THE ASCENT OF THE BODY. 75 



ing laboratory. Observe the variety and intricacy of 

 its metamorphoses, the exquisite gradation of its as- 

 cent, the unerring aim with which the one type un- 

 folds — never pausing, never uncertain of its direction, 

 refusing arrest at intermediate forms, passing on to 

 its flawless maturity without waste or effort or 

 fatigue. See the sense of motion at every turn, of 

 purpose and of aspiration. Discover how, with iden- 

 tity of process and loyalty to the type, a hair-breadth 

 of deviation is yet secured to each so that no two 

 forms come out the same, but each arises an original 

 creation, with features, characteristics, and individual- 

 ities of its own. Remember, finally, that even to 

 make the first cell possible, stellar space required to 

 be swept of matter, suns must needs be broken up, 

 and planets cool, the agents of geology labor millen- 

 nium after millennium at the unfinished earth to pre- 

 pare a material resting-place for the coming guest. 

 Consider all this, and judge if Creation could have a 

 sublimer meaning, or the Human Race possess a more 

 splendid genesis. 



From the lips of the Prophet another version, an 

 old and beautiful story, was told to the childhood of 

 the earth, of how God made Man ; how with His own 

 hands He gathered the Bactrian dust, modelled it, 

 breathed upon it, and it became a living soul. Later, 

 the insight of the Hebrew Poet taught Man a deeper 

 lesson. He saw that there was more in Creation than 

 mechanical production. He saw that the Creator had 

 different kinds of Hands and different ways of model- 

 ling. How it was done he knew not, but it was not 

 the surface thing his forefathers taught him. The 

 higher divinity and mystery of the process broke upon 



