370 The Efferfs of Evolution 



cries. Let us note a few of them, chiefly for tlie imme- 

 diate piirpose of noting how little agreement there is as to 

 the nature of the " rromised Land" that is sought. Of 

 course no agreement can be expected on the part of a prioi-i 

 theorizers. And where there is no agreement, of course 

 there can be no common effort towards a single end ; so en- 

 tliusiasm and effort are wasted. It ought to teach us some- 

 thing then to note the confusion of the disagreement. If 

 only an end and a method could be settled on, so that there 

 might be " a long \m\\, a strong pull, and a pull all together," 

 — in that case something might be hoped for. 



In the religious world there is hardly any recognition of 

 Evolution as "having anything to do with the problem. The 

 churches have got only to the point of reluctantly confess- 

 ing that ]wssibly it may have to be accepted as true. But, 

 instead of putting its truth to any practical use, they are 

 chiefly engaged in plans for making it possible for Spencer 

 and Darwin to keep house with Moses, provided the neces- 

 sity is made to appear. They are all agreed in looking for 

 the coming of the "kingdom of heaven"; but, though 

 they have an "infallible" authority on the subject, they 

 are as hopelessly "at sea" as is all the rest of the world. 

 They agree neither as to time nor end nor method. The 

 Pope "knows" that the only hope for man is in his own 

 supremacy. All the social evils of the age are the direct 

 results of wicked revolt against his authority. On the 

 otlier hand, the Protestants attribute most of the evils of 

 the past to this same Pope, and are in a state of intermit- 

 tent panic lest his old-time power be regained. Little can 

 at present be expected in this direction then, except that 

 both llomanist and Protestant will keep on preaching a 

 theory of man, his origin, nature, condition and destiny, 

 that science has thoroughly exploded. Until facts are 

 accepted and realities dealt Avith no results can be ration- 

 ally even sought after. 



One of the most striking and interesting dreamers on 

 the religious side is Count Tolstoi. I'he old and common 

 claim is that Jesus is the one who has "brought life and 

 immortality to light"; and so the Christian ideal has been 

 generally located in the other world. But, most curiously, 

 while Tolstoi claims to be the one true interpreter of Jesus 

 in the modern world, if he does not deny he at least ignores 

 the future life, and proposes to seek his kingdom of heaven 



