THE SPEECH OF MONKEYS. 167 



guides the nautilus. These are but two names 

 for light; the one is dawn, the other noon, but 

 both are light. I cannot see in what respect the 

 light of a lamp differs from that of a bonfire 

 except in volume ; they are the products of the 

 same forces in nature, acting through the same 

 media, and, becoming causes, produce the same 

 effects. That psychic spark which dimly glows 

 in the animal bursts into a blaze of effulgence in 

 man. The one differs from the other just as a 

 single ray of sunlight differs from the glaring 

 light of noon. If man could disabuse his mind 

 of that contempt for things below his plane of 

 life and hush the siren voice of self-conceit, his 

 better senses might be touched by the eloquence 

 of truth. But while the vassals of his empty 

 pride control his mind, the plainest facts appeal 

 to him in vain and all the cogency of proof is lost. 

 He is unwilling to forego that vain belief that 

 he is nature's idol and that he is a duplicate of 

 Deity. Held in check by the strong reins of 

 theology and tradition, he has not dared to con- 

 trovert those dogmas which bear the stamp of 

 error on their face ; he dares not turn away from 

 the idols of his own conceit and read the rubrics 

 written in the fossil rocks; he dares not take 



