EVOLUTION AND THE DESTINY OF MAN 463 



had stood in the way of the order given a few years earlier for the 

 massacre of the whole male population of the flourishing city of Myti- 

 lene, or (though that order was rescinded on grounds of policy) of the 

 putting to death in cold blood of one thousand Mytilenian prisoners ! 

 It is an unfortunate circumstance that " horror and loathing " have too 

 generally been bestowed not upon atrocious crimes against humanity, 

 but upon alleged offenses against the higher powers — in reality, upon 

 affronts offered to theological opinion or prejudice. 



The "peculiar position" of humanity is what it is, and neither 

 atheism nor any other " ism " can make it other than it is. It is for 

 us to discover, as far as may be, what our position is, and calmly to 

 abide by our conclusions in the matter as long as they continue to 

 recommend themselves to our reason. If we find that certain contrary 

 views inspire us with " unspeakable horror and loathing " instead of 

 with a sense of error and a desire to remove the error, we shall do well 

 to examine ourselves as to whether we really be in the faith, whether 

 we are not trying to atone by "horror and loathing" for indeter- 

 minateness of conviction and a deficient sense of intellectual whole- 

 ness and integrity. Such tempestuous emotions are not generally of 

 good omen. 



We can dispense, we are told, with the idea that our earth is the 

 great cosmical center, because science now re-establishes our dignity 

 by showing that the sun is but our Titan-like servant. Can it truly be 

 said that science reveals this ? I doubt very much that science estab- 

 lishes a servant-like relation of the sun to the earth. Poetry may do 

 it ; theology may try it as a pis aller ; but science, unless my igno- 

 rance on such subjects is even greater than I take it to be, tells us no 

 more than that the sun and the earth are parts of one system, frag- 

 ments of one original nebula in different stages of evolution ; and that, 

 while the sun nourishes life upon our planet, it leaves the moon an arid 

 waste ; that, while it scorches Mercury with unbearable heat and shrouds 

 it in almost impenetrable splendor, it sends to Uranus and Neptune 

 but faintest pulses of light and warmth, not sufficient for any mainte- 

 nance of life. Looking at the general arrangement of the solar system 

 and the general action of terrestrial forces, it seems but trifling to pre- 

 tend that human life is in any sense an explanation of the scheme as a 

 whole, or that man's interests have been studied in any especial man- 

 ner. Such a statement may seem to border on that doctrine which, as 

 our author tells us, justly excites " unspeakable horror and loathing " ; 

 but, with all respect, I venture to express the contrary opinion, that it 

 is a doctrine calculated to have a better moral effect than the one he 

 labors to support. It is a doctrine which, while it tends to abate hu- 

 man egotism, tends also to increase our sense of responsibility. If our 

 life is the grand culmination of creation, and if the creative power has 

 special designs concerning us, our destinies are largely, if not wholly, 

 taken out of our own hands. We become at once " a royal priesthood, 



