age before it is properly due. To this weak, enthusiastic optimism the \)Qh- Bunist furnishes a wholesome; antidote. It is good to confront these unduly sanguine niortals with some of the harsh facts of the universe, which i)essimism so strenuously proclaims. Our excellent enthusiasts will thus perhaps he led into calmer and more intelliifent methods of wcll-doin;;, and saved from bitter disaj)pointment. The utterances of the pessimist may sound harsh, hut they have in souk; respects a healthy, bracing in- tluence. The Book of Kcclcsiastcs, so pervaded with the sad pessimistic, spirit, and saturated with views of the poverty and emptiness of life, and the I'utility of human endeavor, — with its dolctui rci'rain, " Vanity of vanities," — has its place in the canon, and attracts many u 8ym|tatheti(; spirit. C'arlyle, with his grim denunciations of progress and tierce exposures of our make-believe happiness and social shams, is no less welcome in literature than the buoyant optimistic; Emerson, who can hardly discover anything amiss in the system of things. The extrava- gant eulogiums on our wondertui civilization and progress arc apt to generate indolence by erciUing the belief that all wrongs are being rapidly righted without any exertion on our jiart, and that the millennial sun will soon arise and shine, jNIorc- over, sober, restrained pessimism striki-s a true note, just be- cause there is a permanent element of sadness in life. Whatever the future may have in store, there is enough sorrow in the world to call tbrth this minor music. " Man was made to mourn" is a sentiment which strikes a fsympathctie cord in • mill'jus of hearts. "The still sad music of hiunanity " must alternate with the more joyous strains, to produce a full choral harmony. All experience tells us that injprovemcnt is a plant of very slow growth. We are working within limitations over which we have little control : — n WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TEXVINQf " Sceinir thin vnlc, thia earth whorpon wo dream Is on ull sidea overHliuduwi'd by tlie liigit Un-o'LTleaped ninuntaina of ncciiHsity, Hparint; us narrower Tnar({in tliiin wo deem." In tlio game of life it iw found, ns tlx' Grocks cxprcfwed it, that "the dice of the gods are loaded." The eternal laws of the univereo enclose us as with lofty walls which we cannot overleap. Wo choose and work under limitations which are. unaltenvblc. Our powers, physical, mental, and moral, our temperament and disposition, depend upon events over which we have had no control, — upon a ln(>tti<'tor ; many a Htatcsnian whortc lahorn havo hh'SHcd his {^ciicration ; many a poet whoso son^H ^hidch'n the heart ; many a sweet soul toiUng with sueeess for the good of others. The; vietorioiiH euhivators r)f neienct' espeeially have h?lpeil to dispel tlje plications to the improve- ment of man's surroundings, elainia to ho regarded as an im- portant factor in human [)rogress. It is, indeed, the great wonder-worker ; and, if we are to accept its achievements diu'iug the last half century as pledges of what it may \n\ expi'cted to accomplish in the future, it is diflicult to dispute its pretensions or to (picstion its supremacy among the forces which have clearly an upward tendency. With what a diHereut eye man looks on his dwelling-place since science has sounded the depths of s|)ace ; weighed the earth and planets ; tracked the comet in its awful sweep; calculated tlu; time of its return ; and revealed the wonders and glories written in the starry scriptures of the skies ! How ditierent the views of men regarding the world \A which wo live compared with those held in former ages, when, as Sir John Luhbock tells us, " AVe now know that our earth is but a fraction of one of at least seventy-five millions of worlds ;" and that " we cannot doubt that then; are countless others, invisible to us from their greater distance, smaller size or feebler light ; indeed, we know that there are many dark bodies which now emit no light, or coniparaiively little ! " On the opposite end of the scale, science has explored . the constitution of matter, and measured, for oxain[)le, the mole- cules of hydrogen gas, "each of which is, at most, one tifty millionth of an inch in diameter," and at (50^ Fahr. "move at an average rate of G.225 feet in a second." " Torby calculates that the smallest s[)hcre of organic matter, which 24 WHERE ARE WE AND WIUTIIER TENDING t \\ could be floiirly defined with our most powerful niieroseopes, would oontiiiu many millions of molecules of silbumen and water." Science has demonstrated that matter, in one of its forms, is a million times more attenuated than atmospheric air. The imagination faints under such disclosures as these. The powers of thoufrlit by wlii(!h they have been reached, the inijenicms instruments by wiiich they have been worked out, give us a higher idea of man, the intellectual monad, who has wrung such secrets from nature. But Science is many-sided, and has the imiverse for her field of labor. She has grap[)led with the problem of the earth's history, and has trium[)hantly dc;- ciphered it as tvritten in the hieroglyi)hics of the rocks. She has carried human history away back beyond all written records to Pahcolithic and Neolithic ages, and, by patient re- searches in many lands, has made us acquainted with the stone and bronze weapons and tools, the ornaments, the war imple- ments, the cooking apparatus, and many of the customs and manners of early man. She has soimded the abysses of ocean to the depth of 4,570 fathoms, and told us the composition ot the dee[)-lying beds, and from these awful depths brought up strange forms of life from regions where it was until recently believed no living creatures could exist. Electricity has been utilized in telegra[)hy, and the convey- ance of intelligence has now reached such perfection that " it ia possible for four instruments to be worked irresi)cctively of one another, through one and the same wire connecting two distinct places." Tlie same wonderful agent is made to yield light, and to transmit mechanical power. Sir John Lubbock says : " liy the electric transmission of power, we may hope 8t)me day to utilize, at a distance, such natural sources of energy as the Falls of Niagara, and to work our cranes, lifts, and machinery of every descri[)tion by means of sources of power arranged at convenient distances." Trains are now propelled by currents of electricity passing thrv)ugh the rails, and the storage of electric energy has been accomplished. Scimens has j)r()ved that the a[»[»lication of electricity to [)lants greatly increases the WHERE ARE WE AND WITITnER TENDING t 25 rate of their growth, anil improves the quality and quantity of the |troclucts. Eighty years ago no better means <.>f lighting Eddystone light-house was known than a row of tallow candles stuck in a hoop. What a stride in that period to the dazzling electric light ! The invention of the tele[)hone and microphone by means of which the human voice is transmitted through the electric conductor, is another of the wonderful achieveraents of science. All these, and hundreds of other scientific discoveries which might be named, have a direct bearing on human well- being. They remove evils and greatly increase the amount of positive good. Science is feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and lightening toil and woe. Take a single instanc(( in connection with the working of railways and steam-boats. The average production of an acre of land in Dakota, one of the Western States of America, is twenty-four bushi-ls of wheat. The railway and the steam-ship convey these twenty-tour bushels to Liver[)ool or London — a* distance of 5,0(K) miles — for foiiy-eight shillings sterling, thus inunensely chea[)ening the staff of life. Had it been asked, ten years ago. Can one hundred and fifty million bushels of grain be moved from the jM'airies of the West 5,000 miles, in a single season, t(» feed tin; hungry millions of Euro[)e, he who would have answered " Yes " would have been smiled at as a visionary. Hut the feat has iu'tually been accomplisln-d. Not only is food thus |)ro- vidid, but the land (piestion of Euro|)(' bids fair to receive a i)eac''ful settlement, as hii^h ri-nts and landlords' rii^hts can scarcely be maintain(>d in the face of su(!h couipctition. (ireat eni;ineerin<; works have now, bv their very ^amiliaritv, ceased to astonish, since railways are carried over nioniitain chains, and through their very centres, and Suez and I'aiiaiiia canals unite oceans. What, then, does science whisper as to ^^'here we arc and whither we are tending? \\'liat light does it cast on man's })resent positiiui and earthly (U'stiny ? W'lieu all this has been achieved by Science in a lew years, and during her minority, who can set bounds to the possibilities of her I'uture? Already she 26 WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TEXDIXOt has created a new era whose ideas arc gradually permeating all minds. Siie speaks words of cheer and hope to man, and holds out before him infinite possibilities of good. She is at this moment deep in the study of those parasitic organisms whose multiplication causes some of the most terrible diseases ; and she gives promise of protecting man from the disease pro- ducing bacteria by appropriate inoculation, as has been ah-eady accomplished in small-pox. Even now the average of human life, in many countries, has been raised, by observance of those sanitary conditions which science has made known. The fertility of the soil has been iuHucnsoly incrcas' d under her teachings. Her magic pipe — more potent than the lyre of Orpheus — is the steam-whistle, at whose shrill notes moinitaina open, as before the "Pied Piper of Ilamelin," and stones dance into graceful forms — nnd the sleep of ages is broken. Under its spell, oceans are spanned, rivers and arms of the sea bridged, Alps. Andes, and Rocky Mountains are cloven, and the nations are joining hands. •SNIan's dwelling-place is in proc- ess of being enriched and beautified and delivered from many haunting evils that have o[)pressed the past. Nor are her victories all material. Science is teaching man to know and reverence truth, and to believe that only as far as he knows and loves it can he live worthily on earth, and vindicate the dignity of his spirit. None of her trutlie arc barren. All tend to bene- fit mankind morally and spiritually, as well as physically and economically. Every conipicst won in the realms of nature marks one more haunting delusion slain, one more falsehood extinguished, one more eiuMiiy subdued and eonvertcd into a friend and hci[)er. In all that science has done and is doing we see a c/i'y/ue y90?{7er ojjerating for good. " The masters of those who know — the hierarchy of science, feel them selves standing on firnj ground, and tlu'ir attitude is confident and their onward movement imtlinching." Tliey know that they are " in the order of Providence."' The denunciations of isfno- ranee move them not. Like the ocean's waves, the knowledge won by science is now an in-rolling tide, and it is vain to bid it retire. It is the ohl story once more of Canute with his chair WHERE ARE WE AND WniTUER TENDING f 27 on tlie sea-shore, and his obsequious courtiers around, as the tide advanced f — " Will the advancing waves obey mc, bishop, if I make tlic sign?" Said the bishop, bowing lowly, " Land and sea, my lord, are thine." Canute turned toward? the ocean, " Back," ho said, " thou foaming brine 1 " " From the sacred shore I stand on I command thee to retreat; Venture not, thou stormy rebel, to approach thy mastci's feet; Ocean, be thou still : I bid thee, come not nearer to my feet ! " " But the sullen ocean answered with a louder, deeper roar, And the rapid waves drew nearer, falling, sounding on the shore : Back the keeper and the bishop, hack the king ami courtiers bore." There was a time wlien the tide of knowlcdj^e was feeble and its advance wavering, and when ignorant or interested men coidd hold it in check or bid it retire. Now it has increased in vohnno, and swelled into a resistless tide, before which Canute and iiis train have to retreat rajjidly or be swallowed up. 15ut now let us see whether there is not another side to this fair picture which science presents. Let us hear what our pessimistic philosopher, who has a great api)rcciation of the ancients and their achievements, has to say in reply to the boasted results of modern science. I can imagine his rising and retorting on the scientists after this fashion : " My scientific friends, 1 do not for a moment wish to disparage your work, or to dispute your claims to honor. Yoiu- work is great and vsilnablc ; and your discoveries and inventions throw a lustre on the age. I bid you God-sj)ced. Follow up yoiu' coufpicsts of Nature, and continue to expound her hvwsj Jnit beware of pride and vain-glory. Do not imagine that you an; a uni(pic "peopTe, and that iio one has ever grappled witii nature's secrets till you appeared on the scene. You are fond of contrasting the present with the past, and bragging of the enormous advances youl iave made in modern j^lays. Ihit your boasted progress is, after all, little more than niotion in a circle ; or, like that of the * Wandering Jew,' a mere change of place. You fancy your scientiiie discoveries have placed the present a^c i nuneasureably in advance of all its predeccssora : but, in 28 WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDING f many instances, you are onl y re-discoverln ff what tlie despised ancients found ou t thousands of years ago ; and" some of their achievements were such as you have not yet api)roached, t hough your stores of knowledge are greater, and you excel them in a|)})lying these to the pract i cal pur})osc8 of l ife. You are proud of your achievements in the mechanical arts. Come with me to old Egypt and learn a lesson of humility. Your theory is, that the higher civilization is an outgrowth from the lower, and that all the records of the past, historical and mate- rial, sustain this view. In pre-historic times, you will not allow the possibility that there may have been men equal to yourselves in mental capacity. Then let me invite you to an examination of that stone mountain called the Great Pyram id. It is undoubtedly the oldest historical monument of_ninn' ^ pkill an d genius ; but, instead of being rude in structure and primi- _tiye in c onception , it is superior in execution and design to all of the kind that followed it. Piazzi Smyth, the astronomer royal of Scotland, examined it most carefully, and though his theory regarding its origin and purpose is wildly extravagant^yet his scientific observations are valuable. It covers an area of t hir- tecn acres ; it rises to the height of f our hun dred and_fift;^jjs.ct> and contains seven millions tons of stone. Tradition states that one hundred thousand men were employed for twenty years in its e rection. Piazzi Smyth tells us that the pyramid is truly square; its sides equal, its angles right angles; that the four sockets on w hich the four first stones of t he c orners rest are truly on the same level ; that the directions of the sides are accurately to the four cardinal points ; and that the vertical height of tiic pyramid bears the same proportion to its circum- ference at the base as the radius of a circle does to its circum- ference. These measures, angles, and levels, he say s, are so accurate as to require the very best modern instruments, and all the refinements of geodetlcal science, to discover any error at all. Tiie workmanship of the interior is i)ertect. The passages and chambers arc lined with huge LlocTcs~of stone fitted with the utmost accuracy ; and every part shows the highest structural science. While it is the largest and oldest, WHERE ARE WE AND WIIITIIER TENDING ? 29 it greatly surpasses all tlio other pyramids. The minil which planned it was not of miraculous growth, but only some degrees superior to contemporary minds, and a true product of its age. The artificers could not have arisen among a low, barbarous race. Such designers and constructors must have been preceded by a long line of less able men ; and this stu- pendous work must have been the culmination of an immense series of inferior structures. It was an embodiment of skill and experience obtained in a lengthened preceding civilization of which we know nothing. There it stands, therefore, at the very dawn of history, one of the greatest works of man, as a lasting; rebuke to the extravagant boasts of moderns. "Then turn to the Sjiihinx. Is there any modern sculptor who would contract for the execution of a companion statue of the E gyptian Sphinx, as it lies half-buried in the sand? And yet there it has been for thousands of years — " ' Staring right on with cahri, eternal eyes,' while Cambyses, Alexander, Cicsar, Napoleon, with all their glittering hosts, swej)t^j^)ast. This enormous statue was cut out of a mass of solid limestone, i ts length being one hu ndred and eighty feet, its height sixty-two feet ; and the (.'ircumfer- encc of its forehead one hundred juid two feet. It is another monument of primeval genius, and must have been the outgrowth of a lengthened period of art, all records of which have per- ished. Indeed, the monumental ruins of Egypt may well make us moderns hang our heads in shame. What can compare with the majestic ruins of Thebes, sung of by Homer as hav- ing a hundred brazen gates? It flourished in all its glory eighteen hrndred years before Christ. There is .still to be seen the statue of Mcmnon — kinijlv thouifh shattered — one of the oldest and nol)lest works of art. There, too, is the temple of Luxor, with its rich sculptures, and the Temple and Hall of Karnac, the central avenue of which contains twelve columns, each sixty feet high and twelve feet in diameter, the temple itself, with its courts, being two miles in circumference. The heart must bow in reverence before the great race who planned r 30 WHERE ARE WE AND WIlTinER TENDING t I'M llf and executed such works. That the liuinnn mind conceived them, thnt hands like our own fashioned tiifni, gives us a nobler iloyed an army of land-carriers in transporting the merchandise of East and West. Her proud dames trod the gorgeous carpets of Lydia and decorated tluMuselves with the gold of 0|)hir, the pearls of Arabia, and the jewels of Ceylon. With the wealth accumulated by conmierce she reared magniHcent temples, palaces, basilicas, the mutilated ruins of which fill us moderns with awe and astonishment. Even ' time's efhicing finger,' working through centuries, has failed to destroy those archi- tectural piles. According to the plan of Wood and Daw- kins the great temple of Baalbec was two hundred and ninety feet in length and one himdred and sixty in breadth, having ten colunms in front af d nineteen on the flank, each column being seventy-one feet in hciglit and seven feet in diameter, the shaft consisting of three pieces united so exactly that the blade of a knife cannot be inserted between the joints. Where is the modern structure that can compare with this gigantic temple ? And yet it is but one among the many wonders of Baalbec. You moderns who can transmit thought on the lightning's pinions across ocean-beds and broad continents, and make the circuit of the globe in eighty days. 32 WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDING f and fathom tlie deepest abysses of ocean and measure the moleeules, must yet, in view of tliese massive ruins, how in revcrenee, and own tiiat there were 'giants,' in intellect and skill ' on the earth in those days,' whose feats are yet un- 8ur[)assed. Yoiu* hoasted projrrcss looks somewhat question- able in view of the greatness, the enterprise, the conunerce and prosperity, the works of art and industry, of these early daya wTiosc imperishable ruins overwhelm us with astonishment. Thc_ shape and manner of art and industry, it is true, have changed, but where is the (ulvnnce? T^our'ntled cannon and iron-clads are far more destructive than the catapult or rowing- galleys of antiquity. Your Enfield and Whitworth guns, and your torpedoes, are ingenious engines of destruction. But even in these contrivances have you greatly surpassed the achieve- ments of the great ones of the past ? The material prosperity of the Anglo-Saxon race, in both hemis[)heres, is vast ; and yet does it more than reproduce, in another shape, the grandeur and commercial greatness of the ancient nations? Or, to de- scend the stream of time, turn to glorious Greece, whose genius is still a foimt of inspiration, whose philosophy pervades and animates modern thought. Ilcr sculptures are still the noblest models ; her Parthenon is still the wonder of the world, though in ruins. You boast of your engineering skill in sup[)lying your great cities with water ; but what are the greatest of your efforts compared with the aqueducts of Kome, some of them sixty miles in length, crossing valleys at an elevation of one hundred and thirty feet, and supplying the city constantly with a body of water equal to that of a river thirty feet broad by six feet deep? The Cloaca Maxima of ancient Ivome, built by Tarquinius Priscus five hundred and eighty years before Christ, is still an unsurpassed work of its kind. Need I remind you of the Coliseum, the temples, the baths, the sculi)tures of old Rome which are yet imrivalled? " Leaving the Old World let me now invite you to glance at the New ; and here, too, you find that the ancient men were the greatest and the oldest works the most astonishing. Take Easter Island, one of the remote islands of the Pacific, two thou- WHERE ARE WE ANT) WHITHER TENDIXGf 33 }St rh iit at ic te u- sand miles from the coast of South America, two thousaml miles from the Manjuesas, and one thousand miles from the f lamhier Islands, the; nearest grou[) to it. Here are fomid hundreds of gi- gantic stone images, now mostly in ruins, sonic of them forty feet high, with crowns on tluiir heads ten feet in diameter, tiu; head and neck of one heing twenty feet high. One of the smallest wei*and feet, Hhowing a knowledge of rudimentary geometry and some means of meat[)le wiio constructed theui. ThcMc consist of ornaments in mica, [)ottery, carvings in stone, cop|)cr disks, silver heads, and metallic articles formed by hanunering. The pottery is far superior to that of the Indian tribes, having figiu'cs of birds, and flowers in delicate relief. 'The heads carved on pipes were portraits, >-;howing an intelleet- ual civilized ])eoj»le, with small thin lips and straight noses, indike any of the Indian aborigines. The crania show more frontal d(!velopment than that of the Inilians, some of them being worthy of a Greek. These mounds are overgrown with dense forests, the trees of which are eight hundred to one thousand years old. Several generations of trees must pass away before the growth on a deserted clearing comes to corre- spond with that of the surn)unding virgin forest ; while this forest, once established, may go on growing for an unknown nund)er of thousands of years, so that the forest gives no measure of the age of the mounds.' Now, here again, we find the ancient people the more civilized and advanced on the American continent. These ^lound Builders must have been an intellectual race, who [)ractised agriculture, possessed a civil organization, and were far ahead of the barbarous tribes who were found in possession of the country on its discovery in the fifteenth century. IIow far Iku'Iv the roots of that civilization extenl(l. The fiiiHlaiucntal prinei- j)l(!H of ^ovc niiiKMit, wliicli arc ap|)lii>al)1c to all times, arc to he found acciiratciv laid down in tlic pa;.fc!s of vVriHtotlc, l*ol)l>itiJ», and Cicero, and to these tin- poMtical pliilosophers and states- men of oin* own days must still turn for <;uidanco. Hen; are ar<;ned out, in an exhaustive method, the merits of njonarehics and rppuMies, of oli;;areliie8 and (h'niociaei«'s, alxmt which we arc dehatinj; to-(h»y ; and metli<»ds laid down for votinj^ hy classes, eo as to |)revent tin; educated, the intelliijent, and wealthy from heinj; overpowered hy tlu; masses of an ijjjnorant ilemocracy. I admit that you scienti tic men arc nnich farther advanced than the; ancients in a knowledife of the laws of nature; hut \x\fucultij you can hardly pr(!tend to eclipse the Euelids, Archimedescs*, and Aristotles of ancient days. The stores (»f knowledle marks of an " increasinj; purpose," and a more enlightened and beneficent end in the civilization of the present day ? Those vast monuments of ancient art and industry, though valuable as educators of the race, were for the most [)art the work of enslaved masses of men acting under the orders of selfish despots, or priestly castes, who cared only for their own glory and aggrandizement. Many of theni are really monuments of iiuman folly and supex'stition. It is difierent with the great works of the modern era, which are all subservient to human uses and beneticial to the masses. Our railways and steam-ships are breaking down the barriers which once divided the nations into hostile connnunities, and, by commerce, rendering them nnitually helpful and (ie[)endent. Above all they are opening the wildernesses of earth for human use ; and from the overcrowded centres of population they are conveying the surplus to brighter and hap|)ier homes ; thus bringing together the idle power and the idle land. These, with tiie telegraph and tlie various applications of electricity, are the great agents in revoliUionizing the whole conditions of WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TEXDIXOt 41 modern lite, and giving free play to those moral and religious influences which have been at work, and promise to raise our race to higher levels. There is another concession I feel bound to make. When we speak of modern civilization and progress we must adn»it that these present themselves only among the Uite of our race, and cannot be predicated of the hiunan family as a whole. Prog- ress, in its true sense, is as }et developed only among the in- habitants of Europe and Amcfica, and the colonial centres which they have established on other continents and islands. China presents us with a case of arrested civilization, — a certain point being reached, old customs and ideas crystallized, and permitted no further expansion ; so tliat among a fourth part of the whole human race, change, which is but another name for progress, is regarded as an iini»iety. The first im[)ulse towards civilization came from the East ; but there, at the present time, with the doubtful exception of Ilindostan, barbarism prevails ; and the vast stagnant masses present the same hoi)eless aspect of ignorance and suffering as thousands of years ago. Africa's dusky millions, with all their nn'series and brutalities, show no signs of improvement during past centurit's. In fact, Europe and America constitute the ho[)c of lunnunity. No contril)u- tions to the cause of progress come from other cpiarters. Only from the nations which lead the van can [)ro(ced tliose elevating influences which may (piicken tlie tlull, stagnant masses of non- progressive humanity, and ultimately transform the whole. On the whole it is evident that human progress is a slow and often painful process, involving, as seems to us, terrible sacri- fices and nmch suffering; but llu'ongh the fiery struggle it appears at last to have gained a firm foothold, and to have a brighter future opening before it. Often it has been arrested and beaten back ; and even now it has many draw backs anil dangers. And yet I believe there is abimdant c\ idi-nce to [)rove that human progress is a glorious ri'ality, and that we are not mere blind C^yclops groping round and round our cave, travers- ing over and over the same weary track. There is a goal before us, though as yet far away in the dim distance. Wo w «! \ 42 WHERE AUE WE AND WHITHER TEXDIXGT are not mere lielplesa, hopeless victims, to be ground up in the mill of a relentless destiny. Human toil and endeavor in the j)a8t have not been fruitless and vain. The forIoi*n hope have filled up the trench with self-8acrifi(!ing bravery ; but over them their brothers will yet march on to victory. It may be true that, on com[)aring the stage we have now reached with the past, we have some difficulty in measuring our gains ; but this is owing to the slowness of the march. In fact, our progress is not direct, but along an ascending spiral curve, so that though we appear to return at intervals to the same s[)ot, we have really risen a little, and gained a point of departure for further ascent. "The more we investigate," said the president of the British Association, at its meeting in 1H(K), "the more we find that in existing phenomena, graduation, from the like to the seemingly unlike, prevails, and in changes which take ])lace in time, gradual j'^'offress is, and apparently must be, the course of nature." Having heard the advocates on both sides, we arc now pre- pared to balance their arguments, and, possibly, to amve at a conclusion in accordance with facts. WHERE ARE WE AND WIIITITER TENDING t 43 LECTURE II. Man s Earthly Destiny Enveloped in Shadows, but Li1 W have no absolute perfection, but we have im[)rovement to which, as far as we discern, no limits can be placed. The suffering spurs on to effort, out of which conies the highest form of goodness which we know. In the battle with evil the noblest 48 WHERE ARE WE AND WIIJTUER TENDING f I fiuniltios and the tcndorcst fcollnfjfs which adorn our humanity lire gradually devolojx'd. Errors lead up to truths ; wants to acquisition ; poverty to wealth. From the superstition and ahsurditice of a8troh)w it. From the lowest forms of life have come the vast series of animated ex- istences which now occupy the globe, at the head of which stands thinking, reasoning man. From the rude primeval savage, with his club and flint hatchet, has developed intel- lectual man, with his mastery over the forces of nature, and all the appliances of civilization which mai^k him the crown and glory of creation. How much nobler and grander the universe becomes when viewed in the li'dit of science ! Projjress is stamped upon its very constiturion, as the law which pervades the whole. The stages through which the world has passed were preliminary to the better ordered present, as the existing condition of things is antecedent to a nobler future. Can we doubt that all this is the manifestation of a divine jnirpose, or that tn^e^/i'^ence guides the whole? Though we can but dindy and imperfectly apprehend the purpose which underlies creation, yet we sec it ever mounting upwards towards tlie intellectual and moral ; and in that progress we read the eml)odiment of s divine idea: — I ■i-ji r fiO WHERE ARE WE A.VD WIIITI/ER TENDiyOt f f " One God, unc law, ono I'lomont, Antl onu far-off divino t-viiit, To which the wliole cri-ation moves." Tlic fact of progress, material, intellectual, and social, I nold to be ostabliahed by an array of proofs wbicb cannot be set aside. But, as to tlic mode in wbicb tliis pro^'rcss is wor' out, there arc numerouH divergent opinions. I'rominent am these is tbc modern theory of evolution, as it is formulated in Darwinism, wbicb professes to trace tbc method by wbicb progress is secured, namely, tbat of " natural selection," or, "die struggle for exiritence " leading to "tbc curvival of the fittest," the strongest and best types ever mounting to the top tbrough conflict with tbc inferior, and transmitting their supe- rior (jualities to tbeir successors. I do not presume to pro- nounce regarding tbc truth or falsity of evolution. To judge properly such a subtle tbeory would demand (jualifi(;ations to wbicb I can maki; no pretensions. It has, bowcvcr, com- mended itself to some of the i)n)founde.st tiiinkers of tbc da" ; and, witbout affirming or denying tbc justice; of its claims t an cxi)lanation of tbc genesis and [)rogress of the world of . we may ask what light does it tbrow on tbc sui)ject of our in- quiry? Docs evolution furnish a 6ui)stantial foundation for a belief in progress? Let us, then, permit an cntbusiastic evolu- tionist to ascend the tribune for a little, and let us bear what be can tell us. " j\Iy inquiring friends," be begins, "I am neither a prophet nor tbc son of a j)ro[)bct, but only an bumble student of great Nature and her laws ; and, as a believer in Darwinism and the doctrine of descent, I venture to affirm tbat its teachings have unfolded more of the secrets of nature tban any or all of pre- ceding systems, and that tbey are destined to penetrate and modify all other views, and powerfully to influence every realm of human tbought. In tbcsc directions tbcy have already ac- comi)lisbcd much, and will do more. Further, I am fully })er- suadcd tbat the views referred to arc full of hope and promise for the future of humanity. They discover slow but constant progress during the iuuneasurablc ages of the past, each sue- W///JIih' ARE WE AND WHIT II Ell TENDlSOt :)i cc'0(liiifj[ clmn^c hciiif^ an lulvanco on that wliich went lu'Cnrc ; and thus wc have; tlic; hcvst foiindalion tor a hcHct' in the; con- tinnanco of a similar pro^^rcsH in tho a^ca to come. Wc may have al)s()liito confidcnci! that hcttiT thinjxs an? in store for our race, and can thus work toj;<;thcr lor the consummation, u«el the accusation. IW bindinj; all livini; bein;;s in (tne vast chain of law, which we can at least partiiUly understand, it entitles us to infer a purpose and an intcdiigence working through im- measurable ages for a predetermined end, which becomes clearer as time rolls on. Hear our great master on these points. Darwin, in 'The Origin of Species,' says: 'To my mind it accords better with wlmi we know of the laws impressed on matter by the Creator, th^t the production and extinction of the past and present inhabitai - of tlu; vorld should have been due to secondary causes, like those determining the birth and death of the individual. When I view all things not as special crea- tions,, but as the lineal descendants of some few beings which lived long before the first bed of the Silurian system was de- posited, they seem to me to become ennobled. As all the; liv- ing forms of life are the lineal descendants of those which lived long before the Silurian epoch wc may feel certain that the oi'dinary succession by generation has never once; been broken, and that no cataclysm has desolated the whole world. Hence, we may look with some confidence to a secure futnre of equally inappreciable length. And, as natural selection works solely by and for the good of each being, all corporeal and mental endowments ^oill tend to progress towards perfection.^ Thus the master teaches the doctrine of a Creator impressing on mat- ter those laws by whose operation all living things have passed across the stage of life. The whole order of nature, including I r- 52 WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDING f I •I the evolution of organic forms, indicates purpose, or mind working towards a prearranged end. "This being clearly seen, thoughtful people should be able to look at the doctrine of evolution without becoming hysterical or horror-stricken. It does not aim at banishing God from the universe and reducing the whole to a piece of blind mechan- ism. On the contrary it siiovvs a sublime order pervading all nature through which a progressive design is executed. There is ceaseless change. In never-ending succession nature weaves the folds of its mighty web ; but these arc ' the garments of God by which we see him,' the 'vestures' of Deity which ' wax old,' and are folded and laid aside. There is no terror, then, in the majestic face of nature, — in those still, endless skies, in earth and ocean, for with Wordsworth we can say there is — " ' A presence that disturbs mo with the joy Of elevated tlioughts ; a sense sublime Of something far more deeply interfused, Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, And the round ocean and the living air, And the blue sky, and in the mind of man; A motion and a spirit that impels All thinking things, all objects of all thought, And rolls through all things.' " And now," continues our evolutionist, " let me submit to you the fundamental principles on which our system rests. For ages no answer could be given to the question, How were new species of plants and animals introduced on the stage of being? They were supposed to be suddenly and unaccount- ably hurled into the midst of a world which wns admittedly governed by unswerving laws and marked by harmonious order. How organic forms came to be what they are, and what were the causes which produced their modifications, were regarded as insoluble mysteries. Each species of plant and animal was said to be the restilt of a miraculous creation, which was but an acknowledgment of the mystery. And yet order had been established as existing in all other departments. Newton, Kepler, and La Place had revealed the constitution WUERE ARE WE AND WIIITUER TENDING t 53 and movements of the heavenly bodies, and geologists had made out the causes which operated in the formation of the crust of the earth and the configuration of its mountains, con- tinents, seas, and rivers. But living things were excluded from the grand uniformity, for the causes which had made them what they are were unknown. Suddenly, on the mind of our great master flashed a thought which proved, when duly worked out and tested by the observations and experiments of twenty years, one of those prolific, light-imparting thoughts which constitute eras in the history of science ; and by it living things have been assigned their causes and their place in the order of nature. This thought w.as expressed in the phrase ' natural selection,' or ' the survival of the fittest,' resulting from the perpetual strug- gle for existence which is going on in the world of life. Dar- win saw that the offspring of each pair of plants and animals is immensely in excess of the food appropriate to the species, and that for this small modicum of food, as well as for all other wants of their organization, a struggle takes place. In this battle for life tiie strongest, and, therefore, the best fitted to live, must be the victors ; the weakest and those least fitted to live, must perish. The result is the selection of the few who are best ([ualified to live and propagate their species, while the majority perish before reaching maturity. But not only are the best selected out of each generation, but these favored ones transmit their superior endowments to their offspring, accord- ing to the fixed laws of heredity, such transmission being de- pendent on the fact that the offs[)ring of any plant or animal is only a detached portion of the parent, — ' a chip of the old block.' It follows that each generation is somewhat in advance of its predecessor, as it inherits the favorable qualities which have gained the advantage, and is thus better ada[)ted to its surroundings, and to maintain the struggle successfully. Whatever variations appt-ar, provided they are beneficial, nature carefully picks them out and hands them on to subscfpient gen- erations. The young of any species are not all alike ; some are large, soijic small, some are weakly or the reverse. Those which are vigorous and best fitted to obtain food, to struggle f i 'i 54 WHERE ARE WE AND WniTHER TENDING T with competitors or to escape from their enemies, survive ; the rest succumb and disappear. Through inconceivably long periods this struggle has gone on, leading to the selection of the fittest and the production, from a few ancestral forms, of the endless variety of plants and animals, each of them being better and better fitted to their environments or the outward conditions of their lives. Thus ever the imperfect passes while the perfect advances. The lowly is transmuted into the loftier. All are linked together, by descent, from one original living form. There is a great family tree of which the topmost twigs are the present living forms, and the common trunk the origi- nal ancestor. But through all, the law of progress holds its way, converting the lower organisms into the higher. In the forcible language of Darwin, 'It may be metaphorically said that natural selection is daily and hourly scrutinizing throughout the world the slightest variations, rejecting those that are bad, preserving and adding up all that are good, silently and insen- sibly working, whenever and wherever opportunity offers, at the improvement of each organic being in relation to its organic and inorganic conditions of life.' * We can understand,' he says again, 'how it is that all the forms of life, ancient and recent, make together one grand system ; for all are connected by generation. From the continued tendency to divergence the more ancient a form is the more goncrally it differs from those now living. The inhabitants of each successive period in the world's history have beaten their predecessors in the race for life, and arc, in so far, higher in the scale of nature.' "Now," continues our evolutionist, "you have a scientific basis which cannot be shaken for the doctrine of progress. The upward tendency is inherent in the very constitution of things. Whatever is good, in the sense of being favorable to the well-being and permanence of any species, is rigidly selected, fixed by heredity, and thus made to contribute to their elevation and improvement. On the other hand, what- ever is unfavorable is rejected, and by a stern, unrelenting competition, in which the weaker is destroyed, the existence of a higher race is secured. Progress, therefore, can never WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDING? 55 ific of ble bit- ng ice ver be arrested finally. It may bo beaten back for a time, but the irresistible tendency will, in the long run, overcome all ob- stacles. Greater and greater elaboration must go on ; the addition of new and more complicated organs, giving to their possessors increased powers to cope more successfully with competitors, is the order of nature, or, in other words, the method of the Supreme Intelligence in the evolution of life. Man is just as truly subject to this law as the infusoria. The races, and the individuals composing the races of the human species, have been subjected to the same great law of compe- tition for food and space on the earth, with the result of continually winnowing out the feeble and the imperfect, and replacing them with the comparatively more vigorous and nobler, who were better adapted, because of their force and intelligence, to combat and subdue the rude forces of nature, or, in other words, to adjust themselves, to their surroundings. This competition for the limited supply of good things, espe- cially in the more desirable regions of the globe, led to cease- less wars, with their attendant destruction of life in many shapes ; and in such conflicts the more powerful and intelligent gradually effaced the le-ss vigorous and adaptive, and, in their turn, were obliged to succiunb to superior races. Thus, in prehistoric times, the River Drift man had to give place to the Cave man, who was in turn wiped out by the Stone and Bronze men, till the Aryans arrived, long of limb and larger in brain, and civilization at length began to assume form and obtain a local habitation. Then, when the historical ages arrived, tho nations possessed of the higher qualities of muscle and brain, of morals and conduct, were ever the conquering races before whom the inferior races went down. The Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians had their day, and dis- appeared before the higher and more favored Cireeks and the stern, law-giving Romans. In the same way, the finest of the existing nations fought their way to the front; and those who now lead the van — the German, French, Italian, the English and Americans — have won because they are the rl^tc, assorted by nature's great selective process, and through sore conflict 1^ X 56 WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDING f and the travail of ages have been endowed with that vigor of body and mind to which alone the prizes are awarded. Can we doubt that these nations will be followed by nobler and better, who will conduct humanity to loftier heights ? Nature is not exhausted by the production of German and Anglo- Saxon stocks. Our nineteenth-century civilization, with its eager pursuit of wealth and its sacrifice of man in the merciless rush, is not nature's final effort, but only a provisional ar- rangement on which will be reared a purer and nobler struct- ure. When we consider that in the man-eating savage there lay unseen that tendency towards progressive development out of which has come the wondrous growth of Grecian, Roman, dnd Christian civilizations ; that in the primitive man were folded up the germs of Plato, Dante, Michael Angelo, Shakespeare, Newton, La Place ; that in the terrible wasteful conflicts which marked the decline and fall of the Koman Empire there were embedded the seeds which have borne such fruit in the organized, law-abiding comnmnities which now cover Euro{)e and America ; that all that science and art linve now achieved are really growths from faculties once dormant and unconscious in the rude hunters and warriors whose relics now fill our nmseums, — can we set limits to the power of this })rogressive development which nature is ever unfolding? Greater teachers, wiser statesmen, nobler philos- ophers, i)oets, and artists will come after us, and over the buried dust of the living generations will maich men who have gathered up the spoils of ages and inherited whatever is best in the develo[)ments of the past, and used them all for the produc- tion of a richer fruitage of happiness than we can now imagine. "This law of progressive development through com})etition and conflict, suppressing the weaker and inferior and perpetuat- ing the more caj)able, applies to all departments of human life. The rude, primitive fornjs of tribal government gave place to better, as society developed, because the social organizations which adopted the iniproved methods were able to subdue the inferior. The advantage was ever on the side of those who were best able to temper order and fixed law with that individ- WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDING? 57 ual liberty which is neecKul for inventions and improvements. Despotism, aristocracy, constitutional monarchy, self-govern- ment were stages of development. So, too, in every department of industrial activity, trade, and commerce, — conflict elimi- nated the less effective methods, the finest survived and secured a steady advance. The same holds good in regard to religions. The conquering religions have ever been supei'ior to those which they subdued and effaced. The brutal, degrading super- stitions which marked primitive ages died out before truer views of the universe and man ; and the faiths wliich incul- cated a purer morality, and allied themselves with reason, were adopted by the nobler races, and increased their eftectivc pow- ers. Christianity, the teacher of the loftiest morality and the noblest ideas of God and man, is the religion of the foremost nations. It proclaims human brotherhood and that hope for man's future which is the indispensable condition of sustained progress. But even Christianity has won through conflict, and will continue to win so long as it develops to meet and satisfy the growing aspirations and needs of a pro- gressive humanity, and harmonizes itself with science, art, politics, and the growth of reason. "And now, my intelligent friends," proceeds our philosophic enthusiast, " to conclude my exposition, ])ermit me to say that I am well aware the doctrine 1 have been trying to establish api)ear8 to many harsh and even revolting, and that some seem driven by it to pessimism, and in view of the sufferings and even horrors connected with man's course on earth, pronounce the whole a blunut a small part of the host have yet reached firm and favorable ground. Still, these are the victorious van, and the great body will follow. Such is the evolutionist's creed ; and, though imperfect and wanting the deeper views which Christianity unfolds, let us welcome in its teachings whatever is true and good, and wait the further light which science, in its beneficent labors, may be able to impart. It may be true that the views it enunciates appear to " withdraw the veil of enchant- ment from nature," to blot the rainbow out of heaven, even to desecrate human nature. But may it not be that all this feeling is caused simply by the change in our mode of looking at nature which science has made, and that the transition period will soon pass away ; and then we shall be able to regard the great cosmos with other eyes, to rejoice in the beauties and harmonies disclosed by science, and to feel what the poet expresses when he tells us that — p ' r WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDING f G3 »g !n •• Nature bents in pcrfi-ct tunc, And rounds with rliyiiu; lit-r every rune; Wlu'tlier she work on land or eca, Or liidc under (ground her alelieiny, Thou canst not wave tliy staff in air, Or dip tiiy paddh; in the hike, lUit it carves tlie how ot'heauty tiicre, And ripples in rhyme tlio oar forsake." May it not be, after all, that evolution has merely expressed, in scientific form, what Shakespeare saw when, with Hashing, poetic eyes, he looked into the depths of human life, and inter- preting what he finely calls, " The prophetic soul Of the wide world dreaming on things to come," discerned " there is some soul of goodness in all thinirs evil " ? There is a profound depth of meaning in these simple words. Wordsworth has elaborated the same thought, when ho says, — ** 'Tis nature's law That none, the meanest of created things, ^ Of forms created the most vile and brute, • The dullest or most noxious, should exist Divorced from good, — a spirit and pulse of good, A life and soul, to every mode of being Inseparably linked. Then be assured That least of all can aught that ever owned The heaven-regarding eye, and front sublime. Which man is born to, sink, howc'er depressed, So low as to be scorned without a sin ; Without offence to God cast out of view." The evolutionist discerns the same " soul of goodness in all things evil," and names it "survival of the fittest." In "forms most vile and brute, the dullest and most noxious,'' he reads the dim prophecies of the nobler and more beautifid forms which, at a far-off day, will be developed from these, through the cver-active "soul of goodness." He sees the past in the present, and the germs of a nobler future in what now exists. In the best generations of men now living he discovers the summing up of all past generations, with the noxious qualities i . \ If 64' Wr/ERE ARE WE A.Vn WIHTIIER TENDING f lc8fl('nc(l or partially fliniiiuitcd. and the best preserved and combined anew. In the best institutions, the wisest laws, the most benevolent orji^anizations for the elevation of the raec, he beholds the full development of what were once rude, lowly, imperfect or revolting. The "soul of goodness" truly existed "in the things evil," and transmuted them into good. In all humanity's poor gro|)ings and blunderings in the past there was some redeeming virtue, — something not wholly bad underlying the evil, — some truth at the root of every error. Slowly the falsities and mistakes died out as the light of knowledge increased. It is this "soul of ffoodness in all thinjjs evil" which gives assurance of human progress, ever trans- muting the bad and imperfect into something better. Even war, with all its brutalities and cruelties, gave rise to chivalry, unflinching courage, and unsullied honor. Nay more, the very miseries of war awoke [)ity and compassion for the sufferers, and brought them help and comfort ; and kindled, too, that spirit which condemns all war, and will usher in one day the age of peace. The yiiseries of slavery kindled the spirit of freedom. The crimes and vices and consequent wretchedness of men have given rise to that " enthusiasm of humanity " which rises in its might and goes foi'th to labor for their removal. The revelations regarding "Horrible London," and other great cities, have roused a spirit of active philanthropy which will not subside till a better condition is established. So with every other reform, — it springs out of the very evils which it would abolish. It is only because we do not look close enough that we fail to see this "soul of goodness in things evil." I have read somewhere the followinj; legend : " A youth was caught up in the air by an angel, vif' floated over ihe world that he might see th( angel went too near the stars for him. ' Let the youth, 'for 1 love the earth.' The angel went lower, near enough for him to see the outlines of continents. ' Luwer yet,' said the youth, * I love the smell of the earth, its scented trees and grass, and the bright ships ; the fishermen are dearer to me go low T' Tl eaia l! .■■ WHERE ARt: }VE ASD WtllT/IER rENDLWO f 65 than lu'iniMpheivs ami contincutsi.' So the aiif^cl went lower Htill. lint now tlu'y saw »a(l Hccncs : a poor slave and hi8 wife jxirwiu'tl l)y l)l()(»(l-lionn(l8 ; they saw tlieni |)liinge in the river, hand in hand, to find freedom in death. 'I'liey saw an army l)esiej;in<^ a eity ; nhot and HJieil hore death anionic women kneelinj^ with babes in tiieir arms. The eity talis ; the survi- vors are given over to the ernelty and Inst of the vietorions soldiery. They saw the dens of cities where the iuunan image is seared out of men and women by vice. And now the young nian's wings began to droop. 'O angi'l ! ' he ericd, in a voice broken with sobs, 'higher, higher. I have seen enough, — too nnich ; let us soar higher.' — 'Nay, not so,' replied the angel; ' thou hast seen not loo nmeli, but tt)o little ; we must go h)wer.' Then, lowering their wings, they skimmed the earth like swal- lows, and they saw men and women coming from far and near, to break every fetter of the slaves whose cry they had heard ; they saw hovering near the j)illaged city a host with white ban- ners, binding up the wounded, warring upon war : and amid the dens of vice they saw busy workers building schools, asy- lums, hospitals ; nay, even among the wretched and vile they foun > WHERE ARE WE AND WIIITIIER TENDING t 69 ancestors, may thoy not liave been hcira to? They are the necessary outcome, it may be, of antecedent malformations ; and therefore we pity, but cannot scorn or hate tiiem. Re- straint may be necessary, — as in the case of the tiger, — and punishment, in order to reform and to protect society ; but we are not more virtuous for hating or spurning them. AVe should pity and try to hel[) and save. And, if we have been born to a happier lot and a healthier organization and a more favorable cultun;, this should lead us to gentle and charitable judgments. The law of cause and effect holds sway in every department of human life, including that of conduct. Let us remember that development from the lower to the higher is the " increasing pur[)08e " which runs through the ages ; and that the rcsponsihility of such an arrangement rests not with the finite, but the infinite. This should modify our judgments of others, even when they go far astray, and save us from harshness and condemnation. We, too, shall stand in need of charity's gentle judgment at the last, and the best of us will recjuire nuich to be forgiven. There is a deep and true meaning — true in science, as well as in poetry — in Burns' touching words : — " Then gently srnn your brother man, Still jjiMitliT sister woiuiin ; For though tliey iiiiiy gang ii' kcnnin' wrang, To stop aside is human. One i)oint must still be greatly dark, Tlie moving why thoy do it : And just as lamely can ye mark. How far, j)orhiij)s, tlioy rue it. " Who made the heart 'tis He alone Decidedly can try us ; lie knows oacii chord, — its various tone, Each spring, — its various l)ias : Then at the halaiico lot's be mute, We never can adjust it; What's done wo partly may compute, But know not what's resisted." We may, then, jnstly welcome the increasing spread of those humane sentiments as a proof of the moral progress of our racC' itl , 1 1 a *ri' 70 WHERE ARE WE AND WniTHER TENDING f These " fair humanities " may be as yet confined to the elite of the elite of humanity ; but they are spreading. They are the spring flowers, but the summer and its fruitage will follow. Their effect must be to bring wise help, tender sympathy to the weak, the struggling, the fallen ; and thus to aid in the advancement and elevation of man. And, be it remembered, all these ^gentler and tenderer feelings are a gi'owth of that human nature which was once so crude and savage, — a legiti- mate development from germs which were once latent. Here is a revelation of a moral order pervading nature ; for our humanity is a growth of nature, — its latest and best product. The pessimist dwells on the savage heartlcssncss of nature, on the blind operation of its merciless, pitiless laws. But what do we make of it, that from the pitiless comes pity? "Out of the eater comes forth meat, and from the strong sweetness." Nature's laws have evolved those institutions which tend to establish justice and secure the rights of all. Under its laws all our benevolent societies, which devote themselves to the dis- covery and relief of human miseiy, the removal of ignorance and vice, and all evils which o[)press and desti'oy, have had their origin. Our churches, missions, charities, are truly an outcome of humanity, and therefore of nature. All the love and pity of the whole human family, which, through past ages have been accunndating and embodying themselves in religious and reformatory institutions, must be; taken into account when we form our estimate of nature and its tendencies. Not merely in the hurricane, the cartliquake or the pestilence are we to read the character and purpose of the Supreme Intelligence, but also in " the compassion we feel one for another," in the love which He has breathed into human hearts to beautify and bless our life, and redress and remove for cherishing tiiat enthusiastic, tender hope for the future, wanting which all cflbrts towards good would be paralyzed, smd life's misery and enn)tincs8 would become intolerable. True, indeed, in many an instance, our enthusiasm may be doomed to disapi)ointment. But, if not in the way that we ex[)ect, in nobler and higher forms, the good Ave seek will be realized. The power which underlies the wondrous evolution will secure the ultimate triiunph of the good. That power is woi-king in accordance w itii moral order, and for moral ends. That power is God, wlio not oidy dis- closes himself in the play of nature's forces, but who, as the source of moral order, is also " the Inspircr of kings, the Revcaler of laws, the lleconciler of nations, the Redeemer of churches, the Guide of the human race toward an unknown # i^' If f ir"^ 72 WUERE ARE WE AND WI/ITITER TENDTNOf goal." ' Tins is the source of that sure hope which leads us to prophesy good of the future. This is, indeed, *' The mifchty wave of tliought and joy Lifting mankind again." But while, we cherish these buoyant hopes of our race, as the precious motor forces which arc to sustain our action in the di- rection of progress, it is idle to ignore the discouraging facts of existence by which we are constantly confronted. Human progress, it must be admitted, is, in many directions, porten- tously slow, and, in some departments, very doubtful. It is not a tide rolling in irresistibly, with advancing and I'cceding ripples ; rather it is a tide made up of several divergent cur- rents, and a vast system of action and reaction. At times there is depression, like that at neap-tide, then a sudden bound forward, as during the last sixty or seventy years, which have witnessed grander achievements than the long roll of preceding centuries. Every advance, however, has its drawbacks, and has to cut its way through oi)p()sing forces. Every new idea has to battle for existence with antagonists bent on its destruc- tion. INIankind, as a rule, detest ciianges, and fiercely resist the intrusion of new thoughts, even when both ai'c proved to have a benelicent tendency. Hence, so many races and nations are stagnant and show no tendency to advance. Tiiey are in bondage to old established customs ; and whatever threatens to disturb these, and shake tlu'ir ancient usages and cherished be- liefs, is painful, and rouses resistance. Progress, imder such conditions, nuist resemble the slow advance of the glacier. All history shows that the stationary condition has ever been the most common, and that progressive nations have only a[)peared at rare intervals. Arrested civilizations, in crude and primitive form, everywhere meet the eye in scanning the pages of history and many of these continue till the present time. Habits and customary laws form a yoke which forbids innovations, checks originality, and fetters progress. The present is in bondage to the past. The past is a dead corpse which the present has to ^ Natural Religion. By the author of Ecco Homo. WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENOmOt 73 waste its energiea in carrying about, instead of giving it decent interment. The social customs, the laws and institutions, the religious ideas and forms of worship of dead and buried genera- tions, confront us on all h.ands, and cling to us tenaciously. In all departments of thought and action we are hampered by '' survivals " and revivals. The old reappeais in slightly modi- tied form. Tlic archaic conception comes to the surface, like a primitive rock piercing the later formations. Tiie dread of change — of ceasing to be what they were at first — pervades all our institutions. Wc might naturally expect that society would use wisely all the garnered wisdom of the past, instead of being in slavish subjection to it, and turn to account the re- sults achieved by the toiling generations who have preceded us, making these the stepping-stones to higiier things. Ihit such is far from being the case, and hence the slow and painful ad- vance of the race. It is only when freedom of thought and action is reached by some fortunately circumstanced nation, or some richly endowed individuals, that new truths obtain a fair field of action, and the yoke of ancient customs and ojjinions is thrown off. Then originality of thought asserts itself; old opinions and usages, once valuable, but now antiquated, are doubted, discussed, and thrown aside as inadequate for the pres- ent time : and this relaxation of tiic conservative element enables society to advance, and to adjust itself to new condi- tions. Thus progress must ever be accomj)lished by painful effort. Its course is rigidly conditioned by "tiic uno'erleaped mountains of necessity." The young radical reformer, the well-meaning but over-cnthusiasti(! philanthropist, the too-san- guine religionist, fret and fume against these impediments, and resolve to sweep them aside, and exterminate vice and misery in one grand campaign, and introduce the milk'nnium the day after to-morrow. Sad ex[)erience shatters their ideals and dis- appoints their hopes. Once uiore "oKl Adam proves to be too strong for j'oung Melancthon." Superficial optimism, that fancies this " the best of all possible worlds," and believes that all is going on smoothly towards a bright and glorious consum- ■r ^ Wr" 74 WHERE ARE WE AND WIIITllER TENDING t j \ \\ \i h.i i! mation just at hand, receives a rude awakening from its dreama by the stern facts of existence. Still, tlie great law of development maintains its slow hut stately march. Amid all the dread of change, of departure from the original shapes which thought and action assume, and in spite of constant efforts to restoi'c what is obsolete and dead, and revive past forms, life is ever slowly but constantly altering itself to meet new conditions. There is ever a growing con- formity between the world of thought and the world of facts. This gradual ada[)tation of tiie race to its surroundings consti- tutes the law of development, which underlies the whole consti- tution of thiny;s. In its action it is " unhastinjj and unresting." We chafe at the slowness of the advance, and sometimes ques- tion the reality of progress ; but is not the great law of devel- opment an expression of the mind of Ilim with whom " a thou- sand years are as one day "' ? Time is nothing with the Eternal One. His law is, that from the primitive and imperfect forms of life the more complex and j)crfect social forms and the higher ranges of thought and feeling shall be slowly develoj)ed. First the dawn and twilight, then the perfect day. " First the blade, tiion the full corn in the car." In the childhood of humanity men could only stupidly wonder at nature, and adopt some crude and imperfect guesses regarding the meaning of the great miivcrsc and the play of its majestic forces. Blunderings and errors iunumerable must have marked their first efforts, and these liad to be slowly corrected by experience. Truths were thus gradually estabHshcd as knowledge 'accumulated. Errors were slowly eliminated by a moi'C extended acquaintance with facts. But all this progress of thought involved conHict — a never-ending battle between old established errors and new trutlis. " The survival of the fittest " held jrood rcirtvi'd- ing tlie combatants. Each great thinker discovered some errors in the system of his predecessors, and tlius advances were made and closer approximations to th(5 truth. Old delusions and superstitions were undermined, and, without any direct attack, silently disappeared, being discredited as the light of new dis- coveries fell upon them. Tlie advance, though tortuous and WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDING t 75 often checked, waa real and persistent. In the ceaseless con- flict trutli had this immense advantage, that once gained, men wouhl not willingly part with it, and that each new truth became a centre around which others might gather, and new discoveries group themselves. Thus we reach the consolatory doctrine of the ultimate victory of truth. True, indeed, the vast and complicated forces work slowly. The advance is often checked or converted into a retreat. Developments the most promising arc frequently arrested, and remain stationary during vast historic periods. The ideas and discoveries of the acuter minds are powerless frequently in presence of the unconquer- able resistance presented by human stupidity and indolence. "Good customs" themselves "corrupt the world " by their per- sistency, after they have ceased to be adapted to the new con- ditions which have ])resented themselves, as humanity passes from one stage to another ; and ancient usage tends to make each generation a mummy-like imitation of its predecessor. All this may be most true, and yet it is no less true that there is progress discernible after certain lengthened periods. We look, and lo ! the change is un(iuestioualjle. llow it has come we hardly know. The seed has grown " while men 8lej)t." That competition which pervades all nature results in the victory of the true and the good. Bad institutions and customs, through competition, are displaced by better, and wrong ideas finally go down in the conflict with those which more correctly corres[)ond with the facts of the universe. It may be true that the great mass of each generation is but a slight improvement on its predecessor, and that even, in many instances, that gain may be a[)parently lost ; srill, the gain, though wlight, is real, and the increment of good, however slow, may go on indetinitely. Utopian dreams, therefore, of rapidly approacliing millen- niums, of perfections of humanity, find no su|)port in the facts of existence. AVe must take the world as \\(\ find it ; and it appears to be one in which our race advances by slow accretions of good, and by each generation and individual adding some- thing to the increasing sum. By patient thought, by persistent effort", in accordance with the great laws of the universe, the 1 1 II tlai , 'iBl! il ! 'V: I Si 1 N H 76 WHERE ARE WE AXD WHITHER TENDING t advance must be secured. We are not responsible for llie plan of the social structure ; but for intclli/^ent recognition of the conditions and limitations under which we work, and duo observance of the laws under which we are placed. In pres- ence of the stern facts revealed by science and the solemn teachings of history, optimism nuist be discarde,. as an inade- quate, and, in many respects, an incorrect doctrine. Its "rosy dreams of life, its comfortable non-recognition of the un[)leasant facts of existence of the dark side of nature, its constant assurances that " Whatever is, is right," that all evil is but a slight preliminary to ultimate and speedy huj)pine8s, are views which sober reason refuses to accept and experience rapidly dissipates. Besides, such teachings, if carried out to their logical consecjuences, would paralyze all moral effort and dis- courage all lofty endeavor to lessen the amount of evil and improve the condition of humanity. Efibrt is uncalled for if the world's arrauffemonts are all rii^ht and adapted to secure i)erfection. No less contrary to facts is the gloomy doctrine of pessimism. Its teachings would lead us to be- lieve that progress is a baseless dream, that human life is worth- less, as, from the very nature of things, its misery is incurable, and nmst ever be far in excess of its happiness. The experience of life refutes such views, and shows that hap{)iness, of a sober, rational kind, has been reached, and is attainable by an indefinitely large proportion of mankind. History and science show us that this proportion is steadily increasing, and point out the way in which such increase is to be reached. Avoiding both these extremes of optimism and pessimism we find the truth in the practical midway docti'ine which George Eliot has appropriately named "Meliorism," or the improvement of the world, to an extent which may be conceived of, but not strictly defined. The positive increase of good and the continual les- sening of evil may go on indefinitely ; and these slow and gradual ameliorations of man's lot will, in the distant future, transform human life into a condition as far 6U[»erior to the present as the present is superior to the lowest stages of bar- barism. WHERE ARE WE AXD WHITHER TENDLVOf 77 Here we find a firm ground for hopeful endeavor. Kacli individual, and eacli generation, ean not only do something to reduce the evil, but to increase the good. Iliniian well- being thus becomes an ever-increasing (juantity ; and lionet and wise endeavor can add to it in the present and future. This life theory may not remove all ditKcultics or clear up the mysteries of existence ; but it is in harmony with recognized facts, and it furnishes a sufficient practical basis for noble effort in the cause of humanity and for the guidance of conduct. Putting aside all uiu'ealities and fantastic, mystical conceptions, here is solid ground on which wc can stand. Whatever else may be untrue or doubtful, here is something we can rest on with certainty. We take this human life as wc find it. Its ills may be lessened, its beauty and brightness may be increased and multii)lied. Then, "whatever our hands find to do, let ua do it with our might," patiently, jjcrsistently, but, above all, hopefully. Loftier heights may yet be scaled, and on these the triumphant banners of humanity may be planted. There may bo no absolute perfection attainable, no sudden and swee[)ing regeneration possible. To alter and elevate the masses we must first improve the individual units of which they are com- posed ; and all the history of the past, and all the revelations of science, prove that such perfecting processes work slowly, — that the inertia to be overcome is vast, and cannot be the work of a day. The lengthened and often saddening and revolting processes through which our race has slowly risen from barba- rism to that degree of culture which we name modern civiliza- tion, forbid all extravagant dreams of rapid advance in the future. The terrible mass of existing woes, which is a iicritage from ancestral wrong-doing and errors, equally discourages devout imaginations of social millenniums. The poverty of the masses ; the crime, sensuality, drunkenness, and avarice which abound ; the misery caused by the* oj)eration of ])reventable diseases ; the limited extent of education in its proper sense, — all show from what evils mankind have yet to be redeemed. And yet when we look over a sufl^ciently wide area, and study the operation of physical, social, and moral la^s, we cannot doubt Nl ll 78 WIIERIC ARI-: WE AX/) WirtTllER TENDISOt A M tliftt Huflf'orinf^ jind nuHory nro (lliiiinishlnjf, nnd happiness, in ft reuH()imi)le (U'j^rco, t!xteiil\(}t 79 thoy arc Btranj^crs, or which they very ohsrurcly discern. 'I'lu! w»)rl(l hiiH never \wx\\\ without such j;reut men, th(>ii;^'h they arc ran;, and in their hi;fhe«t form may only appear once or twice in a century. Hut i'l roni them originate those crises in the 1 IIH- tory of our race when, in thi; travail of the a;^es, a new era has hirth, and a new upward impulse is imparted. The enthu- siasm they kindlcMl will, no douht, e.\|)end itself and appar- ently Ix' lost ; hut th(! result is never wholly lost, and will he felt. Ml une\pe( •ted f( orms, after many days. Tl le ni'w tliouLrht which hrst arises in tl lu nnn< I of some solitary thinker who is far in advance of his fellows spreads like leaxcii amid the masses and gives hirth to mighty, heni'ficial changes. Who could have I'oreseen the vast revolutions which were to follow from the thought of movahle types in the mind of (Jiitcnhi'rg ; of a new world in the mind of Coltimhus; of gravitation in the mind of Newton ; of steam-power in the mind of \\'att ; of " natural selection " in the mind of Darwin ? The whole current of human thought has been modified or changed hy these men of creative genius ; and systems which arc hoary with age, and around which has gathered the veneration of many generations, silently disappear before the disintegrating might of their new ideals. They change the world's thoughts, and with these, ultimately, the whole face of society. AVIiether these " heroes " of our race be men of thought or men of action, — whether spiritual reformers, philoso[)hcr3, inventors, scientific discoverers, literary workers, explorers, poets, artists, warriors, or statesmen, — they mightily help forward the j)rogre8S of humanity ; and if we wish to understand human history, we must never overlook these potent factors. They work with the great tide which sets towards progress, and hel[) to swell its mighty How. AVoe be to us if we fail to recognize with rever- ential gratitude the great ones who have toiled and suffered and bled in the cause of humanity, who for us have " borne the burden and heat of the day," into whose labors we have entered ! They have beautified and blessed life, and left the world richer and happier. il ifr" 80 WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDIXOt 13 1« i\ ■i I ,1 i ' Now, if these kings of thouj^ht and action have appeared, and helped to guide humanity in the past, and to stir them to noble iiciion, are we to suppose that, in the future, there shall not arise men " in their spirit and power " to create new and yet nobler epochs? Why should great men "fail from the earth " as humanity advances? There will ever be ample work for them to perform. The well of thought has not run dry. Greater and better men than have yet adorned our hunumity will take their plac(! in the march, and cheer the host by their trunn)ct-call to duty. The need for such men is, and must continue to be, great ana pressing, when so many woes afflict humanity, and so many giant evils retard the progress of LJOciety. All the good achieved by the great ones of the past will be gathered up by the greater men who are to follow, in the successive births of the ages, and will be reverently preserved in history's golden urn. To these their own contribu^^ions of good will be added, as a procious heritage to humanity. While, then, wo may at ti:nc3 be saddened at the slowness and uncer- tainty of tlie march, at its defeats and failures, let us remember that in the future, as in the past, the great ones will be near to cheer the faint-hearted, to breathe courage into the despondent, to guide the host onward and upward. " Sec ! In the rocks of the world Mar'jhes the hoc*^ of mankind, A feeble, wavering line. Where are they tending? A God Marsliall'd them, pave then ti;eir goal, — Ail, l)ut tlie way is so long! Years they liave been in tiie wild ! • Sore tliirst plagues tliem, the rocks, l?isin,!r all nronnd, overawe; Factions divide them, their host Threatens to break, to dissolve, — Ah, keep, keep them combined! Else, of the myriads who fill That army, not one sliall arrive ; Sole they shall stray ; on the rocks , Baiter forever in vain, Die one by one in the waste. WHERE ARE WE ASD WHITHER TEiVDIiVO f 81 " Then in such hour of need Of your fainting, dispirited race, Ye, like an<;els, ajjpi'ar, Radiant with ardor divine. Beacons of liopo, ye appear! Languor is not in your heart, Wealiuess is not in your word, Weariness not on your brow. Ye aliglit in our van ! At yt)ur voice, Panic, despair flee away. Ye move tlirough tlie ranks, recall The stragglers, refresh the outworn, Praise, reinspire the brave. Order, courage, return; Eyes rekindling, and prayers Follow your steps as ye go. Ye fill up the gaps in our files, Stii-ngthen the wavering line, 'Stal)lish, continue our march, On, to the bound of the waste. On, to the City of God." ' ' Rugby Chapel. M. Arnold. ill I i H' I ' 82 WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDINQ f \\ \ LECTURE III The Question of the Amelioration of the WorkinfT-classes. — Ciiffcn's Statistics. — Maouiihiy's V.icws on I'l-ojjress. — His Predictions Fulfilled. — Ini|)rovenu'nts in Feelin;^ and Character. — Redundancy of Population Considered. — Malthus' Views. — W. II. (Jrcfjrjf ami Jia^'ehot Quoted. — Increase of Population can he Controlled as Civilization Advances. — • Power of Man over the Iniprovcnu'iit of his Pace. — (iidton Quoted. — Possible Increase; of (ireat Men. — (Jernian Pcs>inii>n». — Causes of Prevailinir Pessimistic Views of Life. — Their Justification. — 'i'heir Imperfection. —Christianity the (Jreat Fsictor in Human Pro;,n'ess ; Still the Hope of the ^^■orld. — Christianity a Profzrcssive I{ehj;ion. — Its Spirit Lives, its Forms ('han;,''e. — Dread ol Innovations. — Is (Jln'i-^tiaiiity in Dau^^'cr from Scien- tific Discoveries ? —The Lessons of tiie Past. — -Tlie Theory of Creation hy Law not Irrelif^ious. — ScieMtitie Truth not to lie Dreaded. jHE question now presents itself, Arc there any ttinnjible proof's that our boasted seientific diseoveries, wliich liave given us such an inerettsed eomniand over the ? powers of ntiture and tlie vtirioiis :ipj>Hiinees of our modern eivilization, have scnsihly improved the eoa- ditiou of the great masses of tlic peopU.'? Is the residt of oiu' tnunpeted progress merely to increase the wejilth and luxurious mdulgences of the rich while the toiling nuu^ses find life's con- ditions as hard and ho[)eless as ever? Is tlu> chasm between the rif;h and ])oor yawning more widely than ever in these days of progress? It may not I)e possii)le to answer such questions conclusix cly, but there tire certain tangible facts which the vast majority of intelligent men Avill admit, and which go to prove that great ameliorations in the condition of the working- classes hiive tiiken phict; its the divct vcsult of mtiterial progress, and that more are promised. It is safe to take the condition (»t society in England as ty[)ical of the changes wrought out by modern civiliztition, because there its torct.'s htive been more in- tense than elsewhere, and its results more decisive, ^^'llat is true of socictv in Kiijilaiid will hold trood, more or less, of (ttiier landf s in which civiiiziii"; iiiHucni-cs are at work. Beside available statistics betiring on such tjucstions have been most l;u'g( ly iuid ticcurately furnished by English writers. WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDING t 83 The inaugural address of the fiftieth session of the Statisti- cal Society, recently delivered by ]\Ir. Robert Giflen, LL.D., contains valuable ini'orniation on these {)oints. lie sluuved, from the statistics of the United Kinirdom, that duriiiir the last fifty years there had been an enormous rise in money wages, rangino- from twenty, and in most cases from fifty to one hun- dred percent., while at the same time there had been a decrease in the hours of labor of nearly twenty per cent. " The work- man of to-day receives from fifty to one hundred per cent, more money for twenty [ler cent, less work ; in round figures he has gained froui seventy to one hundred and twenty [)er cent, in fifty years in money return." In regard to the prices of commodities diu'ing this period there had been little change. " On the whole, tliQ sovereign goes as far as it did forty or fifty years ago, while there arc many new things in existence at a low price which couhl not then have been bought at all." "Fifty years ago the workman, with wages on the average about half what they arc now, hail occasionally to contend with a fiuctuation in the price of bread which im[)lied sheer starva- tion." " While during the last half century sugar and such articles have largely declined in price, and while clothing is cheaper, th'.; only article interesting the workingman much which bad increased in price was meat, the increase here being considerable. Fifty years ago, however, meat was not an article of workman's diet as it has since become." Further, JNIr. (iifren showed that the governmental expenditure for the benefit of the working-classes had increased from twenty to sixty millions in fifty years, the increase being mainly for sani- tary and educational purposes, '' All this helped to mak(! life sweeter and better, and to open out careers even to the j)oor- est." One of the most striking results of better food, clothing, and housing, of iietter sanitation and knowledge of medicin(>, has been an increase in the mean dtM'ation of life amounting to an average gain of two years among mah-s and three and a half among females. This showed "a great increase in the vitality of the people. Not only had fewer died, but the masses who had lived must have been healthier ill I :| f«i ^|ii Si 84 WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDING f ^t and suffered less from sickness tli.an they did." " When the improvements hnd been in existence for a lonjjjer i)eriod, so that the lives of all who are living had been affected irom birth by the changed conditions, wc might infer that even a greater gain in the mean duration of life will be shown. As it was the gain was enormous." The consuujption of tea and sugar was four times what it had been forty years ago. "There could be no better evidence than this of diffused material well-being among the masses." " The children of the masses arc now obtaining a good education all round, whereas fifty yeaf* ago the masses had either no education at all or a comparatively poor one. AVhile at the j)resent day not only did we get all children into schools, or nearly all, but the education imparted to the increaseri(te of fxnl entailed severe sufferings. In 1810 and LSI 2 the price of a quarter of wheat rose to l()(5,s'. and \'2.i\s. For the last ten years the average price has been h?sit. ; and the causes which have reduced the cost of the stajile of life seem permanent and likely to continue increasingly operative in the future. Wealth is becoming more diffused; and JNIr. (iitibn has ])roved that, while the income from capital has kept pace only with the increase of capital itself, the wages of the working-classes have virtually doubled ; so that the .assertion tb.at these classes have not shared equitably in the increase of material wcidth cannot be sustained. There is no setting aside of statistics ; and these show that the average fortunes of the rich are eleven per cent, lower than in 1840, while the condition of the working-classes has improved one himdrcd per cent. During the |)crioriny No doubt when Lord Mucaiilay ventured on these predictions in 1848, us possibilities whleh nii_i>;lit occur during the twentieth century, ninny readers smiled increchdously at such Utopian dreams; and yet all, or nearly all of them have been fiillilled, while the nineteenth century has yet sixteen years to riui. Jn 184') Dorsetshire hiborers were receivinj^ from 7.s-. to 8.s". per week; now they obtain from Ws. to \bs. In Lancashire fac- tories the younjj^ women and girls emi)loyed in cotton-spinning in 1841 received 8s. per week ; the same class are now paid 13s. and many 15s. At the present date, Macaulay's other predic- tions have been more than fuKilled. The average; of human life has been lengthened, and sanitary and medical discoveries have greatly lessened the prevalence of diseases. \\'heu the twentieth century arrives, should the present rate of |)rogres8 continue, his hopes for the improvement of the masses will be found greatly exceeded by the reality. Doubtless evils enough will still remain ; but the good results attained will pioneer the way to something better, and nerve society for more hopeful efforts in arresting injurious influences and increasing the com- mon well-being. It is easy to sneer at this reasoning in regard to material })rosperity as " ewine-philosophy," and to disparage it because unaccompanied by any corresponding moral progress. In point of fact, however, the industrial phase which we have now reached carries with it a very marked moral advance. vV n)ilder type of character, gentler manners, more refined feelings, more temperate beliefs, characterize our modern society and constitute its distinctive features. The coarseness, brutality, and cruelty of former ages no longer appear, and would not now be tolerated. Human sympathies have been immensely widened ; respect for the opinions, the rights, and feelings of others is, among the educated, recognized as a rule of life. To inflict unnecessary pain, or even needlessly to wound the feel- ings of others, meets with general reprobation. That indif- ference to human suffering which marked the fighting stage of" progress has given place to a tenderness which aims at the re- moval of pain and misery in every form. That ferocity of 1 1 90 WHERE ARE WE AXD WHITHER TENDING f temper, and that tcndnney to domineer over the opinions and beliefs of others, whieh, comhined with the claim to infalli- hility, led to all the horrors of religious ])erseeution, have j^reatly ahated and now rarely show their haleful aspect. Have not the peaceful, industrious occupations of the fjfreat ma ^ses of men in these d«ys led to these happy chanfres? Not oidy are the destructive activities of former times restricted, hut, as an outcome of our complex industrial civilization, and of tlu; mani- fold relations into whieh men are brought, a 8ym[)athetic temper has been generated which condemns the infliction of suffering. 0|)inions and religious beliefs which are not in harmony with this gentler spirit of humanity are losing their hold and silently disappearing. When life was little better than a struggle for existence, ferocity and violence held sway. The abundance, comforts, and even luxuries which tlu; great uiiijorities of modern communities can command have resulted in the social amel- iorations to which I have referred. Let no one, then, affect to despise the material prosperity of our day. It has already secured no small amount of moral progress, and gives promise of greater in its indirect results. A rise in the moral tempera- ture is perceptible. Now to these hopeful views regarding the elevation of the masses tlierc is an antagonistic consideration which is far too serious and formidable to be ignored. I refer to the natural tendency of population to increase beyond any possible in^rease^ in the means of subsistence, thus dooming, as is alleged, the "greaf majorTfy of niaukuid to the miseries resulting from poverty, and overclouding the bright hopes of philanthropy for a coming era of abundance and comfort. It is asserted that the human race is no exception to the law which regulates all ani- mal life, and under which a far greater number of animated existences are called into being than can find materials of sus- tenance, thus rendering privation and suffering the irremediable lot of the great mass of mankind, and misery, attended with premature death, inevitable. Competition for a necessarily limited supply of food must result in pinching poverty, with all its miseries and vices, among those who fail in the struggle for WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENOrSGt 91 cxif'tonre. The ratio in which food cnn be incroasod l)y liuinjin skill and energy can inner l)c cqunl to the rate at wliich pojm- lation naturally increases. Tliis redundancy oFpopuIaluTnTlt is alleged, is inevitaI)Te, iiTm, unless re8truinctLili-.auuui_tiuiuu- OV other, nuist l.)lj;;lit tllC llVl>C9 vt' llUlUUU prvtfa'aat Tills is the well-known tlicory of population which Malthun was the first to expound, and whi<'h, in its main positions, is admitted to be incontrovertible by the ablest political econo- mists. It has be(!n 8U])p()rtcd by such an array of facts that its hold on the public mind can hardly be shaken. The author of "The Kni e pressure of population on the means of subsistence. "It ia to the laws of nature, therefore, and not to the conduct or institutions of man, that we are to attribute the necessity of a strong and ceaseless check on the natural increase of population." In rejrard to the hold which the Malthusian doctrine has at present on the minds of thinking men, Gregg remarks : "Various theories have been put forward in competition, but none has obtained any currency, or perhaps deserved any. It has remained the fixed axiomatic belief of the educated world, that pressure of niunbers on the means of subsistence is,' and must remain, the normal condition of humanity ; and that, in conscfpience, distress or privation, in one shape or another, must be the habitual lot of the great majority of our species ; since they can only escape the distress and privation arising from insufficient food by voluntarily embracing the distress and privation involved in long-continued, and, perhaps, perpetual celibacy. Ileasoning the most careful and cogent seemed to have made this clear, and the observation and experience of every day and every land seemed to illustrate or confirm it." On the same subject of the evils of a redundant population, Hagehot, in his "Physics and Politics," says: "In the moral part of the world how many minds are racked by incessant anxiety ; how many thoughtful imaginations which might have left something to mankind are debased to mean cares ; how much every successive generation sacrifices to the next ; how little does any of them make of itself in comparison with what it WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDINOf 93 •g mJglit be? And how mnny Irdands have there heen in the world where men would have been eontented and happy it' they had only fewer ; how many more Irelands would there have been if the intrusive numbers had not kept down by infanticide, and vice, and misery? How painful is the conclusion that it is dubious whether all the machihos and inventions of mankind ' have vet >w tvv it ligl'tencJ the day's labor of a human bcinj ! ' They have jjnabled more people to exist, but these people work just as hard, and are just as mean and miserable as the elder and the fewer/'___ Now it may be at once admitted that if the law of the rehi- tive increase of population and food, as stated by Malthus, held good absolutely, and were not counteracted by the operation of other laws, the prospects of l.Miiianity would be dimmed, and progress rendcr^'d much more d».HU)t.".:l. in point of fact, how- ever, numerous restraining agencies have been at work in the past ; and as society advances, these counteractive forces, tending to prevent a redundancy of population, will be incrcas- ini^lv felt. 80, far from beinj; an uncontrolhvble evil which we must regard with helpless despondency, u redundant popu- lation may be reckoned as a symptom of social disorders which admit of being mitigati'd or removed ; while, at every step of intellectual and moral advan<.'e, society will be more and more delivered from its perils. Although it may be true that population naturally tends to increase faster than the means of subsistence, yet even in the past, owing to tl'.o o|)eration of coinitcracting agencies of various kinds, it may be (juestioned whether it can be j)roved that such increase has taken place. 11" we take England as an instance, we find that there a great increase of population has taken place, but that such increase has never been in excess of the increase of the means of subsistence. Maltlius published his "Essay on Pojiulation "' in 171)8, and one of his objects was to show the impossibility of feeding the then existing popu- lation of the United Kingdom. At that time the population was a little under sixteen millions ; but in 1?<82 a population of over thirty-five millions is maintained in far greater comfurt It 94 WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDING f I and al)nn0,9y3 ; in eighty years it had nearly trebled, and amounted to 20,400,820, and Mr. (iif^'en's statistics, ah'eady quoted, show that the condition of every class has greatly improved. Since 1831 population has increased thirty per cent., while capital has increased one hundred per cent., and purchasing power six hundred percent. Thus the growth of the productive power of England, as exhibited in its ca{)ital, and of the purchasing |)ower, as shown by the exports of manufactures and natural products, has kept fai- ahead of the growth of her population. What is true of England also holds good, to a greater or less extent, regarding other coi'.itries. Everywhere it is found that food has increased faster than the population. Famines are rarer than in former ages ; and though the world's popula- tion has increased, the general condition of the great masses of the people has improved. These facts indicate unmistakably that the actiud growth of population has never approachcil its posnifjle growth, as stated by Malthus, even where the most favorable coiuli.'ions of increase existed. The evidence of his- tory, therefore, goes to show that ('t)unteractive agencies must be at work tending to limit the natural increase of population. We may not, at present, be able to discover what are these occult and unconscious influences, but facts demonstrate their existence. We see whole nations, races, tribes and families occasionally diminishing in numbers, and finally becoming extinct from sonic secret causes. There are countries onco jiopulous in which there are now comparatively ft'w inhabi- tants. The influences which, in this way, check the natural increase are at present hidden, but no less real on that account. When to these we add the power which society possesses, whether through the force of public sentiment or judicious legal enactments, in regulating the increase of its population, it is not ditticult to conceive of a social state in which redun- WHERE ARE WE AXD WHIT HER TENDmOt 95 dancy of population will cease to be a peril and source of dis- quietude. Such power will be exercised by society, so soon us it is iMidcrstood that existing evils may thus be lessened, and the masses raised to a higher level of virtue, intelligence, and happiness. Thus it becomes evident that, as society advances and moral and intellectual development increases, that reckless increase of population, which leads to social degradation and misery, must diminish. By a great stretch of imagination we could conceive of a time when, with the highest skill and organization, the greatest possible amount of food should be wri'.ng out of the whole surface of the globe. When science has done its utmost in increasing the productions of the soil, and every available spot on earth has been subjected to the highest degree of culture, then, of course, the absolute limit to the increase of popula- tion woidd be reached, and any further additions would tend towards the deterioration of the race, liut how distant is such an era need not be pointed out. To-day, to say nothing of the vast regions yet unreclaimed, both in the Old World and the New, it may be safely affirmed, that, even in the most densely peo- pled countries, the produce of the soil does not reach half the amount which might be obtained by a more skilful and careful cultivation. AVe all know how much science has done already in improving the system of agriculture ; and we can easily (^m- ceive. how nuich more it is capable of accomplishing in increasing and turning to account the riches of land and sea, and tlius providing a bountifid table for a vastly larger popula- tion than now occupies the globe. "There is every reason to believe," says the author of "The Enigmas of Lile," "that the Euro[)ean continent could support three or four times its present numbers, and that a similar conclusion may be ay the quick intcllijjencc and hiiniiiul!4 ever arising from the compli- cated relatione) of modern Noeiety. It is no less ominous when an advancing civilization calls for more mental and moral power, more hrain and stamina, than society can sup^ily, in order to regulate and carry on efticiently its multiform affairs. The only cure for such a condition is an elevation of tho avera«;e ..■"tandanl of ahilitv. To this 1 believe we are elowlv hut steadily tending at the present day ; though most will allow that for the vast work rc(|uired in this hurrying, feverish age, with its ra()id changes and confused and conHi<'ting inter- ests, a vastly greater supply of ahle men is needed than is now availahle. While \v(! re" '.'rence the leaders of thought in former times, and feel the worth of" the great of old, the dead yet 8ceptrenny liiossoins now, IJut on tiiu world's jfroat morrow to cxpanil, With broadest petal and witii deepest glow." le n restmg The great elevating forces are at work, "unhasting, but un- Ncver, surely, were there such grounds for hopefid, courageous effort as in the present age, with all its drawbacks and imperfections. Still, we must not permit the gh)W of a hope too intense to mislead us into expectations of vast instalments of 1 I Ali' 11 102 WrTERE ARE WE AND WniTllER TEXniyOf the millennium in tlu* nonr future. Fatimoc must mingle with our hope, lor (he margin for our free effort is narrow. " Nor will that day dawn at u liuinnn ncxi, When, burHtin){ tlirougli tin* nrt-work Rupcrpoied, By seifloh occupation, — plot und plan, '• Lunt. avarice, envy, — liberated man, All difTer'Mii-o with Iiim fcilow-niurtul dosed, Shall lie left atandini; face to fuco with God." Arnold. The all-important conclusion, however, which seems to be eHtablislied by an appeal to the facts of nature and of liiHtory, is that man is conquering more and more of moral freedom, ac(]uiring a greater mawtery over liis own destiny, and, by his conscious efforts in harmony with th(> unconscious labor of the ages, he is wiiming better and better contlitions for the hiunan race. In all ages, however, views of life antagonistic to these, and more or less tinged with the pessimistic spirit, have commended themselves to certain orders of mind. Human life and destiny have a|)peared to such dark and hopeless, the misery far out- weighing the happiness, the hope of imjirovcineiit a n>ere dclu- sitm. In extreme forms these despondent views of existence have vented themselves in bitter denunciations of life and pas- sionate outcries against its evils and disajjpointments. To such minds the spectacle of human life has presented itself either as a series of wild orgies, hideous or grotesque, or as a stupid exhibition of foolish or degrading impulses. In its scientific and spccidative form, pessimism endeavors to prove that hinnan life alwavs is and must be an excess of miserv. German pessi- mism boldly proclaims that all existence, as such, is necessarily burdensome, baneful, and a thing to be deplored. The founder of this system — Schopenhauer — only half seriously, perhaps, held this to be "the worst of all possible worlds, as bad as it possibly can be to exist at all." He denied not only the reality of happiness in the past and present, but also the possibility of its attainment in the future. Such a system, if it WriERE ARE WE AXD WIIITIIER rEXDIXGf 103 l)OCiimo prevalent, would, like the ntnr " WormwrxMl," In the Wnok uf Kuvcliition, turn all lli(> tountainH oCtlif' earth into liittrrne>«M. Life would eease to he "worth livin|L(," and heconie a wearimunc hurdcn, wliieh we shoidd Ix; ;;lad to lay down, ('onij)aratively few, prrhapH, have held thitt (>.\treine form of |)(^s8i^li^«nl ; l>ut many, in llavse days», are heeoniinj^ inshued with it« spirit, more or lesH, and an; livin*; in the hhadow8, rather than the hri^Witneng of life. Much of our literature and poetry iw "nieklied t>*er with th(! pale cast " of pe^«.>*imi^>m ; and, imcon.seioiiMJy, muiiy are inipresised with low and isonihn; views of human life, which to them pn'scnts no nohle meaninml)re mystery of it all, the pathos and sadness of life, their finer sensihilities incline them to a sentimental pessimism. Sehellrnj^ sj)eakri of " Tlu? sadness which cleaves to all finite life — of the deep and inde- etructiblc melaneholy of all life, and of the veil of depression 104 WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDIKOf f \4 I i which is spread over the whole of nature." Many, too, incline towards pessimism hy way of protest against an empty, super- ficial optimism. Thry arc determined to understand life as it is, — not to ignore its disagreeable facts, or yield to traditionid illusions. The new views disclosed by science have apparently stripped life of some of its sanctity and Aiorth i and as yet have not furnished for them any new ins[)iring ideas — any outlets for their emotional nature. For these and in. my other reasons whi('h might be enumerated, many superior and sensi- tive minds are bent in the pessimistic direction. Hence the impression that, in various forms, the pessimistic spirit is invad- injjr the mind (»f the age. In Germany, philosophic pessimism has met with a wide acceptance ; and in France and Kussia the apostles of mod- ern pessimism have many followers. Ivan Turgenieff, the great Russian novelist, is tinged with the pessimistic temper, which, in his writings, so oi'ten moves and charms us with its pathos and tenderness, notwithstanding the despairing pictures of life in which it is expressed. The wj'itings of Schopenhauer and llartmann have lately been translated and j)ublished in England. All this seems to indicate the spread of pessimism. The social inequalities which are now more keenly felt, — the few rolling in wealth and luxury, the vast numbers doomed to toil and poverty, — the weltering masses in the gulf of pauperism, — the disappointed and thwarted [)olitical aims of the millions who are asjiiring after freedom, have awakened the inquiry. Are these inequalities and oppressions a result ef the immutable lavvs of nature ? The remedy is not yet seen ; the way of deliverance by hopeful ameliorations of luiman lot has not yet disclosed itself to the suffering multitudes. Hence dark and depressing views of life iiiul an echo in their hearts. In the present stage of progress, pesfLiuiism, in its milder forms, is inevitable, perhaps justifiable. Few of the more thoughtful spirits have not their pessimistic moments, when the great questions concerning humanity which arc now agitating men's iuinds are felt pressing on the heart in uU their vastness and uncertainty. The mind, at times, WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDING? 105 becomes we.ary and faint in presence of life's perplexing enigmas. As the world improves, ami life becomes better " worth living, " it is reasonable to expect that pessimistic views of existence will become rarer ; but, meantime, it must be allowed that pessimism often sounds a true note. The helpless- ness, the misery, the anguish, and the unrealized aspirations of 60 many millions of our race constitute its justification. The apparent mingling of maleficent with beneficent elements in nature, from our limited staiul-i)oint, suggests many of its sombre views. The tragic element undenial)ly mingles largely in human life. The impotence of noble eflPorts ; the tragical defeats of many of the bravest and best ; the frequent blighting of the fairest promises of goodness, — all these arc too ter- ribly true in the pages of human record and in every-day experience. That, to some, the destiny of man should present itself in hues of gloom and darkness is not surprising, liut, the great matter is to remember that all the truth is not eoii> prehended in such views, — that they are but partial and imi)er- fect glimpses, — that our poor world has given us many saints, martyrs, heroes, whose toils and sufferings have borne a rich fruitage, and blessed and benefited millions, — many successful cultivators of science who have enlarged the boundaries of knowledge and reduced the empire of darkness and su|K'rsti- tion, — many great in song, and in art, who have j)eo[)le(l the realms of imagination with noble creations of genius, — many "happy warriors," — many who have sacrificed themselves for the welfare of others ; and their offering was not in vain, for it enriched humanity. At the l)est, therefore, tiie pessimist's representation of life nnist be [jronouuced [)artial and (let'ective. It is still asked, Whither does it all tend? To what earthly heights is man destined to rise as he ascends the steeps of time? Who can preteu'l to solve tlie great mys- tery? A knowledge of the final reason of this great universe is denied to the eager heart (jf man, and can be known (inly to the Infinite Mind. We only know that w(! are parts of a vast system with which our destinies are bound up. Still, we may say with Shakesp(?are, — "In nature's infinite book of secrecy a little I cun road." i;"; \ 7- III lOG WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDING f And that little tells us that human progress is a reality ; that man is moving towards a loftier position in the universe of (jod, and that all whieh has yet been attained is but a j)relude of what the evolution of the affcs will disclose. Instead of indulffinjj in rash guesses regarding human destiny, let us rather assume a reverent and humble attitude, and with the poet say : — " I do not know, nor will I vainly question Those pages of the mystic book which hold The story still untold ; IJut without rash conjecture or sugfjestion Turn its last leaves in reveience and good heed Until 'The End' I read." There is, however, one final consideration which should banish doubt regarding these ijrophccies of a more g'')riou8 destiny for man. For eighteen hundred years Christianity — the religion of love and hope — has been at work in the; world, slowly leavening the foremost nations of the earth with its divine spirit, promoting civilization and progress, quickening thought, purifying morals, and breathing a more humane and tender spirit into human souls. With all the corruptions and perversions which Christianity has suffered in the ruder ages of the past, and notwithstanding all the cruelties and persecutions which have been perpetrated in its name, it has been one of the mightiest factors of civilization and moral progress. It has comuuuiicatcd that onward impulse and kindled that undying hope of man's future, wanting which science, philosophy, and art would have been comparatively powerless. Its presence still — as one of the mightiest forces in modern society — furnishes the best guarantee of the per- manency of human progress. Its pure and lofty morality is still far ahead of the most civilized comnumities of Europe and America, and still furnishes a standard of excellence tow- ards which they will do well to as[)ire. In fact, we may *ruly say that its divine power is yet but very partially felt, !"ul that a real Christian era is vet to come. Xo nation has yet adopted the moral code of the religion whose essence is L)ve as its overruling law. When its spirit pervades human WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDTNOt 107 society, and its principles become the guide of life, the dawn of the rnillenniuin will have appeared. Meantime, the world needs as much as ever that mighty quickening, el vating power of Chrisitianity which in past ages hound togetlu-r the nations of Euro|)e and battled successfully against the animalism, the brutal jjassions, the selfishness, greed, and cruelties which defaced humanity. These are still its foes, and against these it carries on an undying warfare. I speak not now of organ- izations or churches, but of the great life-giving power of Christianit}', its all-embracing love, its quenchless hope, its sublime doctrine of the fatherhood of God. And, viewed in its grander as!i)ects, I believe that it is, and must continue to be, the hope of humanity. And it is just because Christianity is a progressive religion, and able to adapt itself to the ever-varying conditions of human life and the evolution of social institutions, that it has retained its hold upon the mind of the age, and will continue to do so. If it were a mere stereotyped system of dogma, — if it pro- claimctl finality, and hostility to free inquiry, — if it were the enemy of science, and ever engaged in gazing backward, — if it had no welcome for the fresh and vigorous thought of to-day, and no response to the throbbings of the new a^'-e that has dawned upon us, then, indeed, we might conclude that it was " waxing old like a garment," and was doomed to disappear, lint its vitality is proclaimed by its growth and the confident freedom with which it alters itself to meet the new conditions which each new age brings with it, — and this without losing any of its grand essentials. Its forms change and die, but its spirit lives and embodies itself in new and more l)caiitiful forms. Just because it is one of those things "whicii cannot be shaken " it must grow and change, otherwise it could not be permanent. The religious concejjtions and beliefs of men nnist exj)and with advancing intelligence and greater s[)irituality ; and were they irrevocably fixed, they would soon sink into decay and death. The religious convictions of our forefathers could no more be ours, in their entirety, than could be their customs, their mode of speech, or their dress ; for these beliefs 108 WHERE ARE WE AND WHITHER TENDING f are modified and altered with the advance of knowledge. Thus "the increasing purpose" which runs through the ages ever realizes new modifications of religious belief. Why should we dread such growth and expansion ? They come by no caprice or accident, but by a divine law. The controver- sies with which the religious world is now ringing are just the phases of a new development. Some existing phases of belief which have grown old are disapi)caring, just as similar changes have occurred in the past ; and the creeds and forms of Christian- ity are adjusting themselves to the conditions of the new intel- lectual day. But its vitality is not inipaired in the pnicess, and its glory is not dimmed, but brightened. As the Rev. Professor Flint, of Edinburgh University, said recently, "The ecclesiastical world has been always peculiarlv slow to give heed to the words "Let the dead bury their dead ;" but, he added, those who aim at such enlargements " can at least strive in the assured faith that they arc on the side of freedom and of science, of religious progress, and the ])ublic good." " A great discoverer in science may contribute, by the light which he throws on the character of God, and by the beneficial effects of his discoveries, far more to the establishment and fjrowth of the Kinjjdom of Christ than a thousand preachers." "The Faculties of Law and Theology both need great enlargement, and the latter, per- haps, organic changes." These are the opinions of one of the most eminent of living theologians. lie recognizes the great truth that our eyistinjj theologies arc all developments from the religious beliefs of tormer ages, and nnist differ widely from their predecessors. There have been growth and expansion ; and, as our religious ideas and forms are far from having reached perfection, there nmst continue to be similar advances. From the beginning there has been an apocalypse, which has increased in brightness and splendor as the ages rolled along, and its meridian is not yet reached. Changes, "even organic changes," are needed in tiieology as in all other