512 THE CONQUESTS OF MAN. 



his brain ; he plucked shells, and flowers, and the 

 bright red berries, and twined them in his hair; he 

 cut the pebble to a sparkling gem ; he made the dull 

 clay a transparent stone. The river which once he 

 had worshipped as a god, or which he had vainly 

 attacked with sword and spear, he now conquered to 

 his will. He made the winds grind his corn and 

 carry him across the waters ; he made the stars serve 

 him as a guide. He obtained from salt and wood 

 and sulphur a destroying force. He drew from fire, 

 and water, the awful power which produces the vol- 

 cano, and made it do the work of human hands. He 

 made the sun paint his portraits, and gave the light- 

 ning a situation in the post-office. 



Thus Man has taken into his service, and modified 

 to his use, the animals, the plants, the earths and the 

 stones, the waters and the winds, and the more com- 

 plex forces of heat, electricity, sunlight, magnetism, 

 with chemical powers of many kinds. By means of his 

 inventions and discoveries, by means of the arts and 

 trades, and by means of the industry resulting from them, 

 he has raised himself from the condition of a serf to the 

 condition of a lord. His triumph, indeed, is incomplete ; 

 his kingdom is not yet come. The Prince of Darkness is 

 still triumphant in many regions of the world ; epidemics 

 still rage, death is yet victorious. But the God of light, 

 the Spirit of Knowledge, the Divine Intellect is gradu- 

 ally spreading over the planet and upwards to the skies. 

 The beautiful legend will yet come true ; Ormuzd will 

 vanquish Ahriman ; Satan will be overcome ; Virtue 

 will descend from heaven, surrounded by her angels, 

 and reign over the hearts of men. Earth, which is 

 now a purgatory, will be made a paradise, not by idle 

 prayers and supplications, but by the efforts of man 



