2 THE MEANING OF EVOLUTION 



the over-abundance of our own blessings with our 

 brothers on the other side of the sea, from whom in 

 turn we receive of their overplus. Beyond this teem- 

 ing river lies a level stretch of fertile land and then 

 the mighty ocean. On one side of the scene runs a 

 busy highway. Along this men pass and repass, some 

 on foot, others drawn by their patient and submissive 

 horses. Still others are carried by the new-found 

 power of the sunshine imprisoned beneath the rocks 

 in the oil that has been forming ever since the sun 

 shone down upon the great forests of the far dis- 

 tant past. 



In a pathway to one side, some children are play- 

 ing. One of them has laid upon the ground a rec- 

 tangle of stones divided into four and her little mind 

 sees before her the house which is teaching her to get 

 ready for the work that shall come to her in later 

 life. Meanwhile her short-haired companion is- pranc- 

 ing around astride a stick ; he too, little as he suspects 

 it, is getting ready for life. 



It needs little reflection to realize that the scene has 

 not always been what it is. The underlying ground 

 has surely been there longest, its age vying only with 

 that of the bounding ocean that beats upon the shore 

 and works the sand into fantastic stretches. The 

 forest has been there long and so has the stream; 

 the road perhaps ranks next in age; then come the 



