36 THE THRESHOLD OF EVOLUTION 



life are subject to the same laws of evolution as plants and 

 animals, but I have left that for a future revised and enlarged 

 edition, wishing to take the reader rapidly through the course 

 of Evolution, in order that he may not lose the logical sequence 

 of my hypothesis and of Evolution ; therefore, suffice it to say 

 that it was man's fierce struggle with the beasts of this period 

 that made him ultimately become their superior, just in the 

 same way as sickness (not disease) makes a delicate child the 

 strongest of men, and sin (not vice) is the one thing that makes 

 the most perfect virtue attainable, by bringing out man's good 

 qualities, which he would never learn to use if it were not for 

 his realising the faults and failures of his youth, and so learn- 

 ing to perfect the wisdom of his old age with experience, judg- 

 ment and confidence. 



Thus the animals of the mammoth creation, whom God 

 created on the most magnificent lines, the biblical angels, who 

 were vastly man's superiors in size, speed of motion, etc., as 

 for instance, the winged reptiles, which surpassed all subse- 

 quent creations for speed, symmetry, etc., and many of them 

 appeared to be built on such perfect lines of strength and dura- 

 bility that it appeared most wonderful that they did not last 

 for ever, so far superior were they to subsequent creations oi 

 smaller mammals such as opossums and lemurs that developed 

 mankind. Now we find that in the biblical account of this 

 creation subsequent generations have misconstrued this physi- 

 cal superiority into a mental one and have turned this, the 

 Age of Angels, into a creation of beings who were man's 

 mental superiors, whereas in reality they were only their 

 physical superiors. This is not an unnatural error for them 

 to have committed when we remember that most of our religious 

 beliefs are based upon superstitious fear and dread, purposely 

 exaggerated, which are only written accounts of previous 

 legendary traditions dear to the mass of mankind, and which 

 formed, as it were, foundation stones for early forms of reli- 

 gious government by converting his fear of the supernatural 

 into edifices of more advanced construction that would facili- 

 tate and enable them the better to control and advance the 

 government of the masses of the day if clothed in the attractive 

 garb of religion, of fairy tales and fables, sweetened with the 

 .sugar of superstitious beliefs. 



Yet this seemingly eternal creation of animal life was 



