272 From Matter to Man. 



All intelligence whether organic or inorganic thus 

 resolves itself into the universal reciprocal motions or 

 touches of matter constantly occurring between all 

 sorts of material. These range from the simple 

 attractions and repulsions of a single element, as iron 

 in an iron magnet, to the thousands of instantaneous 

 vibrations transmitted to man through his sensory 

 organs. These vibrations in turn are instantaneously 

 and automatically reacted upon through his cerebral 

 switch by his nervous and muscular systems, accord- 

 ing to the perfection of his bodily machine and as his 

 mental and motor mechanisms have been educated. 

 Instead of intelligence thus being a wonder, either in 

 origin or operation, it is a mere commonplace in the 

 evolutions of matter ; and yet until the electric tele- 

 graph was discovered it was bound to remain a 

 mystery, and all philosophy but vanity. In other 

 words, a philosophy suitable for to-day was only 

 possible to-day, through the knowledge of to-day. 



Finally, despite man's lowly origin, we have the 

 satisfaction of knowing that intelligence in its highest 

 form, as in the intellect of the most cultured 

 man, is a torch of light which relieves the dull 

 materiality of being, illuminates that which would 

 otherwise be gross darkness, and opens up to the ken 

 of nature through her self-made eyes in her own 

 chosen sons, the source of life, the secret of being, 

 and the mystery of the Universe. 



To concede somewhat to man's present ideals of 

 intelligence and of a Deity, the loftiest conception of 



