"THE LOGIC OF EVOLUTION 77 



and religion except of persons, possessing a certain amount of 

 freedom of choice and hence of responsibihty, feeling within 

 themselves the categorical imperative of duty, and responding 

 to a " power, not ourselves, which makes for righteousness." 

 Could man have ever discovered morals and religion, if he had 

 not already felt within himself the stirrings of personality how- 

 ever dimly recognized? The present high-water mark of 

 evolution is a very incomplete personality with its immeas- 

 urable possibilities and promises. 



The stages in human evolution are well marked and distinct. 

 The first is the protozoan stage of single cells or colonies with 

 no tissues or organs. Second is the almost vegetative stage 

 when digestion and reproduction are the dominant functions. 

 The third is the muscular or locomotive stage when strength, 

 swiftness and agility, keen sense-organs and weapons of of- 

 fence and defence seem to be the goal of evolution. Fourth 

 comes the dominance of keenness of perception and the rise 

 of inteUigence. This, however, ought properly to be considered 

 as a transition between the dominance of brute force and weap- 

 ons and the complete rule of mind expressed in person- 

 ality. 



Every stage ushers in something new and unexpected. 

 Jelly-fish, reptile or bird, and man live very different lives, 

 every one in a world of its own. Is it any exaggeration to 

 speak of " creative evolution "? Yet the new stage was 

 somehow and somewhere, concealed in the old; was prophesied 

 or foreshadowed by it, is in a sense its only logical outcome. 

 It is just what we ought to have foreseen and expected. 



The stages of digestion, of locomotion and of personality 

 may be compared to three great dynasties in the history of 

 the animal kingdom. Every function or power holds the throne 

 as long as it is capable of improvement more rapid and 

 profitable than that of any other system. A digestive sys- 

 tem always remains comparatively simple; a sack or tube 

 with a certain number of glands is all that is needed. Its use 

 is limited, its possibilities are soon exhausted. 



Muscle and skeleton are far more complex, capable of great 



