THE DOGMA OF EVOLUTION 



which have never been surpassed flash out; as unex- 

 pectedly Thales, whose ancestry is unknown, creates 

 philosophy by finding a principle of order in what 

 seems to be chaos. In our own times, Napoleon es- 

 capes from assassins and profoundly changes the 

 course of history. A Newton springs from an humble 

 farmer's family; a St. Francis from the nobility; a 

 Darwin from a line of intellectual ancestry. The his- 

 tory of all nations, which have played a part in civili- 

 zation, is a chronicle of the deeds and thoughts of the 

 few superior individuals who have issued from all 

 kinds of ancestry and in the most different surround- 

 ings. 



Sometimes the common people vaguely appreciate 

 the superlative benefits given to them by such richly 

 endowed individuals. Most often they learn reluct- 

 antly new ideas, and then they are apt to choose what 

 seems to offer them immediate but transitory boons 

 and are led by powerful but untrustworthy guides. 

 That a nation may continue to progress we must have 

 not only a steady supply of gifted individuals but 

 they must come at the proper time when their ideas 

 can be carried out effectively. Is it probable, if Hero 

 of Alexandria, with his knowledge of the motive 

 power of steam, had lived in a community and at a 

 time prepared to apply his discovery, that we should 

 have had to wait for Watt to perfect the steam en- 

 gine^ Again, if Roger Bacon had been understood, the 

 age of science might have begun much earlier. There 



C 374 1 



