284 From Matter to Man. 



the sport of nature and her laws ; and that he has no 

 control over his birth, and as little, through natural 

 causes, over his death. What else, then, can we rank 

 him but as a parasite of the earth, a growth from the 

 soil, the spawn of sun and rain and material energy ; 

 a maggot of planetary cheese, begotten of earthly 

 substances, nourished on earthly products, and dissi- 

 pating into earthly elements. What man is to-day 

 was but earth, and air, and sky yesterday ; and 

 what he shall be to-morrow, earth, and air, and sky 

 shall again proclaim, for " dust unto dust " is the 

 eternal refrain. The world to-day is fragrant with 

 life, but it is born of the corruption of a former 

 existence. We live, yet every step is on another's 

 grave, for we dwell amidst the ruins of a universal 

 and unending holocaust. Thus, each man born is 

 but a living wave of matter curving over the ocean 

 of being, to sink again into the unseen trough of the 

 next, while the calm of obscurity settles over all in 

 this Universe of Oblivion. 



To turn to man's nobler aspect, we must acknow- 

 ledge that the more cultured human beings un- 

 doubtedly tower above all known created things. 

 True it is we are only material, but so is every 

 phenomenon. True, also, we are evolved by causes 

 beyond human control, yet within certain limits we 

 can bend these to our will, and make them minister 

 to our service. Our power physically and individu- 

 ally is little, but by our collective power valleys are 



