PROOFS OF EVOLUTION. 
69 
XVII. 
CONCLUSION. 
The final question which demands our attention 
is, How does man stand to-day, affected by Evolu¬ 
tion ? By it we are chained to all the past; we 
are pledged to all the future. We are a part of 
Universal Life, of life supreme, of life eternal. 
We have always been coming; we will always be 
going. Our influence for good or ill will be ever¬ 
lasting. The difference between the atom and the 
All is one of degree, not of kind. We are kindred 
at once to the highest and to the lowest. 
The crown and jewel, the bloom and fruit of 
Evolution is moral grandeur — is conscience. Like 
mind, motive, reason, will and language, it was 
lowly born, and has risen from the manger of con¬ 
sciousness. It is the collected inheritance of the 
best tendencies of life. 
Evolution insists on the importance of this 
world, and yet from Love that stands waiting to 
clasp its idols in a future life, it takes no hope. 
Evolution is sweeping from the world a crude 
and cruel theology, giving forth a promise of 
