18 THE ORIGIN OF MAN 



Huxley calls it the " question of questions " for man- 

 kind. He says: "The problem which underlies all 

 others, and is more interesting than any other — is the 

 ascertainment of the place which man occupies in na- 

 ture and of his relation to the universe of things. 

 Whence our race has come, what are the limits of our 

 power over nature, and of nature*s power over us, to 

 what goal are we tending, are the problems which pre- 

 sent themselves anew with undiminished interest to 

 every man bom in the world." 



The materialists deny the existence of God and seek 

 to explain man's presence upon the earth without a 

 creative act. They go back from man to the animals, 

 and from one form of life to another until they come 

 to the first germ of life; there they divide into two 

 schools, some believing that the first germ of life came 

 from another planet, others holding that it was the 

 result of spontaneous generation. One school answers 

 the arguments advanced by the other and, as they can- 

 not agree with each other, I am not compelled to agree 

 with either. 



If it were necessary to accept one of these theories 

 I would prefer the first ; for, if we can chase the germ 

 of life off of this planet and out into space, we can 

 guess the rest of the way and no one can contradict 

 us. But, if we accept the doctrine of spontaneous gen- 

 eration we will have to spend our time explaining w^hy 

 spontaneous generation ceased to act after the first 

 germ of life was created. It is not necessary to pay 

 much attention to any theory that boldly eliminates 

 God; it does not deceive many. The mind revolts at 



