256 UNIVERSAL EVOLUTION 



the middle, or dark ages, war, not industry, was the 

 means of accumulation, and industry was the pursuit of 

 slaves alone. Not until labor became free, and respect- 

 able, and other education, than mysticism, was intro- 

 duced, did society begin to evolve along the line of better 

 civilization. It was the working of the principle of natu- 

 ral selection that determined the best method of advance- 

 ment. The best method survived, and the unfit died. 

 Along with economic freedom comes what is called 

 spiritual freedom, or intellectual freedom to think as one 

 pleases upon all subjects. So that freedom being once 

 established in any one of the organic functions, by the 

 principle of equilibration, all other functions eventually 

 become free. 



Now, the monastic, and ascetic ideals of the middle 

 ages were utterly incompatible with a free industrial 

 and commercial spirit. So that it was no accident that 

 the reformation of Luther, as well as political freedom, 

 made most progress in the free towns of feudal Europe 

 at that time. It was the natural evolution from the 

 old order, co-existent with that of free industrialism. 



It thus results from the logic of facts, as stated, that 

 while emancipation from superstition is not the first 

 impelling cause of civilization, yet, that industrial, and 

 political freedom, and naturalism, as opposed to 

 slavery, war, and authority, go, hand hi hand, in the 

 progress toward a higher civilization ; and that our own 

 country, as representing, perhaps, the highest example 

 the world has yet produced, is at the same time the 

 freest from the old superstitions, and the farthest on 

 the road toward the freest naturalism. This proves 

 that not only is mysticism and authority not essential 

 to a desirable civilization, but that a really desirable 

 civilization cannot be evolved without at the same time 

 slowly eliminating false ideas from the human mind. 



