34 EVOLUTION. 



3. The existing orders of life are proved by fos- 

 sils in the rocks to have developed progressively in 

 time, the lowest forms being of the earliest date, the 

 highest forms belonging to the latest period. 



That is to say : i. Animals and plants appear as 

 they would have done if one race sprang from 

 another. 2. Each being does spring from forms 

 common to the races below it. 3. Life has appeared 

 on the earth in the order that it would have done if 

 each higher race had developed from a lower one. 



If Evolution appears to have been the order of 

 nature, does not reason compel us to believe that 

 such has been its method ? 



Mans Animal Origin, 



Some object to the animal origin of man as a 

 matter of taste. It offends their sensibilities. But 

 taste should not be an arbiter in the judgment of 

 truth. Nor should this view be deemed offensive. 

 It is nobler to ascend than to descend, and one should 

 prefer to be an improved animal rather than a 

 degraded angel. Civilized nations are the descend- 

 ants of barbarians, as is proved by customs, belief, 

 language, etc. Darwin says : "He who has seen a 

 savage in his native land will not feel much shame 

 if forced to acknowledge that the blood of some more 

 humble creature flows in his veins. For my own 

 part I would as soon be descended from that heroic 

 little monkey, who braved his dreaded enemy in 



