136 UNIVERSAL EVOLUTION 



often become insane upon this proposition. Nations 

 and civilizations have failed because their measures 

 have departed from the natural, and physical welfare 

 of man, and society, into the realm of fantasy and 

 imagination. The French kings, who, by their acts, 

 brought on the French Revolution ; and George III, who 

 lost to England her most valuable colonial possession 

 in America, are vivid examples of brains, that ignored 

 the law of natural cause and effect. It is so, with every 

 individual, who ignores the physiology of his body by 

 living intemperately, or who does any act, inimical to 

 his health, or morals. There are certain channels, in 

 which reason must operate, if it is to be effective. Dis- 

 aster comes sooner or later, if it neglect these for 

 others, not regulated by the law of fitness, viz., the sur- 

 vival of the fittest. Said James A. Froude, in his 

 lecture on "Science of History," "Men have gone on, 

 for centuries, trying to regulate trade on moral prin- 

 ciples. They would fix wages according to some imag- 

 inary rule of fairness; they would fix prices, by what 

 they consider things ought to cost ; they encouraged 

 one trade, or discouraged another for moral reasons. 

 They might as well have tried to work a steam-engine 

 on moral reasons. The great statesmen, whose names 

 are connected with these enterprises, might have as 

 well legislated that water should run up hill." 



The reason of man is like the government stamp on 

 the gold coin. It is very limited in its scope. It guar- 

 antees the purity and weight according to a law arbi- 

 trarily adopted by the Government itself. That is, 

 according to the reasoning of man. It does not and 

 cannot guarantee the fixity of its exchangeable value 

 for the products of the world. The natural law of 

 supply and demand, and all economical laws, are made 



