156 THE WHENCE AND THE WHITHER OF MAN 



suffer from its competition were its own brethren. 

 Death, rarely commuted into life imprisonment, is the 

 verdict pronounced on all forms which will not ad- 

 vance. And does not the same law of advance or ex- 

 tinction apply to man ? What is the record of succes- 

 sive civilizations but its verification ? 



Notice once more that as we ascend in the scale of 

 development natural selection selects more unspar- 

 ingly and the path to life narrows. It is a very easy 

 matter for the lowest forms to get food. Indeed the 

 plant sits still and its food comes to it. And the battle 

 of brute force can be fought in a multitude of ways — 

 by mere strength, by activity, by offensive or defensive 

 armor, or even by running into the mud and skulking. 

 It is harder to gain knowledge, and yet many roads 

 lead to an education. Colleges are by no means the 

 only seats of education. And many totally uneducated 

 men have college diplomas. And life is, after all, the 

 great university, and here the sluggard fails and the 

 plucky man with the poor " fit " often carries off the 

 honors. 



"But where shall wisdom be found? 

 And where is the place of understanding ? 

 The gold and the ciystal cannot equal it : 

 And the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. 

 No mention shall be made of corals or of pearls : 

 For the price of wisdom is above rubies." 



And when it comes to righteousness there is only 

 one right, and everything else is wrong. " Wide is the 

 gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, 

 and many there be that go in thereat : Because strait 

 is the gate and naiTOw is the way which leadeth unto 



