EVOLUTION AND RELIGION 



the rhythm of rational and scientific progress. Instead 

 of such variation, the standards of morality remain 

 fixed and eternal truths. They are seen clearly by a 

 comparatively few gifted individuals who appear 

 from time to time in the most different social environ- 

 ments. And we can safely say that all of us who at- 

 tempt to break these laws, do so not from a lack of 

 knowledge of what is right but because we have not 

 the will to restrain our desires. From what I have ob- 

 served, many have been able to evade the physical 

 laws but I have found no one who has broken the 

 moral laws and escaped the punishment which leaves 

 an indelible stain on the character, and mars the peace 

 of mind which belongs only to a righteous life. 



From all the discussion evoked by the study of his- 

 tory, one fact, and it seems to be one of supreme im- 

 portance, stands out clearly and unchallenged. What 

 we believe to be the higher forms of civilization have 

 arisen from a very few primitive stocks. If we neglect 

 the more or less questionable surmises which have 

 been made by anthropologists and start from a period 

 when our records are considered reliable we can locate 

 these influential stocks. We find that the peoples 

 found on the African and American continents pro- 

 duced no important civilized states with the excep- 

 tion of the Egyptians, Mexicans, and Peruvians 

 whose influence has been slight if not negligible. In 

 Asia we find the stationary states of the Chinese and 



