The Destiny of Man. 75 



life have been gradually evolved by natural 

 selection. But we have already seen how 

 in many respects the evolution of Man was 

 the opening of an entirely new chapter in 

 the history of the universe. In no respect 

 was it more so than in the genesis of the 

 altruistic emotions. For when natural se- 

 lection, through the lengthening of child- 

 hood, had secured a determinate develop- 

 ment for this class of human feelings, it 

 had at last originated a power which could 

 thrive only through the elimination of 

 strife. And the later history of mankind, 

 during the past thirty centuries, has been 

 characterized by the gradual eliminating 

 of strife, though the process has gone on 

 with the extreme slowness that marks all 

 the work of evolution. It is only at the 

 present day that, by surveying human his- 

 tory from the widest possible outlook, and 

 with the aid of the habits of thought which 

 the study of evolution fosters, we are en- 

 abled distinctly to observe this tendency. 

 As this is the most wonderful of all the 



