APPENDIX 293 



out that good and evil, so far as the abstract idea, from an 

 evolutionary standpoint, is concerned, is only a matter of com- 

 parison of temporary efficiency ; just because in a few cases 

 revolution may produce a higher form of government than the 

 one that preceded it. Whether revolution produces a better 

 or a worse form of government is entirely dependant upon the 

 fact of whether those who promote it are actuated by a love of 

 order or aim at injustice or riot; not by any actual property 

 or abstract quality of revolution as a motive force. So likewise 

 with religion, the result attained, so far as evolutionary pro- 

 gress is concerned, is in no way concerned with the truth or 

 fallacy of its teaching, which fact depends mainly upon the 

 amount of divine knowledge of revelation and inspiration which 

 the philosophy of the age may have imparted to its teachers, 

 whereas the amount of good or evil it produces will depend 

 wholly upon the suitability of its teaching to the requirements 

 necessary for the next evolution of government, which is the 

 concurrent constructive force of evolution, so long as it is a 

 strong enough government to enforce its people to work hard, 

 in love and unity, under conditions of order and wisdom. 



On the other hand, should the teaching of religion be in 

 arrears instead of in advance of the science and philosophy of 

 the age or community, then instead of being a constructive force 

 it becomes a destructive one; more inclined to create disobe- 

 dience, discontent, disorder and rebellion with the conditions 

 and duties and obligations of society than to forward the 

 advance of society, utility, content that make up the advance- 

 ment of civilisation and scientific philosophy. For Civilisation 

 and Science constitute the third and fourth progressive evolu- 

 tions on either side of the reconstructive force of religion. 



The duty of religion in evolution is to destroy the beliefs 

 suited to past forms of social government so as to produce a 

 more advanced form of state government. You will now per- 

 haps be able to comprehend why I am correct in classing 

 religion not as a force of construction or progress, but as one 

 of disintegration and reconstruction. We have only to closely 

 follow the course of history to realise that religion is a science 

 of error and reformation, not one of stability and certainty, 

 as are mathematics and philosophy. And we have only to 

 look at the last 2,000 years of religious evolution to realise 

 that its progress in morality and knowledge has been pur- 



