200 THE THRESHOLD OF EVOLUTION 



correctness or incorrectness of, the use or abuse, of the divine 

 enlightenment of the wisdom of the few really wise men who 

 rule and control them to whom the Almighty has made known 

 or partially known the mysteries of revelation, and to whom 

 he has confided their interpretation, and who are at the time 

 either .correctly or incorrectly expounding them. Thus it 

 often appears to the superficial observer or student of history, 

 whose mind is only capable of seeing one side of 

 the question, and whose less inquisitive nature fails to read 

 between the lines of past events owing to the lack of sufficient 

 practical knowledge of nature and humanity (for the student 

 of science leads a life that often little fits him to be an exact 

 or observant student of human nature, and is inclined to get 

 into one fixed groove of thought or experiment, both of which 

 are inclined to destroy his quickness of comprehension, judg- 

 ment and decision that are necessary to produce a mind of 

 logic and truth, or that quality of altering and adapting one's 

 opinions to altered circumstances that is only acquired by 

 varied experience and close observation of the minute details 

 that can be learnt only by living in close contact with the laws 

 of nature not only in life but also in youth) or which the per- 

 sonal bias of the author hides from his view. Hence religions 

 are in reality, like all other forms of mental and human evolu- 

 tion, prone to err in detail if not in principle. 



In all historical accounts there is written between the 

 lines, so that he who has sufficient power of interpretation 

 may be able to read the hidden meaning they contain, provided 

 he has an impartial and unbiassed mind. So between the 

 life and death of religions and governments lies a bitter 

 struggle and strife between religions, science and govern- 

 ments for the powers of wealth, influence and social aggrandise- 

 ment, at which shrine wisdom and truth are offered as sacri- 

 fices, and this is the warfare that has caused most of the 

 persecutions, both of and by religion in the past, for religion 

 has been throughout all ages not only the most bitterly 

 persecuted but also the most bitter persecutor of the lot. And 

 such so-called leligious persecutions are only sign-posts 

 along the roadway of history, pointing out that at that parti- 

 cular date priest and king were waging a bitter war for the 

 possession of power, might and wealth, and as to 

 which of the two should have the right to rule mankind. 



