THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM 25 



animal. The law of evolution is respected as a law. What- 

 ever could be evolved was evolved. Most theologians 

 to-day take that as "a law of the Divine action." For all 

 the other species of animals and the plants evolution is 

 generally accepted. The palm or the elephant is immea- 

 surably removed from the microbe, but we know they were 

 evolved, ultimately, from microbes. Then we take the 

 atmosphere and the solid globe, the glowing sun and its 

 circling planets, and find that all were evolved out of pre- 

 existing elements in nature. The astronomer tells us that, 

 when he sweeps the heavens for a thousand billion miles, 

 he finds the same law of evolution everywhere. Now the 

 physicist tells us we have every reason to believe that the 

 elements themselves are a product of evolution. We are 

 rapidly tracing the whole complexity of the universe down 

 to a simple form of matter and a simple form of energy. 



Sir Oliver Lodge wants us to admit one exception to this 

 law of evolution, based on this enormous experience of 

 facts. He holds that the principle of life was not evolved ; 

 that its first appearance on our planet was due to an invasion 

 from without, just as the Chinaman says of the art of agri- 

 culture or of architecture. Certainly, everything cannot 

 have been evolved. At the base of the scheme there must 

 be an agency, or some agencies, that are simple and eternal. 

 It is a fair speculation whether life is one of these. But we 

 must remember that it is reasoning that compels us to say 

 there are ultimate elements which were not evolved. When 

 any particular phenomenon is put before us as such we do 

 not at present claim the distinction for ether or electricity, 



