64 BIOLOGICAL LECTURES. 



of the past must help to a knowledge of the future, and if he 

 can properly interpret the past of mankind he will the better 

 know what to anticipate for them and himself. So long as 

 creation was supposed to be by fiat and the universe to have 

 sprung into existence just as Minerva was said to have sprung 

 from the brain of Jupiter, there was no trouble. Everything 

 was satisfactorily explained by saying God did it. The ques- 

 tion how did not concern any one, for miracle was the method 

 of deity, and needed no antecedent but the will of the deity. 

 All effort was given to establishing the authenticity of the 

 biblical record. It was held to be such an important matter 

 that no one was allowed to question it, or assume even for an 

 instant that it was not the exact truth. The importance of a 

 knowledge of the past history of mankind is as great as ever ; 

 its interest has not abated but increased. The origin and 

 destiny of mankind are still the primal questions, and all knowl- 

 edge in any department of human effort has its main reason 

 for the light it may throw on these. 



In this, as in most other works, there are two ways which 

 men have adopted to satisfy their philosophical wants. One 

 is to assume what is thought to be an adequate fundamental 

 cause or principle, a mode of operation, and a certain logical 

 process also believed to be reliable, and with these to construct by 

 a deductive process the observed phenomena. For instance, to 

 account for, say, the Solar system as it appears to-day. Such 

 a philosopher would assume first, the existence of a deity with 

 the attributes of omniscience, omnipotence and will, existing 

 and related to time and space as we are. Secondly, he assumes 

 that the mode of operation was radically different from any he 

 knows of or can imagine, namely, the creation of both matter 

 with all its qualities and also energy as we know it, for we 

 know of energy only as existing in something already formed. 

 And thirdly, he assumes with these that he may trust his logi- 

 cal process and reach the conclusion that the existence of the 

 Solar system and everything happening in it is properly ex- 

 plained by assumptions, neither of which are in accordance 

 with human experience. For first, has not the proof, absolute 

 proof, of the existence of God been the attempt and the despair 



