124 THE SPEECH OF MONKEYS. 



shown that apes descended from man, it does not 

 leave upon man the censure for this degeneracy. 

 If man has risen from the low plane of brute- 

 hood which the ape now occupies, has scaled the 

 barriers which now separate him from apes, and 

 has climbed to the divine heights of mental and 

 moral manhood, the ape deserves no praise for 

 this. On the other hand, if apes have fallen 

 from the state of man, have strayed so far from 

 the gates' of light, and are now wandering in the 

 twilight of intellect and degradation, it is no re- 

 proach to man ; and while I shall not sit in judg- 

 ment in the cause nor testify on either side, I 

 am willing to accept whatever verdict may be 

 founded on the real facts, and I shall not appeal 

 therefrom. But I shall not allow my prejudice 

 to conceal the truth when shown to me ; truth is 

 always acceptable to my mind, and, stripped of 

 all sophistry and oblique conditions, it would 

 appear the same to every mind. 



That evolution is the mode by which the world 

 was peopled, there is little doubt; but there are 

 many details yet unsettled as to the manner in 

 which this was effected. I cannot regard the 

 matter as proven beyond appeal that man has 

 come from any antecedent type that was not 



