554 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the support of existence, but the keep- 

 ing up of the social condition and the 

 holding of advances already gained. By 

 conflict, I mean not merely warfare and 

 preparation for warfare, but all expen- 

 diture of mental power in seeking the 

 gratification of desire at the expense of 

 others and in resistance to such aggres- 

 sion. . . . 



" Association in equality is the law 

 of progress. Association frees mental 

 power, for expenditure in improvement 

 and equality (or justice or freedom, for 

 the terms here signify the same thing, 

 the recognition of the moral law) pre- 

 vents the dissipation of this power in 

 fruitless struggles. Here is the law of 

 progress which will explain all diversi- 

 ties, all advances, all halts, and retro- 

 gressions." 



Nothing can be more unsatisfactory 

 than this. It sounds like last-century 

 talk, before science had entered upon 

 the investigation, and ignores a whole 

 continent of facts that have been up- 

 heaved during the last two or three 

 generations, and which are fundamental 

 to any theory of human advancement. 

 These scientific revelations force upon 

 us the question of the improvement of 

 man in his earlier stages, as an indis- 

 pensable key to the imderstanding of 

 his later advancement. Mr. George 

 says, " Whether man was or was not 

 gradually developed from an animal, it 

 is not necessary to inquire." That de- 

 pends entirely upon the thoroughness 

 of the inquiry it is proposed to make. 

 Is it so obvious that the progress of man 

 has nothing to do with the development 

 of man? Surely knowledge is prefer- 

 able to ignorance in regard to man's 

 early history, as well as most other 

 things. It is not aU the same, for the 

 purposes of truth, what theory we adopt 

 of man's mode of origin. If the uni- 

 verse was jerked into existence out of 

 nothing and altogether, some six thou- 

 sand years ago, and if the first man 

 came along with it perfected in intelli- 

 gence, and endowed with a language 



suitable for the purposes of a compre- 

 hensive zoological nomenclature, then, 

 indeed, all inquiry respecting the emer- 

 gence of man is unnecessary. But this 

 childish theory of his first appearance 

 was long since exploded, and the growth 

 of modern knowledge compels the adop- 

 tion of another. Mr. George says, " We 

 know that there have been geological 

 conditions under which human life was 

 impossible on this earth " ; and he here 

 tacitly gives away his whole case, for 

 the implication is of a great historic 

 order in nature, of the antiquity of the 

 earth, and of the course of life as a 

 time-problem of vast import. The in- 

 dubitable records of life go back mill- 

 ions of years, perhaps millions of ages, 

 in terrestrial history. And this life not 

 only had its progress, but its incontesta- 

 ble mental progress. There was a slow 

 and gradual passage from the lower to 

 the higher, with successive epochs of 

 advancing intelligence, the creatures 

 nearest to man in organization coming 

 last before man himself appeared. 



We have here the conception of prog- 

 ress deep in the constitution of Nature. 

 We have her method, which is that of 

 progress by the operation of natural law. 

 There was a time when the human race 

 did not exist upon the earth, although 

 it had been for countless ages a theatre 

 of developing life. Will Mr. George 

 maintain that man did not come in con- 

 formity with the preexisting order? 

 Does he deny that man is a part of 

 Nature, the sequel of an organic series, 

 and to be studied and interpreted in the 

 light of the great unfolding law of this 

 series? All the facts show not only 

 that man has had a much greater anti- 

 quity upon this earth than was former- 

 ly supposed, but tliat he had a very low 

 beginning. There was a prehistoric 

 and primitive man, who dwelt in caves, 

 made and used implements of stone, 

 lived by hunting, and was the lowest 

 kind of a savage. So much is estab- 

 Hshed, whatever be the worth of specu- 

 lations regarding his derivation from an 



