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THE BEGINNING AND THE END OF MAN.
THrE origin of man and his destiny is constantly agitating the brain of mortals, and to many this enquiry is
simply nonsense. The child cares nothing for his great
grandfather's ancestry, and whether the race dates back
fifty or two thousand years it matters not to him, since
his amlnsements are not disturbed. The cow eats grass
tand chews her cud, unmindful of the past and indifferent
albout the future. Plenty to eat and drink, and plenty
of sleep, is the sum of its requirements, and the apparent
completion of her happiness. Montaigne says of Pyrrho,
the philosopher, that being one day in a boat, in a very
great tempest, he showed to those he saw the most
affrighted about him and encouraged them by the example of a hog that was there, nothing at all concerned at
the storm. Shall we, then, dare to say that this advantage of reason, of which we so much boast, and upon the
account. of which we think ourselves masters and emperors over all other creatures, was given us for a torment?
To what end serves the knowledge of things if it renders us more unmanly; if with it we lose the tranquility
and repose we should enjoy without it, and if it puts us
into a worse condition than Pyrrho's hog?  And yet,
with all the contentment and undisturbed happiness of
this dirty creature, who of us would care to be a hog or
a cow, instead of men and women endowed with reason




and a full-grown intellect?  If "ignorance is bliss," and
it is "folly to be wise," mind is a burden and reason a
false creation; but as God, or the universe, makes no
mistakes, the child is ever puzzling the parent with questions, and is satisfied simply until a new one suggests
itself. Nor do these inquiries cease at manhood or womanhood. The happiness of the cow or pig must be very
moderate, confined to one faculty, while with man, just
ill proportion to the development of his intellect his faculties increase, his happiness becomes more intense and
his miseries in the same ratio. -" The kingdom of heaven
is within," and it is for tus alone to make our own heaven
or hell.  When the inquiries of man cease, his mind
becomes dwarfed, and his existence here valueless. Our
inquiries must be for something more than that which
-we already know, if the answer lies beyond actual demonstration or proof, reason from analogy.
During the early pre-historic age of man it was sufficient for him to know his birthplace, and that he was
born of woman; farther than that the past excited no
curiosity or inquiry. Time rolled on, and after the lapse
of ages his intellect expands, develops; he studies
cause and effect, and naturally asks himself, "Whither
am I going, and from whence did I or my ancestors
come?"  The problem he fails to solve. Moses is born a
genius; he gains the ears of the people, and they accept
him as their oracle. He invents the story of the creation
and places Adam at the head of the race. This answered
the question of their origin, and their minds were not
further troubled. This story was recorded and became
a part of our history.  Ages passed, and Moses's record
was unquestioned. At last some daring fellow inquires,
"If Adam and Eve were the first, where did the woman
in the land of Nod come from, whom  Cain, their son,
sought, and with whom he became joined in matrimony?"
This was unanswerable, like the story of the negro who




5
asked his companion, "How Adam was made, if he was
the first man?"  "WVhy, don't you know?" replied his
companion; "God made him out of clay. He took a bit
and made his trunk, then a head, then legs, arms, etc.,
and stuck them together and put them up against a fence
to dry." " Ah!" rejoins the negro,  "who made de
fence?"  For this unexpected question the companion
had made no more provision than did Moses for the question of the ancestry of Cain's wife.
The biblical story, then, of the beginning or origin of
man is believed by all liberal thinkers to have orginated
in the brain of Moses, serving for ages to satisfy the
masses upon the question of their origin. But as civilization advanced, and the thinker had outgrown the story,
he looks about, and through the searching, investigating
mind of the geologist and anthropologist finds that six
thousand years is but a drop in the bucket compared to
the actual existence of man upon this planet. If the
record or story of Moses is the oldest written history
extant, our progenitors in the pre-historic age left a record
more durable and truthful of their existence carved uponl
the bones of animals known to have flourished in that
tage. Enter the forest; we pass a bird's nest forsaken by
its inhabitant; no bird is seen, but that the nest was the
work of the feathered tribe there is no question. We
stumble over an ant's nest, run our toes into a squirrelhole, or face a hornet's nest all forsaken, not an occupant
seen; yet these furnish sufficient evidence of their former
presence, for by their works we know them.
Prof. Niles tells the story of a couple of adventurers
attempting some years ago the ascent of one of the mountains of Sierra Nevada.  They were cautioned by the
natives not to imake the attelnpt, as no man had ever
succeeded in reaching the summit.  This encouraged
them, and taking a United States flag, up they journeyed,
and through their daring and persisting efforts gained the




summit; the flag unfurled they waved it to the breeze;
and while congratulating themselves as the first men who
reached this mountain-top, one of them perchance, looked
behind, and, behold! to their great surprise there lay
upon the rock a New Testament, a pack of cards and a
rum-bottle! Thliir glory was lost, for these furnished
unquestionable evidence of the presence of man here
before. Visit other grounds, make excavations, observe;
a piece of quartz attracts your notice, it possesses shape,
and looks like an instrument shaped by man -it is an
arrow-head; dig deeper and you find another arrow-head
made of flint, and by its side a stone hatchet; these discoveries furnish sufficient evidence of the existence of
man at the time of these earth deposits containing said
implements, and if the geologist, through his investigation is able to inform us the comparative age of this
strata containing these deposits, the antiquity of man in
that region can, in a measure, be ascertained. That these
implements are identical with man there is not much
question; for though a monkey exhibits a fair amount of
reason when, to crack a nut, he takes up into a tree a
stone and lets it fall thereon, and some birds the same
when, to crack the shell of a shell-fish, carry it high up in
the air, and lets it fall upon the ground and feeds upon
the meat; yet no implements are shaped, and none known
to be made by any animal aside from man.
In the Valley of the Somme there has been discovered,
in the excavations, fossils of the mammoth and woolly
rhinoceros, both extinct, the elephant, hyena, tiger, hippopotamus and the cave-bear. Most of them long ago
became extinct in Europe. These animals must have
roamed over France, nothing less, says Sir Charles Lyell,
than 100,000 years ago. If we can discover associated
with these fossils found in the deep excavations the
remains of the works of man, we shall establish the fact
that his existence on this planet must have extended




back to that period at least. His remains or bones we
fail to find associated with said fossils. In fact it is very
rare that they are found  anywhere fossilized; instead,
however, of finding his remains, his works indicating his
presence have been  discovered. Arrow-heads, knives
made of flint, other stone implements, spear-heads, hatchets, poniards, &c., &c., were found associated  with the
bones of said extinct animals. Not only were these implements discovered, but also with them  bones, with
finely executed figures of animals flourishing at the time
engraved thereon. At this period man probably dwelt
in caves and lived by hunting, like the wild Indians of
to-day. He brought the game into his cave, devoured it,
and possessing in that early day the art inherent in man,
displayed it at his leisure in cutting uponl the bones the
figures above described.
We have found that the antiquity of lman dates back
at least 100,000 years; we look still further and find that
at or near Vezeres, stone implements have been found, of
various shapes, clearly indicating the presence of nman.
The geological strata in which these implenmelts were iimbedded is known as the Pliocene strata-rocks that are
estimated by most geologists to have been (leposited at
least a million of years ago. 100,000 years is, their, ill
reality but one-tenth of the probable existence of mlan
upon our planet. But suppose our ancestry dates back to
the Pliocene epoch, a million of years, is that the beginlning of man?  Science has been able to trace him no
further from the work he has left, and yet, noting the
very gradual progress of the race since, it is reasonable to
suppose that a great many years-aye, ages-must have-N
elapsed previous to the epoch mentioned, ere it could
have arrived at that stage in art to enable the race to
manufacture implements of stone with sufficient distinctness to indicate to their posterity, a million of years distant, their presence upon the planet.




8
The race, in fact, must have elated as far behind the
stone-implement age as it now dates from it — for the
progress from the very low man, or the animal plane, to
the age of manufacturing and using instruments of stone,
must have required as much time to develop it as, since
the stone age, to have arrived to our present attainments
in the arts and sciences. If, then, we traced the existence of man to the Pliocene epoch, where the stone implements were found, and which is estimated by most
geologists at nothing less than a million of years, added
to which the number of years prior to said stone age,
which we estimated equal to the elapse of time since,
makes some two millions of years —the shortest time,
from present discoveries, that man could have existed
upon the globe. Suppose, then, that two million of years
approximates towards the nominal appearance of man as
a distinct variety in the animal kingdom, did he appear in
the form  of only one man and one woman, and from
which first pair our entire race originated or multipliedcl? or rather did man at this time spring from the
earth a distinct species? If he did not proceed from the
entire animal kingdom, from the lowest form, the protozean, through the highest, the vertebrate, mamalia, the
earth must have sprouted him, for the old obsolete notion,
or rather superstition, that God scooped up a bit of dirt,
shaped it into the forn of man, infused into it a spirit, or
in some fashion created him and set him in motion, as,
does the engineer his machine or engine, after its construction, is not accepted by any rational thinker.
What are the chances of his proceeding or springing
from the soil in the present form, or that of the primeval
or pre-historic man? And through what other source
could he have possibly proceeded unless through the
animal kingdom as before described? If man was always
a distinct species, proceeding from nothing below him,
could his body have been created, started, or formed, from




anything beyond or apart from: our planet?  Every Imoving material formn  pon the ea.rth is a part and parcel of
it.; from it all imatter, whlether in the form  of man or a
cqabbage, origirnally )roceeded; and as it is a self-evident
fact that God cannot create sonlethingr out of nothing,
man11:1, if he did not develop from any species below him,
but was created a distinct species, his bod.ly God must
have formed fronm the earth or soil. Its analysis proves
that it coriginally proceeded fronl it - for when his body
decays there is no chemist on the globe who can detect
or separate the constituents of the body from  the soil;
and yet the instantaneous or ilmmedliate creation of man's'form from the ground, the most complex being that exists,
is monstrously absurd, for what shall be his size?  Was
he placed upon the earth, or did he sprout up, a fullgrowrn nman, say- one hundred  and fifty to two hundred
pounds?  And the stature of the animal kingdom to-day,
including man, is certainly no larger than ages ago, but
probably. smaller, Is it possible for a being of any description of above dimensions to spring into imnmediate
existence to-day?  And if not to-day, why a thousand or
a million of years ago?  Is it possible that man was
placed, or was sprouted fronm  the earth a. babe of the
smallest dimensions?  That seems more improbable, for
what being throughout the animal kingdom is more helpless than the infant'?  A year before it can even walk!
and, alas! how mnlany years before it could possibly obtain
Its living 
Can we imagine an instance to-day of a new-born inflant robbed of its parents and'surrounded by no human
beings thriving and developing into manhood?  And, if
impossible to-day, why more possible a thousand, or a
million, years in the past?  The same laws regulating the
birth and existence of beings upon the earth were in
operation then as now.  God's, or nature's laws, are imimutable, unchangeable.  To be sure it is said of Romu2




10
lus and Remus, in a legend in ancient times, tlhat tlley
were nursed and nurtured by a wolf; bult every rational
mind  knows it is fictionl, for nature  has not  endowed wild beasts with such unnatural faculties; eNvery
species looks to its own kind. If it cannot be demonstrated through nature's laws that iman's b)ody is a1 distinct
creation, what of the species below him?  Is it any mlore
lprobable that the ape was created separately? or the doo'
or cat?  What are the chances of a full-grown a.pe, dog,
or cat, springing into immediate existence?  Does naturel,
through which God only works, suggest e-en a slhadow of
such a probability?  And is it any more probable that
their young, if not gradually developed from the species
below them, could possibly live and thrive withllut that
fostering care which a parent alone can give? But as we
descend in the scale of animal life, passinog throuigh the
birds, reptiles, fishes, articulates, (which includes insects,,spiders, worms, &c.,) molluscs, or shell animals, and radiates, such as polypes, or coral-builders, jelly-fishes, starfishes, &c., &c., to some of the lowest forms of anilll life
such as the sponges, &c., the nearer the approach to these
lowest forms the more spontaneous their reproduction
land the less dependent are they upon the parent for
support.
If a dog has always been a dog; a cat, a cat; an ape,
an ape; and a man, a man-each a distinct creation —it is
implied that each was created from  something.  Where
were they created?  In the skies?  Where in that lofty
region was the material obtained to form a. body of any
shape?  If not created above the earth, and if created at
all a separate species, it must have been formed upon and
from the earth; and whether its form was the sm:allest or
the youngest of its kind, or whether it appeared a fullgrown dog, cat, ape or man, it matters not, for nature
possesses no laws whereby it can produce any form  of
life without a parent. Even God himself, who is in all,




11
p)eradilng   all space, as is nature, cannot alter himself;
and consequently no law to suit any special emergency,
whether one year or a million in the past, can be altered
or amended. For if God is in all, nothing can exist outside of Hilml, and hence every law aend thing is a part and
parcel of deity, and lie can no more alter or amend a law
to remedy an y special defect (could such an impossibility
exist) than a man (had he the power) to change a defective arnm for another without going outside of himself;
there is no part of him that could be spared, and no law
Ie(gul'tilag his development or being could be suspended
a moment to substitute or remedy in the least the defective arm. God's laws are natural and immutable; no law
was ever changed nor ever can be, whereby a quart of
water can be put into a pint-bottle.  Statements come
to us from  ancient books of change in laws to display
a supernatural power, but sufficient proof of the trit;]
of such statements is not given. God is as powerless
to create or chalnge a law, which in fact controls him, or
the universe, from which he cannot be separated, as is a
leopard to change his spots;. and it is only ignorance of
the ina-bility of God's power to change himself, of which
his laws are p)art and parcel, that gives the absurdity a
moment's credence. As the intelligence and independence of the age advances, faith is established through the
most searching investigation of the laws that develop and
govern every atom in the universe; faith in their immutability, which only allows change.in forms of matter;
but change in the laws that control them, either in the
most remote past of the dim future, never. If, then, we
have begun to understand the immutability of every law,
the veriest dunce cannot fail to perceive that the law
-which would not allow an unnatural production or creation to-day could not have allowed it thousands or millions of years in the past-or, in other words, a law that
cannot be altered or amended to favor a certain produc



tion or creation to-day could not have been changed thousands or millions of years ago.
No one can reasonably pretend for a moment that 1 law
exists to-day whereby man can be produced or created
from the earth a full-grown man from  one hundred to a
hundred and fifty pounds, or in the form  of a helpless
infant with no possible means of sustaining life for years
after its birth. If there was a "first man," its parent
(and no animal, however low, or vegetable, can appear
upon our planet without proceeding front a parent or
parent stock) must have been the highest order of animal
life then existing; not necessarily an ape or a monkey,
but possibly and very probably a higher developed species, now extinct, exterminated by the pre-historic man,
the latter far below the most inferior savage now in existence; hence the parent of the "first man," the highest
order of life then existing, was but a, step below, the
development being hardlly perceptible; like the child of
to-day, through the combined organ'ismn  of its father and
mother it inherits at times superior qualities, which places
it ahead of the parent stock, oand, transmitting them  to
its progeny, its descendants obtain the start in the racec
of intellectual or superior life.
The rapid thinker will, however, at first thought, ask,
"if the laws alre immutable, unchangeable, why does not
man proceed from the higher orders of animal life today?"  And this, in fact, is the greatest obstacle in the
popular investigation of the progressive development or
evolution of life. If sufficient evidence cannot be produced to show that the law of progressive development
has not changed, but that the link between man and
the next order of animal life is not at present especialnecessary to the further progress of life, since that
man has reached his present advance or growth-if, I repeat, this cannot be satisfactorily presented, the doctrine must fall.  The gap between man <and the next




13
order of animal life at present — say the ape — is very
wide; but the gap will continue to widen, so that ages in
the future the gap in the present era, if the facts could
then be known, will seem very narrow compared to the
very wide gap which must necessarily exist in that distant
epoch; and why?
Glance at the animal life of America. Not many years
since (but a few  hundred), the wild beasts roamed from
the cold regions to the equator; America teemed with
them; where are they to-day? The march of civilization
has driven them back; one species after another of the
highest order of beasts have been exterminated, so that
to-day, where man or civilization extends, nothing remains of the wild beasts to indicate the homes they once
enjoyed but their bones, and these, through the aptness of
the Yankee, are rapidly being gathered and converted
into manufiacturing and agricultural purposes —as, for
instance, in tbe northern portion of America, where immense quantities of the bones of the elephant are dug
up, also remains of other animals in the bone-beds of
Carolina, all being utilized and their original form  destroye(l, so that in the future not even the bones of beasts
will remain to mark the pre-existence of the higher orders
of animal life, except here-and-there a relic stored away
in a museum; the gap widens, other "links-missing."
What is true of the extermination of wild beasts in
America, as rapidly as man advances, is becoming true in
other and all parts of the globe.
What of the lower races of men? is not the gap widening constantly here? The living link between civilization and the pre-historic man is fast becoming " the missing link" by the extermination or extinction of the aboriginies. Take North America, the native home of the
poor Indian; from the lakes to the gulf, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, his reservations extended; but, alas!
the European advances; he plants himself in their homes;




14
the Indian is doomed; the work of extermination begins;
a few only remain to remind us of the original extensive
tribes; back, back they have been driven to the furtherest extent of our realm, and the only home that now
awaits this small remnant of the aboriginies of Americea
is the watery deep of the Pacific. The Australian savage, the native of Australia, is being also rapidly exterminated; but few remain to indlicate the existence of this
very low race of men. They are the lowest living on the
face of the earth. They can scarcely count foulr, and
after their entire extermination, future ages will scarce
be able to conceive of the existence of these low savages,
and unless their bones are carefully preserved and:I
record of their race kept this link will be missing; the
gap between the lowest man and the next highest order
of animals will be wider.  The natives of New  Zealand,
the cannibals, are also being ra}pidly exterminated. A few
years more alnd nothing but their bo)nes or records (if preserved wvill indicate the former existence  of these wild
savages upon olur planet. If all is lost,.another link is
missing'; rand in early pre-historic times there were no
printed records, nor any bones p1reserved, for petrified or
fossilized human bones, as before mentioned, are extremely rare. Hence the highest orders of beasts being rapidly exterminated in all countries by the advancing tide
of civilization, and the equally rapid extermination of the
lowest races of men on the globe, will, in the course of
100,000 years distant, vastly widen the gap, and the
"missing' link" in that age will prove a far greater puzzle.
We have found that the link connecting the lowest
man and the next order of animals does not exist, and
that its existence is not at present a necessity, since man
has reached his present development, for the gap, we
learned, has widened and is continuing to widen, so that
in the distant future the hour must come when every wild
beast upon the face of the globe will be exterminated, andt




15
with equal certainty every s'avage tribe and all the lower
orders or' races of men lulst pass away and become extinct. The gap will then become so wide between the
t)inana and quadrumanal that unless their remains and
records are preserved it will be impossible to form a con4cel)tion of the pre-existence of these extinct forms. Hence
it is fair to presume that further advanced types of quadrumana, that were nearer allied to mnan than now exists,
l-have become extinct and: buried in the vast accumulations
9,f ages.
Paleontology is in its infancy, for the times are comparatively recent since the discovery and classification of fossil remains. Is it not, equally probable that types or
ra:ces of men much lower than any of which we have
record and more closely allied to the quadrunmana and
quadrupeds may have existed in the AMiocene, and possibly in the Eocene, age   No rational thinker believes
-that all forms of animal life were created at the same
time; for every geologist is.a-,ware that many forms bec:;11ame extinct ages before the appearance of mammals
upon the earth; as, for instance, nile species of Trilobites
became extinct at the close of the Primordial, or the ear1iest geological age; eight species at the close of the
Lower Silurian; five at the close of the Upper Silurian;:.ld all became extinct before the close of the Carbonifer-,ous, which was many million of years prior to the age of,nmllmnals, which includes all animals that suckle their
youLng. What is true of tLhe Trilobites is true of many
genera,  and thousands of species appearing in one age
a.nd becoming extinct before the close of the following:g-.e. If creation is possi.ble, why are not new  species
created to-day?
The perpetuation of the splecies is in progress; but entirely new forms, newly created, and not proceeding from.ower and older forms, are wholly- improbable if not impossible, for if thus created -what.are they created from?




16
Should it be announced that some new genera or species
had developed in the air, or sprouted from the earth, it
would be pronounced a jolke, and the hesitancy in visiting the curiosity -would be as great as is exhibited on the
first of April when a white elephant is announced to
appear upon the Boston Common. Spontaneous generation, I know, is regarded by some as probable, but the
fallacy of this notion is nowhere more apparent than
during the inspection of canned fruit. The theorist takes
a liquid or solid, submits it to an intense heat, double or
treble boiling heat, so high, in fact, that the existence of
life is impossible in the mass (not making it certain, however, that infinitessimal living forms outside may not in
some possible way drift in when cool and develop) while
the canner of fruit brings the mass simply to a boiling'
point hermetically seals the vessel containing it, places it
on the shelf, where, as in many cases, it remains for several years, and when opened no signs of animal life is
manifest; hence the theory of spontaneous generation is
not accepted.
Evolution, or the law  of progressive  development,
works slow; time, ages, are its demands, while a thin,,
cleated, new, independent of any other form, must of
necessity be rapidly organized. To develop, then, a new
variety by the law of progression takes time.  What is
two, four or six thousand years compared to a geological
age, the years comprising which are estimated by millions?  Pass down the line of ages and mark the gradual
development from the lowest form of life, in the earliest
geological age to the present, culminating in man, and
then let the question be put, If man is a separate creation, and not a gradual development from the lower to
the higher, why was he created in the present and latest
age?'why did he not appear in the earliest epochs - the
carboniferous, for example, the age of plants?  The answer is simply that he had not developed. Fishes at this




17..tAge were. as high in the scale of alninmal life as the eartll
wa\rIts able to develop; it required severa'l ages, or -mainy
millions of years more, through thle many steps of progressive ldevelopment, ere so coill)lex and perfect a beingo:is nian could be dleveloped.
Commencing with the Root-footed animals, among the'earliest, we find life in the most simple form- - a mass of,lesh heaped together, assuming any shape  it chooses,
irom a rounded maiss to an oblong, then elongating itself
ilnto an eel-like figoure, with no fixed stomach, but located
ial any l:pat of the body that might temporarily suit the:rTeature; with mouths as changeable, and also its waste?aissage.  An animal with less system  in its organism':annot be easily imagined.  Yet there is the Protozoa, the:4ponge, which is simply a pulpy, living animal mass with
l0o organism    whatever.  Pass to the Polype, the coralhuilder, and we find its organism a little more systema~,ized; its stomach is a little small inner sac suspended;ioosely from the mouth, which is fixed around the latter;
t.here are a large number of tentacles, or feelers, which
the creature throws out in search of food. They repro^tuce by eggs which are dropped in the sea, and finally'.odge upon some rock, where they hatch, develop and
become fixed thereon.  They also reproduce by branch-:ng out, the same as the limb of a tree branches from the
r.funk.  Pass on to the Echinoderms, and the sea Urchins
lu-e farther dleveloped by the addition of a heart to a
stomach and a mouth.  The Mollusk, a soft-bodied creaT.llre, including all shelled animals, flourished largely in
lhe Silurian age, called by some the age of M3ollusks.
- [n this very early epoch the Brachiopod was quite pre1{orninant, its development a little in advance of the ani-':n:ls heretofore described; it is not fixed to a rock, but is:ree to move at its pleasure, and is assisted largely by two!;leshy arms which it can protrude or withdraw at its will.:Mollusks gen.erally possess none of the organs of sense
3




18
except eyes, and some species are without them. Up to
this time insects or fishes were not developed. Crustaceans and Annelids, or wormns, began to appear, and the
organism of the latter, higher and more complex. The
body is divided into several segments, which enables it to
twist about, and is covered to some extent with bristlelike appendages which assist its powers of locomotion.
They possess a system of veins and arteries, the blood of
which is red. Each wmorn is both male and female, or
bisexual.
At the commencement of the next age, the Devonian,
insects appeared, presenting a higher degree of development; their bodies being divided into  three distinct
parts, the head, the thorax, and abdomen, and their powers of locomotion greatly promoted by the possession of
six legs and two or four wings. During this age, fishes
made their first appearance, and hence this epoch is often
called the Age of Fishes.  Up to this period no vertebrates (animals possessing a backbone) were in existence, and when fishes appeared the development of a
backbone was a remarked feature in the progress of the
kingdom, for all animal life is divided into two classes
vertebrates and invertebrates. The development front
an invertebrate into a vertebrate was gradual, for there
existed a species called the "Ambeogisis," which possessed
evidences in its organism  of passing through the transition state. The earliest fishes, it is thought, belonged to
the invertebrates, and not for many years was there developed in them a backbone. The gills of these creatures in the Devonian period were undeveloped; there
were holes at the sides with no covering.
In passing upward through the line of ages the wonderful development in the fish species is marked, and as
we pass the Carboniferous age some of these creatures
begin to assume a new form, the pectoral, or small cartilageous arms, terminating into a hand, with slender fin



19
gers, (which is a graduall but great advance from lower
a:ninmal forms), developed at the close of the Carboniferous, or at the opening of the Secondary age, into stouter:Iand imolre bony arms, while the limbs corresponding to
the ventral. fins, terminating with a foot, with slender
toes, developed equally in strength and size; so that the
fish becamlle possessed of large, stout, bony legs and feet,
with its caudal appendage strengthened and passing into
the reptilian form.  This age is called by modern geologists the Arge of Reptiles, reptiles being the predominant animal in that epoch. The connecting link is nowhere b)etter shown than in the Ichthyosaurus, a Greek
term meaninig fish and reptile, or lizard. This is an extinct animal, probably developed in the Carboniferous age,
-and becomingr abundant in the Secondary. Its head was
of a huge reptile, large, elongated mouth and teeth, but
possessing fins to I)addle its way along. Its vertebrae
deeply concave, similar to the fishes.
Another link connecting the reptile with the bird is
found in the fossil remains of a Pterodactyl, a flying
reptile existing in the Secondary agoe. Its head is the
form of a reptile. Its legs support a membraneous wing
to enable it to fly. Although a reptile in structure, possessing no feathers, yet, like birds, their bones were hollow
and were adapted for the'air, or flying, by the possession
of enornzous wings. In the quarries of Solenhofen there
has been found fossil remains of birds that possessed some
characteristics of a reptile; but, while some parts of its
organism was reptilian, it was, nevertheless, a bird possessing an expanse of wing and feathered.  The connecting link  between  the bird and  mammals, or semimammals is found in the fossil remains of a bird-like
kangaroo, its head the structure of a bird, while its posteriorl portion is constructed like a kangaroo.  The connecting link between mammals and man has been enlarged upon quite sufficiently heretofore.




20
In the Tertiary (the most recent geological age, following the Secondary above mentioned:and called by manyl
the Age of Mammals) roanlmed the hairy elephant andl
woolly rhinoceros. The temperature of that period wuas
undoubtedly much colder than the present age, consequently those animals required a hairy and woolly covering to protect their mammoth bodies from the extreme
cold; but, as the temperature gradually increased to its
present average height, these coverings were useless an(t
dispensed with, as the naked presence of these beasts
to-day testify. Take, for instance, the pig, which possesses a structure akin to the alligator. In developing
to the higher the latter generally  lost its stout and bony
caudal -appendage, having, in roaming the land, no further use for it, and also its huge mouth and teeth, which
suited its half-aquatic habits. So with the ape family,
the general structure of which so nearly corresponds to
man, requires long arms and hands, and also feet, han(lshaped, to enable it more easily to climb trees for selfprotection in the forests, gather nuts andl fruits, which
form their chief srtbsistence; but:s maln developed, defended himself and procured his living by his wits, handlike feet an'd long arms for climbing( and locomotion "oon
ll fours" were useless, and in assumling the uprighit position his feet flattened out, the disuse of the arms and
hands in walking upon them, caused both hand and arm
to shorten or become smaller, the same as the blacksmith
can by use or disuse cause both to strengthen or weaken.
So with his canine teeth; the earliest pre-historic man,
who lived most entirely by hunting and fishing, undoubtedly possessed long canine teeth like the ape, to enable
him  to tear flesh and tough substances more easily;
but as man developed into a more civilize(d:being he tilled
the soil and subsisted more upon vegetable food, anld the
disuse of the  canine teeth for tearing flesh shortened
them, so that to-day they are found comparlatively small.




We have thus traced man from. the lowest form of animal life: from  the earliest geological age to the present;
and the gradual developmlent from  the lower to the
higher, hst;ily, yet carefully sketched; and yet do we
find the beginning of man's not yet. From what did the
lowest animanll (levelop'?  Whence its origin?  Is it possible that the a-nim.nal kingdom sprang originally from plant
life?  Huxley tells us that yeast is ma(le up of a mass of
minute living plants called the yeast-plant, or, scientifically termed, Torula, belonging to the fungi group. Fabroni discovered that this plant was the shape of a bag,
that the outer portion contained the properties of wood,
while the inner portion of the bag contained the properties of animals, among' thein "Protein," the foundation of
every animal organism; he consequently called it a vegeto-animal substance.  It was also discovered that this
inner matter possessed the power of contraction, similar to that of the substance of animals. This substance,
which is found in the interior of vegetable cells as well
as in all animal substances, was named by Hugo Von
Mohl, an eminent German botanist, "Protoplasm;" and
to-day the fact is largely conceded that the anlimal kinglom - whichll of course includes nlan - proceeded from
this shapeless vegeto-animal mass. This, then, we will call
the bridge over which the vegetable kingdom passed or
developetl into the animal.
Corals were so akin to plant life that manny years elapsed
e re the discovery was made that these apparently branching trees, decked with beauteous colors and fixed to the
ocean's bed, was the product of animal life, and the Polype produlcing them  had some peculiarities of a plant.
They propogate largely by branching out from the side of
the pam'rent stock, the samne as a limb or branch from  the
trunk of a tree, so that a commllunity of them  have the
applearance of a tree with brarnches' thereon.  They are
usually fixed to a: support, the s:rne as al plant, but they




:are animals contailning simply an inner sac for the stonlach and mouth; around the latter are arranged rows of
tentacles, like the petals of an saster - says Dana — about
its central disk. Turn these animals inside out, which has
been performed, and they live and thrive; cut them  to
pieces and they propagate.
The Crinoids, an extinct animal flourishinc in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic time, was a creature possessing.:
very 6lose resemblence to a plant. Its trunk, tree formn,
was firmly attached to a rock, and its long sweeping tentacles presented the appearance of thickly-waving branches of a plant. The sponges, until a comparatively recent
time, were considered of vegetable origin and' possessing
all the appearance of l)lant life; but modern scientific
researches have revealed the fact that they belong to:t
group of the lowest form of animals, called Protozoans;
thus, these vegeto-animals, resembling species enumerated
~above, may be justly termed the apparent connecting
links between the vegetable and animal world.
Having found it possible that man not only proceeded
from  the very lowest forms of animal life, but that, in all
his grandeur, he is simply a direct descendant of the vegetable kingdom, with the tree, the shrub, the Cryptogam,
for his great, great and countless great-grandfathers, do
we find his origin?  Not yet.
The development of man from pllants, through the lowest forms of animal life has been gralually, yet hastily
traced; but his origin bey-ond which no trace of development is possible, has not yet been found, for plants cannot
be a special creation any more than man can be specially
created. All plants germinate; that is, the seed from which
they spring contains the plant, root, trunk, branches, all
in a miniature form, and when sufficient heat and oxygen
reaches the buried seed the miniature plant unfolds itself,
expands, andt grows into a shrub or tree, according to the
strength or force of the species to which the plant be



longs.  Plants owe their existence to the ovary and
ovule, and unless they are impregnated through the pistils
by the pollen from the stamens of the male or staminate
plant, whether upon or apart from the same stock, they
cannot exist (Cryptogams excepted).  The analysis of
plnmts denotes their earth origin. Pass down the line of:ages to the early development of our planet, when the'lobe was entirely covered with water, and plants with
no possible chance of existence — for soil was not then
formed, and the ocean's bed was one vast solid. At last
the spell is broken; an elevation through eruption, or a
mlore gradual force, sends a portion of the rocky bed
above the  universal ocean; bed after bed, scattered
through the mass, is elevated; and with rocks exposed to
wind and rain, erosion takes place, the rocks disintegrate,
and soil, or pulverized rock, the consequence.
Now, to say that rocks or soil contains life is radical,
lbut, nevertheless, I launch the assertion. We say a thing
hlas life that possesses the power to grow and develop.
RIocks do not apparently possess that power and yet
when we study their structure carefully anctfthoughtfully
we find that changes in their forms have been constantly
occurring. Look at the pure crystal; has that not passed
through a process of development, from  the simplest
amorphous rock to the highest crystalization?  We say
this is due to some chemical action, largely through heat;
but what is heat? It is simply the manifestation of a
force; not that heat is the force itself, any more than the
power of speech is the force that works the brain and
nloulds expression. Speech is simply the manifestation
of that force which is behind both speech and brain and
unseen. So an unseen force is behind heat, the latter
being simply the phenomenon, and not the power that
prompts or propels it. Heat I do not regard as a link in
the "' correlation of forces;" but a link in the primary
manifestations of force, correlated to each other, as light,




motion, electricity, imagnetism,   etc.'lThese are a1ll resolved
or reduced to one primary force, which plodulces said prinary correll.ative malifestationls.
Spend an evening with T yndall:,ld watch his exleriiments in crystallization.  \s soon as the currelt (from a.
voltaic battery) began to pass, one wire be(amlne covered with bubbles, while from  the othler, foliage grew
with the  most extraordinary  a)pidity.  The  plarticles
seemed to form in the liquid, to coie into existence frol')l
naothing, and rush with violence to attach themselves in
leaves and frond-like forns to the:attracltivc wire.  It
was like being shown into the secrets of nature - like
witnessing  creation.  The  general appearance of the
" tree" was fern-like and graceful.  Tyndall says: "In
the process of crystallization nature first reveals herself as
a builder.  Where do her operations stop?  Does she continue by the play of the same forces to form  the vegetable and afterward the animal?  Whatever the answer to
these questions may be, trust me that the notions of the
coming generations regarding this mysterious thing which
some have called'brute matter' will be very different
from those of the generations past." Life in each kingdom  is differently developed.  In the animal kingdom
growth of stature ceases at a certain age, while in the-,Vegetable kingdom  it continues through the individual
existence of the plant.  The former possesses the power
t.o move from place to place at will, the latter is fixed to
one spot, and derives its nourishment chiefly through the
Iower parts of its organism, while the sustenance of the
animal kingdom is taken through the upper. The resultang processes of these developments are e-asily explained,
save the first, in the cessation of growth of manl or animals at a certain age; and why said physical growth does
not continue through life, as with the plant, is not yet;
4:;atisfactorily explained.  All of these processes and developments, however, are simply the results of somre anex



pIlined force which propels and gives shape and formn to
llattei, not only in the anitinal and vegetable kingdoms,
but in the mineral kingdom, which manifests itself, though
differently yet most distinctly, in varied crystallizations.
T'e differentiation in life is very marked in the devell)nlment of our planet.  To-day, in man, more than all
{others in the broad realmns of nature, dwells the greatest
ani( the widest manifestations of life. Like the beast, he
cn1joys the powers of locomlotion, self-defence, etc., but,
i-olre than that, he enjoys an intellect, as varied as it is
grreat, and as far beyond the beast as the latter is beyond
tthe oyster, or the oyster beyond the lowest form. or manifestation of animal life, the protoplasm.  In the first the
n:ost recent planetary development, man, we find tbhe
brioadest variety; in the beast its development is less
nmarked; in the oyster the differentiation in life is reduced
to a very narrow limit; in. protoplasm, the base, or the
lowest round in the ladder of animal life, the variety of
nmanlifestation is as small as is possible to imagine in this
kingdom.  In the vegetable kingdom differentiation is
still less marked, for life is manifested only in reproduction and growth with changing forms, while in the mineral kingdom the variety of life's manifestations are reduced, not to its minimum development, but to the lowest
or narrowest limit in matter as a solid; its manifestations
though less apparent than in the higher kingdoms, is nevertheless to the investigator positive, for growth and
change of form  through crystallization is everywhere observed.  Vegetation develops largely through the influence of heat; so does crystallization in the mineral king.
dom develop largely through the same manifestation of
force.
Dr. Carpenter, the English scientist, gives undue influence to the manifestations of heat. This element he considers is the vital force, the very life, that animates our
being and all matter; but with like consistency he might
4




26
claim the same pre-eminence for oxygen, for without the
presence of the latter, seed could never germinate, nor
the egg develop into life. Another claims that electricity
is the basis of life; but, be it heat or electricity that animates the vegetable and animal kingdoms, must we not
claim that through both of them the mineral kingdom
develops in growth and change of forms through crystallization; but, as previously stated, both heat and electricity are correllated manifestations of a force, not the
force itself, that prompts the action; the latter we may
call the-vital element which animates the universe giving life to rocks through crystallization, and development
to plants and animals through germination. To produce
a good plant we must see that the soil contains those mineral properties which we know the plant upon analysis
itself possesses, for the plant is simply a mineral or minerals reproduced or developed, or, in other words, metamorphosed into vegetable life.
In primeval times it is probable that when the soil became sufficiently pulverized, saturated with moisture and
compounded with the gaseous elements washed down by
the descending rain, the same force that develops crystallization- call it life-force- varied its manifestation and
produced a germ, simple in its structure, a minute globular bag, a single cell, possibly microscopic. When coming in contact with that quickening element, oxygen, and
the sun's heat and light, it expands, a new kingdom is
born- the plant. The earliest plants are known to be
very small, almost microscopic; a careless observer passes
every day rocks apparently stained, or colored, which,
upon close inspection, are found to be a low order of
vegetation, belonging to the Cryptogams, or flowerless
plants. Such were undoubtedly the appearance of the
earliest vegetation. Having traced man to the rock, have
we found the beginning beyond which there is no trace?
Not yet.




27
The nebula hypothesis of the origin of our globe, and
now the accepted theory throughout the civilized world,
describes the earth as originating from a nebulae cloudlike mass, in which the sun, planets, comets, aerolites and
meteors were included, forming together one immense
combined nebulae, floating in  space. When this vast
nebula began the process of condensation  separation
from  the central mass took place in the form of rings,
the latter further condensed, broke up, and each ring
gathered by laws of attraction the fragments and formed
a globe, such as the earth and other planets. The earth
at this period is supposed to have been some one thousand
eight hundred times larger -than at present, its dimensions in fact extending to the moon; but through laws of
expenditure of heat, from a gaseous to a fiery liquid mass,
and from the hot, molten mass to water and solid rocks,
its condensation from its beginning as a planet to its present condition, andits development as shown in the variety of manifestations of life, is immense.
What is there that runs through this entire chain of the'
earth's development?  What that caused the nebulae to
condense, especially  one portion more than another?
What caused the, earth to separate in the form of a ring:and then take the form of a: globe? What caused it to
possess two motions at once, the rotation upon its axis.1and its revolution around the sun?  It is the same cause
or force that enables man to run or think, the fish to swim,
the seed to germinate, the tree to grow, the mineral to
crystalize, fluid to solidify, or vapor to liquify; and that
force must be the vital or spiritual force, the life that animated not only the earth in its primary conception upon its
launch into existence as an individualized entity, unfolding itself in its varied life-manifestations through rocks,
water, trees, beasts, man, etc., but the same force, or life,
that animates the entire heavens, giving motion, light,
heat, gravitation, all, to the vast bodies floating in space,




to all matter extending through the length and breadlth
of the mighty universe; not forgetting that gravitation,
motion, lioht, heat, etc., throl')lh which all nature apparently operates, are but the mnlllifestations of this living,
vital, propelling, spiritual force.
An atom is the lowest form or the smallest division of
matter.  All atoms of matter, says Papillon, are one'taln
the same thing, but the different energies and forces cornbining them  change their nature; motion alone determines the variety and unity of matter; but motion is:'s
subordinate to force as speeehl is to thought.  The malterialist tells us that spirit, or life, is the result or product of
matter; that matter is first, ain(l spirit, or life, follows it..
If I am i wrong in my assertsion that a certain force or
energy, call it life or spirit, runs from the primary conception of our planet through its g-aseous and liquid state to
the mineral, vegetable and aninmal kingdom, through the
differentiation in its many manifestations, culminating inl
man; if, I repeat, this statement is not practically or
theoretically true, then I should hlave faith in the materialist, for if life or spirit was not made manifest upon
our globe until the appearance of plants and animals
some millions of years after the earth's formation, the
conclusion is obvious that matter was all this time preparing to develop life or spirit (if spirit is the result or
product of matter), which on the face of it is totally
absurd-for the very fact of matter developing life O,1
spirit, or if spirit or life is developed from  matter in any
form, is proof positive that some force acting behind or
through  nmatter was necessary to develop said life or
spirit; for development cannot take place in any sh::pe
unless some force exists to set it in motion, and that force
can be nothing less than that life or spirit which pervades
thie universe.
Then, when the distinguished scientist, Papillon tells
us, as before mentioned, that all atoms of matter are one,




29
arid the same thing, but the different energies and forces
combining them  c hange their nature and variety, we are
led to the belief that matter in all its varied  forms and
conditions is wholly developed through the energies of
life or spirit-forces.  Having traced the life and composition of man to the great nebulae, from which our planet
was born, or thrown off, is this the beginning, the primal
base, or fount from which oir lives and bodies evolved or
sprang?  Mlost assuredly not. What is the origin of the
nebule?  One class of nebulll  is found through powerful telescopes to consist of an innumerable quantity of
stars, which through smaller lenses gave the appearance
by their immense distances from  us, of a cloudy, hazy
mass. Another class to which the nebulhe from which our
earth separated belongs, is gaseous, comprising many of
the properties that our globe contains to-day. What this
nebulae originated from  is still an open question. The
universe is more or less filled with cosmical matter, from
very small bodies to bodies of immense size, some of
which are solid and others gaseous.
In the little space which our own solar system occupies; there are innumerable little bodies called meteors
that are solid, and converted into gas when reaching our
atmosphere; there are also comets of immense size, as
light as gas, whose path is parabolic, passing into space
and never returning to our system  again. And the gaseous mass exploded or ejected from the sun to-day, if it
travels with the velocity of five hundred miles per second
- as is the case in some instances - it passes, says Proctor, beyond the control of the sun tangentically into
space. Now, it is possible that these fragmentary, cosmical, gaseous masses collect and form a vast nebulae, from
which worlds are born. Farther back than this it is impossible for man to trace that form of life and matter
which composes his being; it passes here into the great
unknown; and yet this life and matter is as anterior to the




30
nebulae in some unexplained form, and as certain as its
existence that we have traced since the nebule formation; hence the beginning or primal origin of man must
remain as undiscovered as the origin of the universe with=
which it is identical.
Having reached the utmost limit of man's comprehension, let us look very briefly at the general principles upoIn
which evolution or development is founded. What are
the facts? If, as Herbert Spencer suggests, the nebula
hypothesis so generally accepted is correct, what do we
find? That the law of matter and all life is to developfrom the simple to the complex, from the lower to the
higher form.
Take the great nebulse from which the earth sprang,
with no fixed shape, floating through space a simple, homogeneous mass, as far as appearance indicated. No het-,
erogeneous compilation was then manifest in this gaseous
nebule mass. Could a being of our own manner born
have ridden upon this floating billow and been told of the
many planets, comets and meteors which this simple and
unpretending cloud would give birth, his eyes would.
have protruded from their sockets and his brain electrified
by this stupendous thought. The homogeniety throughout the mass became eventually disturbed; portions of it
began to condense, concentrate, and become heavier.Development has here commenced; the evolution from
the simple to the complex is in progress; what was once
homogeneous is now becoming heterogeneous; separation from the great nebulae takes place; Mercury, Venus,
Earth, Mars, the Asteroids, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and
Neptune launch into space; and not only has this nebulm,
cloud-like mass developed- these planets, all of which revolve upon their own axis and also revolve around the
central mass, the sun, but some of them have developed
smaller planets or satellites, which also perform a -revolution around said primary planets; and again the hetero



31
geniety developed by the nebulte mass is further displayed
by comets and meteors, which are as abundant as the
-fish of the sea.
The vast complexity which these simple, homogenous,
nebulse, cloud-like mass has evolved, as one dwells upon
the grandeur and marvellous variety of the solar system,
amazes the wisest of us; and when we come to consider
that each one of these planetary bodies has passed, or
will pass, through the same development and differentiation as our own earth, evolution from the lower to the
higher, from the simple to the complex, seems positive.
This is clearly manifested in the progress of our own
planet. After our separation from the nebulae mass the
globe continued cooling and condensing until it passed
into a liquid state, differentiation developed, heavy metals
began to manifest their individuality by solidifying; gold,
silver, lead, mercury, copper, etc., have separated; silicon,
aluminum, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and
-many other bases, have solidified and are patiently waiting the fall of the condensing acids, sulphuric, carbonic,
chloriodic, chloric, nitric, phosphoric, etc., to unite with
them in the formation of rocks in their numerous varieties. The simple, homogeneous, gaseous globe is now unfolding itself and becoming more heterogeneous, or more
and more complex. Like an ordinary garden-seed, which
appears one simple mass throughout and apparently homogeneous, and yet, viewed through a microscope, its
future development and heterogeneous and complex structure is observed, as the plumule, or trunk, and radicale, or
root, with branches and leaves, are all snugly folded up in
the simple covering, and only wait germination to unfold
itself, expand, and develop into a plant. So with the chrysalis; it is apparently a lump of matter encased, simple
and homogeneous, and to all appearance dead, inanimate;
but by the aid of a good lens the future butterfly is discovered through the covering, with its body and wings




32
snugly packed up, the antennae, or feelers, by the side of
the legs and tongue between the latter, all closely packed,
waiting the unfolding, or development, into the winlgedfairy of the air.
In the caterpillar the future butterfly is sotnetimes seen
closely cramped up within, and nmust pass throllgh two
metamorphoses ere its simple, homogeneous. mass reaches
the complex, heterogeneous form and structure of the
butterfly. So with the globe; it had simply to unfold
itself and develop from time to time new forms and varieties, with constantly wider differentiations, and becolne
more and more complex and heterogeneous. The vegetable kingdom developed, observe the wonderful variety
into which this kingdom has branched or divided. Already there have been discovered some three thousand
separate species divided into orders, families and genera,
to say nothing of the untold species yet undiscovered. One
has but to stand upon the threshold of the very interesting science of botany and peep into the herbanium of
nature to fully appreciate the beauty in the wonderful
variety of plants with which our planet is decked. A further unfolding of the earth is made in the development
of the animal kingdom. How wide its differentiation
from the sponges to man, from the oyster to the highest
type of animal life! Baron Cuvier describes in his great
work many hundred species moving over the globe; and
when we examine these species, and find each species subdivided again and again into numberless varieties, as in the
dog, for example, the mastiff, shepherd, Newfoundland, etc.,
etc., also the horse with its varieties, our wonderment is
increased. But when we again consider that throughout
the entire living mass, and all matter, upon the globe,
there are no two individuals or objects alike, we are still
more amazed at the wonderful advance from the lower to
the higher, the simple to the complex, from the nebulee,
homogeneous, gaseous mass of our planet in its infancy, to




the almost incomprehensible wide diversity or differentiation in life or matter to-day, culminating in man, the
latest and most complex or complicated form in all its
aspects, that our planet has yet produced.
In tracing man from  the earliest development of the
globe we found that some force, call it life or spirit, behind
the correlated manifestations of force, heat, light, motion,
electricity, etc., gave the impulse and caused the developmnent of our planet in its varied manifestations, heretofore briefly described. The question now arises whether
this life-force or spirit manifested in different bodies is
sufficiently individualized to enable it to preserve its
identity, as in man, throughout eternity.,Or, in other
-words, if better understood will Lysander S. Richards
Jive, and his individuality continue forever and ever?
The antecedents or antiquity of manl can be traced with
some show of certainty through a chain of solid facts,
but when we approach the question of the end of man,
or his life beyond the grave, the facts presented to us are
subjective, or more or less speculative. Yet no one aside
from the materialist will, I presume, attempt to deny that
the life or spirit principle developing man and all beings
or things upon our planet continues through all time,
without end. But in what form  it continues, whether
individualized in one person or thing, as upon the earth,
an individual entity, a spiritual body dispossessed of matter, or whether it enters or is swallowed up in a universal
life or spirit-mass pervading the universe, is the vital question of the hour. Advocates of the latter notion tell us
that as a drop of water falls into the ocean, mihngles and
is lost in a great liquid mass, its individuality and identity ceasing, so does life or spirit departing from the. body
pass into the great universal life or spirit mass, and its individuality is forever lost. Let us see if this illustration
holds good.
Water is made up of two elements, oxygen and hydro5




34
gen, and the smallest particle into which a drop can be
divided is a molecule. Picture in the mind the smallest
particle of water imaginable, and divided into:a million
of times, and the particle is not yet reduced to a molecule. Prof. Maxwell in substance says: "The size of a
hydrogen molecule is such that if two million would
stand in  a row they would occupy a millimetre, and a
million million million million of them would weigh but
four or five grammes. The moleclues are conformed to
a constant type with a precision which is not to be found
in the sensible properties of the bodies which they constitute. In the first place, the mass of each individual
molecule and all its other properties are absolutely unalterable. In the second place, the properties of all mlolecules of the same kind are absolutely identical. Oxyrgen
we obtain from  rocks, air, water, fluids, and very rmlnan
different compounds, and also fromn rocks of all geol.)gical ages, from the Tertiary to the Silurian or the Azoic;
and if thrqugh this vast extent of time, millions upon
millions of years, any change was effected in its properties the specimens would manifest it. HIydrogen is procured from coal, water, etc. Two litres of any specimen
of hydrogen will combine with one litre precisely of any
specimen of oxygen, and will form two litres of the vapor
of water. If by lying in rocks, through all the geological epochs of the past, passing through the volcanic and
heat changes to which the rock is subject, or in space,
dashing along as comets and meteors of which it is part
and parcel, if any change or modification in the molecules had occurred, these relations of oxygen and hydrogen above mentioned, would no longer exist; but
the same proportion of combination between these two
elements exist to-day as millions of years ago, showing
that the individuality or identity of the molecule is preserved.
"The  spectroscopist finds through the  spectroscope




35
that the molecules of hydrogen are the same not only in
the sun,- 92,500,000 miles away, but in the fixed stars,
Arcturus, Sirius, Aldeb'aran, etc., trillions of miles distant.
The molecule is indestructible; it preserves its identity
through all time. Each molecule throughout the universe possesses the same size and form. A molecule of
iron, or aught else, is the same in the dog-star as on the
earth, preserving its individuality; it cannot grow or
decay; the molecule is incapable of generation or destruction. Though planets may be destroyed and new
systems develop, the molecules remain unchanged, unbroken and unworn, the same in size, in weight and
shape."  Each molecule is as much in a world by itself as
each individual man; and as much space exists between
each molecule, in which the forces can move them about
in proportion to their size, as between bees in a swarm;
consequently if we analyze a drop of water, or, rather,
could we reduce it to its minimum or smallest size, a
molecule, we should find that, instead of its losing its
identity and becoming lost in the great ocean mass, it
preserves its individuality and moves about in its own
little orbit. The unseen world is comparatively as great
and wonderful upon our planet as beyond, as the microscope long ago revealed.
Now, if the lowest condition to which matter can be
reduced, the atom or the molecule (the former being the
smallest division of a single element and the latter the
minutest division of a compound) preserves its individuality or identity under all conditions and through all
time, and also pervades all space, whether in the solid,
liquid, or gaseous form, is it any less probable that the
universal life or spirit-force pervading the universe, divided and dwelling in innumerable individual forms, will
preserve its identity through whatever changes the mass
of matter with which it is connected may pass through?
To be sure, the material body of a man dies, the form is




36
not preserved or individualized, but the atoms or molecules of which it is made up remain the same, retaining
their constant individual form and shape; and the life or
spirit which builds them up and holds them together in the
form of man, when it loosens its hold and escapes, can it.
be any less individualized than the atoms or molecules
which it partially controls?  An army, for example, is
made up of individuals; they move collectively as one
body. Take the "army of the Potomac;" they moved
in one solid phalanx, united in one single purpose andi
imbued with one and the same spirit of love and defence of their country.  At the close of the war this
body or army decomposes, so to speak, falls to pieces, or
scatters into its original individual elements of men; as
they return to their respective homes the army as a, body
is no more, but the spirit that moved them through the
fields of blood in the defence of their native land still
lives, and will continue to live, as an individual part of
the nation's struggle for existence.
Thelife or spirit force that moves our being cannot be
seen any more than can hea.t or electricity; we can only
see or feel its effects; if it was material - something that
we could feel, see, smell, taste or hear —the evidence
would be positive and beyond question; but as we cannot
taste, smell, see, hear or handle it, as our experiences and
observations are so entirely confined to matter, it is not
surprising that we are totally unable to comprehend it
through our material senses, for these are the only channels through which we can arrive at positive and substantial conclusion; hence the question of the end of
man must always remain more or less unsettled while
spirit and matter continue two distinct elements. We
know, however, as Mr. Moody suggests, that mind or spirit
in many instances works independently of matter. The
material body of man changes, or wastes away, the physiologist tells us, once in: seven years; not one particle of




37
his body,r in- a-~ny form, remains at the end of that time,
The change is very gradual, the waste of the entire body
is constant; and it is to supply this great waste that we
are obliged to:-eat, and a new body is constantly and as
gradually filling the place of the old as the latter is wearing and wasting away. Like the petrifying process of
wood- a strip of it lies in a limestone region, the wood
slowly wastes away, and as rapidly as a particle, an infinitesimal particle, drops, lime works in, hardens and fills the
place, and thus as particle after particle of the wood is
wasting, new matter as gradually fills in, and, so slow is
the process, the form of the fibers and tissues of the wood
is preserved, as the form of a scar upon a man's body is
preserved, through the same slow process; not a particle
of the strip of wood remains; it is petrified, or, the entire
waste of the wood is substituted by limestone.
Now the fact is significant that, as every molecule or
particle of the body wastes or returns to the earth in
seven years, wEhy, if the mind or spirit is not entirely independent of the body, and does not preserve its individuality or identit.y apart from  matter, does not consciousness or mernory, which is part and parcel of the mind,
waste away with the body in seven years?  But, on the
contrary,  the octogenarian is more conscious of events
that occlarred seventy years ago, or in the days of his
childhood -- can remember them with greater ease - than
events that occurred within the space of seven years of
his advanced age. Then, again, we have testimonies from
very responsible persons scattered over the world, that
spirits, individual spirits, once inhabiting earth bodies,
have manifested in many ways their individual existence
beyond the grave. Moses and Elias, departed spirits,
once inhabiting the earth, appeared, it is said, to Peter,
and Thomas when present on the mount with Jesus.
And the argument is presented that the same law that
would allow the return of a spirit two thousand years ago




38
once inhabiting the earth body, must allow the return
of other spirits to-day, good, bad:and indifferent; that all,
laws are immutable and unchangeable.  Thousands of
families throughout the land, of undoubted reputation,
are satisfied by careful examiination of the varied manifestations given to-day by departed spirits in compliance
with certain laws and conditions; and, as a scientist, it is
not for me, or other men however eminent in science, to
question them; for, however f:amiliar the scientist may be
with matter and the laws that govern it, the life or spirit
that shapes and gives it form and being, and is eternal, is
far beyond scientific investigation; for it is not tangible
and cannot be manipulated. It is not, even like heat,
light or electricity, a manifestation of force with which
the scientist can deal - it is the force itself, the kernel of'
each and every existence.