112 The Destiny of Man. 



lief that the soul's career is not completed 

 with the present life upon the earth. Diffi- 

 culties on theory he will naturally expect 

 to meet in many quarters ; but these will 

 not weaken his faith, especially when he 

 remembers that upon the alternative view 

 the difficulties are at least as great. We 

 live in a world of mystery, at all events, 

 and there is not a problem in the simplest 

 and most exact departments of science 

 which does not speedily lead us to a tran- 

 scendental problem that we can neither 

 solve nor elude. A broad common-sense 

 argument has often to be called in, where 

 keen-edged metaphysical analysis has con- 

 fessed itself baffled. 



Now we have here seen that the doc- 

 trine of evolution does not allow us to take 

 the atheistic view of the position of Man. 

 It is true that modern astronomy shows us 

 giant balls of vapour condensing into fiery 

 suns, cooling down into planets fit for the 

 support of life, and at last growing cold 

 and rigid in death, like the moon. And 



