PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 29 
evidence, and I do not see how it is possible for anyone to be- 
lieve in Pantheism, so long as the origin of life remains un- 
explained. Consequent.y, Theism is left as the only pos- 
sible theory of the Universe. And I have, I hope, shown 
that there is sufficient evidence of design in nature to con- 
vince us that evolution has not been due to haphazard effort, 
but to deliberate action, leading up to some ulterior purpose 
which it is the great wish of man to fathom. 
We know that the sun is in its old age, and that im a 
few more millions of years it will cease to have any vitalising 
effect on its planets; also, we know that biological evolution 
has nearly run its course on the earth. The race of life is 
over, and man has won. No other animal can ever arise to 
compete with him, for he could destroy it long before it be- 
came formidable. Psychological evolution alone is in the 
ascendant, and this has yet much to do, especially in the 
domain of morals. Ethical evolution—founded on free will, 
which changed the human mind into the human soul—is the 
highest and last form of evolution possible on the earth, 
and, consequently, so far as terrestrial] evolution is con- 
cerned, the development of the human soul must be the 
object for which we are seeking; and, if this is so, there 
ought to be no-difficulty in believing that everything which, 
either directly or indirectly, has been instrumental in the 
development, was designed for that purpose. 
But if all has been planned for the development of the 
human soul, there must have been some reason for planning 
it. There must be some further purpose, which is hidden 
from us. We cannot believe that the ultimate object was 
the happiness of man on earth, for there is no evidence that 
psychological evolution has increased his happiness. It is 
not the pursuit of pleasure, but the feeling that duty comes 
before pleasure, which is the moving force in ethical evolu- 
tion. So we come to recognise that the ultimate purpose 
of evolution Gannot be fulfilled on the earth; and we are 
thus led to believe that our spirit will not perish with the 
body, but will, in some way or other, lead a new existence. 
And as we know that on’ the earth better has constantly suc- 
ceeded better, so we may hope it will be in the spiritual 
world. 
Such seems to be the teaching of the modern doctrine of 
evolution. It is a philosophy which does not come to a 
close on this earth, but points forward, and dimly shows 
us, from a study of the past, what we may expect in the 
future. Without any doubt, it teaches us that man has 
been introduced on to the earth for some special purpose, 
and it appears that that purpose can only be attained hy the 
