kinds of their descendants now existing, were combined in one and the same ancestral form.*

With reference to the first origin of life we are in absolute ignorance. If God saw fit to evolve life out of stones we can have no reason to object. "The potter hath power over the clay;" but at present we know absolutely nothing as to how life first came to exist on this globe.

Evolution thus applied, then, is a name for the method which God saw fit to adopt in furnishing this world with animal and vegetable life.

We now come to the other end of the scale: I mean Man. Here there is another break in our knowledge. At present there is absolutely nothing known to prove that man could have been developed from the Simiada by the same processes as the different members of that group were differentiated from a common ancestry. Positive evidence from geology there is none. When we limit our view to man's bodily construction there are too many peculiarities in common with them to allow one to assert that he had no connection with apes at all; but there are many exceptional characters, especially, eg. the large brain, which cannot be accounted for on a purely mechanical hypothesis. When, however, we come to his intellect, the gap between man and the lower orders is so enormous as to be practically infinite, while his moral qualities entirely separate him; for consciousness, if not conscientiousness, is an essential part of his constitution, and makes him a man, and not an animal only.

Thus, then, is the gulf between man and animals enormous, and no evolutionary process that we can at present conceive is sufficient to bridge it over.

So much, then, for evolution as applied to living beings. This principle, however, is of far wider extent; indeed it is of universal application. All things of what kind soever ich admit of growth, progression, and improvement come under its influence. The development of societies and civilisation by a gradual social evolution from a barbaric state is a case in point. So, too, political

* Illustration-The miocene Ictitherium has differentiated into the Hyæna and Civet.

institutions, as has often been said, "grow," and cannot be made all at once. Even all arts, sciences, as well as manufactures, run through a course strictly parallel with

nature.

The principles of evolution are undoubtedly best studied in natural history, and a student of nature will then see how closely similar-nay, identical-features may be seen in other illustrations of growth and development. On the other hand, one of the most interesting features in natural history is, that in some cases, but comparatively few in number, the principle of evolution has ceased to act. In other words, there is no absolute necessity for all organisms to go on changing. Some animals and plants after having arrived at a certain stage remained there almost unchanged; some even from the earliest known ages of the world till now. Why most should go on changing, differentiating, and giving rise to new and different species, genera or families, while, on the other hand, others should have remained as they were, and propagated, age after age, with little or no change, is a mystery yet to be solved. Such, however, is the case. So that although evolution is applicable to the greater portion of organic creation, the "persistence" of certain types or "survivals" of ancestral forms is a phenomenon which must be fully recognised as well.*

But more than this. We must not forget that while animals and plants have gone on peopling the world, they have been dying out as well, and this is often correlated with degeneration in structure, so that the history of the creation is a continual replacement of beings: while the comparatively few survivals of antiquated forms go on living conjointly with the far more numerous but ever changing successors.

Degeneration, decay, and extinction must be therefore recognised as much a part of the great principle of evolution as differentiation and development.

II. Now let us bring these principles to bear on the social evolution of mankind as it exists at the present day. Compare the nations of the West of Europe to * Ex.: Port Jackson Shark, Nautilus and Lingula.

the Mahommedans of Eastern Europe and of Asia, the Hindoos and Chinese.

I cannot go into details now, but the broad and more obvious features will be quite sufficient to illustrate my meaning. The first fact of importance, patent to the most ordinary observer, is that it is only professedly Christian nations which are progressive; and of the most progressive, we Protestants are undoubtedly the first. Not only, e. g. are we the only nation with great colonies in all quarters of the globe, but one of the mightiest of nations, America, has sprung from English soil. I do not at this moment assert that this differentiation of the English race is solely due to Christianity, but it is at least associated with Christian principles of morality. On the other hand, take the Mahommedan races. They represent the condition of a survival of a barbaric stage of civilization. Not only, e. g. is the Turkish race numerically decreasing, but its government is characteristic of a barbaric age. One and a most important element of civilization is the recognition of woman as a help meet for man. That is, though being by nature a weaker vessel physically, she is entitled to hold a place equal to man, though with duties and responsibilities different from him. On this point, I would call attention to the profound insight exhibited by the writer of the third chapter of Genesis. For when we remember that that chapter was penned in all probability at least 5,000 years ago, it was at a time when woman was undoubtedly held in the degraded state she is at the present day in all uncivilized and barbaric countries.

Now this fact alone is sufficient to illustrate the principle I am alluding to, and which shews plainly enough that the Mahommedan has not yet, nor-judging by analogy will he ever emerge from that elementary condition. He is simply a barbaric survival of an antiquated form of society.

Another illustration of the principles of evolution is seen in the individual as a type of the race.

It has often been observed that the child is the father of the man that is, the character of the child foreshadows his character as a man; but another truth may be ex

pressed by the words, "The development of an individual is an epitome of that of the race.' This is most true. Passing over the period of infancy, what are the common peculiarities of boys in general? First, there is an adoration for physical strength and courage. Hence arises the contempt they often shew for girls who cannot play roughly as they do; then there is a thoughtless cruelty to animals. Prevarication and lying are particularly frequent. Now these evil traits arise from there being as yet little or no development of conscientiousness. Hence they are unscrupulous in trying to get anything they want or in gratifying their desires. Making all allowance for exceptions, the naughtiness of children arises from their conscientiousness being undeveloped. Hence to train up a child in the way he should go, external discipline is necessary. Systems of rules stating what they must not do, as well as what they must do, and that without their questioning, are put before them.

Now if we compare the habits of savages we see a very close parallel in their stage of mental evolution to that of the boyhood of civilized and Christian nations.

The love of physical prowess of our youth shews itself in the universal love of war, so that it is considered. ignoble for a savage to die a natural death. The cruelty to animals, and in many, the love of bullying, is seen in the habitual torturing the wounded and captives of war. The contempt of the weaker sex is seen in the slavery of women in all uncivilized communities.

Hence it will be perceived that mere bravery in war is no sign whatever that a nation shews any proof of possessing a living progressive vigour. It is an anachronism for a Christian nation to fight at all. But as long as nations exist which are simply barbaric survivals, who look upon brute force as the sole proof of right, Christian nations will be compelled to meet them on their own grounds. In theory, and as far as possible in practice, arbitration should be resorted to and not arms; and if all nations would consent to that, the great prophecy of Isaiah would soon be fulfilled when he said, "Men would beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning

hooks, and would not learn war any more. Such at least expresses the spirit of true Christianity, and such was the principle Christ laid down. He would use no force in the establishment of His Kingdom. Though possessing infinite power to crush all opposition had He chosen to do it, He held that power in check, employing it solely for the good of man, but utterly ignoring it when called upon to save Himself. This was His unspeakable condescension; this was the true spirit of self-sacrifice by which His empire has been won.

A warlike spirit represents an undeveloped mental stage. All All savage tribes which dwell near one another are in constant state of warfare. All nations before Christ came were at war. Every nation considered it right to plunder, slay, and kill the members of any other nation whatever; not because there had been a quarrel, for there need not have been one, but solely because there had been no treaty between them. Such was the universal condition of mankind; such is the condition now with all barbaric races. Hence the plundering and murders we have lately read so much about of Kurds and Circassians are not surprising, for they have never arisen beyond the crude stage of barbarism; and with them such is considered right.* Now Christ came to reverse all this. "Ye have heard," He said, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thy enemy, but I say unto you, Love your enemies." When we remember that enemies simply meant foreigners, we, as Christians, can see the force of the expression; for it means that we are bound to recognise every man, whether of our own race or not, as being as much cared for by God Almighty as ourselves. This is why we sympathise with suffering humanity wherever it is to be seen. It is a Christian impulse, and is solely due to the edicts and character of Jesus Christ Himself.

We, as a Protestant nation, are keenly alive to a sense of justice, however much it may be obscured by selfish interests in individuals. And if we ask how this is, it is because we are born and bred under institutions which encourage

* "All the horrors of ancient civilization are here being re-enacted in the face of our advanced civilization."-Daily News, March 1, 1878.