vi INTRODUCTION 



to science, show the riches of order and potency revealed 

 in them by their many and varied evolutions, and then 

 it will not be difficult to see and conclude that if these 

 be evolved from simpler primals, these primals have been 

 made, and so have, being primal, been created. 



The subject therefore we propose to discuss in the 

 following lectures is Material Elements, Evolution, and 

 Creation. 



Material elements consist of the atoms and molecules of 

 ordinary matter, and an ether, that fills all known space, 

 and is the medium by which light and heat motions and 

 electrical states are conveyed from place to place, from 

 sphere to sphere. 



The term evolution is appropriate in every field of 

 science. Chemical compounds, as water, salt, sugar, are 

 evolutions by combination from simpler atoms. Light 

 and heat, life and complex organisations, are evolutions. 

 Darwin's great theory has by some been presented as if 

 it gave a sufficient account of all forms and complexities 

 of being and of the manner of their becoming. Step by 

 step during the ages of ages the elements have of them- 

 selves built up the universe. Gradually and slowly they 

 have marched onward and upward, taking ages for single 

 steps, until they have reached heights of sublimity and 

 heavens of order, and crowned their work in natures 

 capable of investigating it with eyes of intelligence, and 

 of ascribing to it glory in the highest. 



The most effective way of meeting this contention, 

 which has troubled many minds, is to study the elements 

 as they are revealed in their various evolutions, and to 

 show that their operations are everywhere guided by 

 mind, and that they are so richly and exquisitely endowed 

 and ordered, that their existence must be due to a great 

 understanding. 



