FROM THE EVOLUTION PHILOSOPHY. 9 



argued with equal force that no one could possibly master 

 that of which they were then ignorant ?" To the superficial 

 reasoner this will seem to be a very formidable objection ; 

 but a little reflection will show the argument to be utterly 

 fallacious. Note now the sophistry. Our imaginary 

 opponent having appealed to history in support of his 

 argument must of necessity grant us the same right in 

 fact, in a matter of this kind, where a priori reasoning fails 

 to carry conviction, no other appeal is possible. Well, 

 what are the facts ? Judged from one point of view, 

 science has made remarkable conquests in domains over 

 which ignorance once reigned in undisputed supremacy; 

 but, looked at from another aspect, with all our boasted 

 attainments, it is a solemn truth that we stand to-day 

 where the human race stood in its veriest infancy. Is 

 there any philosopher living, or has he ever lived, who 

 knows anything about the first cause or real substance of 

 things in any proper sense of knowing ? Can anybody 

 to-day solve the mysteries of life and the universe ? Has 

 any genius of any age at any time done more than 

 emphasize the fact that they are mysteries passing human 

 comprehension? Unquestionably not; and if the human 

 mind of the future is to have any fundamental points of 

 resemblance to that of the present and the past, there can 

 be no possibility of bringing within the domains of know- 

 ledge what is here designated as belonging to the sphere of 

 the unknowable. Of course, as in the past so in the future, 

 our fund of knowledge must grow with ever increasing 

 rapidity. Progress great progress there has been and 

 ever will be ; but it is, and of necessity must be, progress 

 only along the line of the knowable. It cannot possibly 

 be otherwise. To say that the mind which, by its very 

 constitution, by the very nature of its knowing powers, can 



