THE LONG ROAD 



things under his feet, — man the wonder-worker, 

 the beholder of the stars, the critic and spectator of 

 creation itself, the thinker of the thoughts of God, 

 the worshiper, the devotee, the hero, spreading 

 rapidly over the earth, and developing with pro- 

 digious strides when once fairly launched upon his 

 career. Can it be possible, we ask, that this god was 

 fathered by the low bestial orders below him, — in- 

 stinct giving birth to reason, animal ferocity devel- 

 oping into human benevolence, the slums of nature 

 sending forth the ruler of the earth. It is a hard 

 proposition, I say, undoubtedly the hardest that 

 science has ever confronted us with. 



Haeckel, discussing this subject, suggests that it is 

 the parvenu in us that is reluctant to own our lowly 

 progenitors, the pride of family and position, like 

 that of would-be aristocratic sons who conceal the 

 humble origin of their parents. But it is more than 

 that; it is the old difficulty of walking by faith where 

 there is nothing visible to walk upon: we lack faith 

 in the efficiency of the biologic laws, or any mun- 

 dane forces, to bridge the tremendous chasm that 

 separates man from even the highest of the lower 

 orders. His radical unlikeness to all the forms below 

 him, as if he moved in a world apart, into which 

 they could never enter, as in a sense he does, is 

 where the difficulty lies. Moreover, evolution balks 

 us because of the inconceivable stretch of time dur- 

 ing which it has been at work. It is as impossible for 



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