176 THE ASCENT OF MAN 



tralize the other facts. Evolution is constantly con- 

 fronted with statements as to the former glory of 

 now decadent nations, as if that were an argu- 

 ment against the theory. Granting that nations 

 have degenerated, it still remains to account for 

 that from which they degenerated. That Egypt has 

 fallen from a great height is certain ; but the real 

 problem is how it got to that height. When a 

 boy's kite descends in our garden, we do not 

 assume that it came from the clouds. That it 

 went up before it came down is obvious, from all 

 that we know of kite-making. And that nations 

 went up before they came down is obvious from 

 all that we know of nation-making. The gravita- 

 tion, moreover, which brings down nations is just 

 as real as the gravitation which brings down kites ; 

 and instead of a falling nation being a stumbling 

 block to Evolution, it is a necessity of the theory. 

 The degeneration and extinction of the unfit are 

 as infallibly brought about by natural laws as the 

 survival of the fit. Evolution is by no means 

 synonymous with uninterrupted progress, but at 

 every turn means relapse, extinction, and decay. 



It is pretty clear that, applying the old Argu- 

 ment from Design to the case of the most ancient 

 human relics, Man began the Ascent of Civilization 

 at zero, There h^s been a time in th^ history of 



