16 EVOLUTION AND DOGMA. 



of the speculations regarding the origin and consti- 

 tution of the visible universe. And despite the 

 great advances which have been made in our knowl- 

 edge of nature and of the laws which govern the 

 organic and inorganic worlds, many of the questions 

 which so agitated the minds of the philosophers of 

 the olden time, are still as far from solution as they 

 were when first proposed. New facts and new dis- 

 coveries have placed the old problems in a new light, 

 but have diminished none of their difficulties. On 

 the contrary, the brilliant search-light of modern sci- 

 ence has disclosed new difficulties which were before 

 invisible, and proved that those which were consid- 

 ered before are in many respects far graver than was 

 formerly imagined. With the advance of science, 

 and the progress of discovery, many problems, it is 

 true, find their solution, but others, hydra-like, arise 

 in their place and obtrude themselves on the scien- 

 tist and philosopher, and will not down until they 

 have received due recognition. 



Comprehensiveness of Evolution. 



To answer some, if not all, of the questions just 

 alluded to ; to explain the phenomena of the cosmos ; 

 to solve the problems of life and mind, and throw 

 light on the beginning and development of things, 

 recourse is now had to a system of philosophy and 

 science which, within the last few decades, has at- 

 tained a special vogue under the name of Evolution- 

 ism, or, as its adepts prefer to call it, Evolution. 

 Evolution, we are assured, is the magic word which 

 explains all difficulties ; the " open sesame " which ad- 



