The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-03-01


experimenting the whole In such q manner
that the physical conditions should o. orOnght
about by which the living beings should fnd
an appropriate home for their growthY In
other words, has man sprung upon eartn be-
cause our earth had become what IL was or
has the earth been prepared for man that he
might develop and unfold his capacities In the
most appropriate manner upon its surface9
Now, if we look at the order of succession in
vertebTates, we find an answer to this question
We find, tirst, that fishes have existed as long as
the surface the earth was under the conditions
during which all these aquatic animals could
exist. Then reptiles have been called into ex-
istence just at the time when the earth had
become extensive enough 'or the land above the
sea had become extensive enough, to form an
appropriate abode for these large marsh reptiles
OF the earliest period. We find afterwards the
introduction of birds at the time when the
atmosphere had been deprived ofthe gases which
had until this time rendered 1t impossible for
them to exist in 1t. The accumulation of coal
IN the beds of the carboniterous period freed
the air of all those elements which accumulated
in II in the earlier period, and with which the
existence OF warm-blOoded, higher animals
would be impossible There is az physical fact
which precedes the introduction Of those living
animals which require purer atmosphere.
Now the question Is, again. has the freeing of
the atmosphere of that carbon been the cause
OF the coming in of birds and mammalia, or
have the processes of nature been so directed
by'a supervising intellect, that at q certain time
the atmosphere should be freed OF these impure
elements, so that higher forms of being might
be called into existence! And when we see
that there Is such gradation between all, and
when we find no intermediate forms from one
to another, 1t seems hardly possible that causes
and influences which are ever acting in the
same way should have produced those different
results. | wish had Time to enter upon an
elaborate argument upon this point. ] will
only sum up my evidence in q few sentences
The physical causes are the same now as they
were before, and chemical and physical agencies
act now as they acted in the beginning. We
M in hn oI
character of the rocks OF the Oldest and more
recent formations. We have evidence of il in
the chemical identity of the materials OF which
the celestial bodies are made of which a dis.
tinguished man of science has recently given us
the most complete observations. The physical
world remains the same; the laws which govern
1t remain the same; aud from the beginning
until now, they have acted in the same way
Are, then, the different animals which have
existed at different times, and which differ in
the most varied manner, the result of causes
which do not vary, which do not change, which
act ever in the same manner? This is contrary
to our argument, and 1t is also contrary to any
evidence we have. ..Is
We cannot ascribe diversified results to uni
form causes; we cannot ascribe as cause to GER
tain effects agencies the action of which Is
known to us. Those who are acquainted with
the effects of light and magnetism and heat
upon matter, and what are the possible combi-
nations between chemical agents, know per-
teCtly well that these various combinations,
actions which we now witness in the animal
kingdom. Therefore say it is not logical to
ascrlbe the living beings to those causes, and
transcribe the diversity which exists among
living beings to causes which at one time
existed. | say that uniformity of nature should
produce uniformity of action. i can conceive
only one possible cause for this diversity-the
intervention OF mind. We all know perfectly
well, in our own case, how the human mind
acts-how free il is, how it can mani
fest ITSELF and abstain from manifesta-
ton. We know perfectly well how in
this manifestation we can recognize the
stamp OF Him from whom it comes We know
perfectly well that in the different works of an
artist we can recognize his peculiar ways, his
peculiar mode of manitesting himself, the pecu-
liar stamp of his mind. So in the case Of the
poet and the painter, and the sculptor and the
architect. Why should we not have something
of the same kind in nature? Our mind is truly
not manifestation of matter; it is something
independent of it, to the extent to which we
know its freedom, and the extent to which we
can maintain its independence from surround
ing influences. And to that extent and
in similar manner do l conceive the in
tervention of mind in the production of living
beings through all times, and a plan LAID out
and carried out from beginning to end with
reference to that end. And that there
IS that reference to the end as it is in man.
as seen in the relation which man bears to
the lowest torm-the fsh-that there is such a
reference to man IS seen in the gradation which
we observe through all times from the begin
ming to the end. And that this cannot be the
result of simple inhuences-of physical condi-
tlons-is further shown by the fact which is
constantly recurring Of the transformations
reproduced every day through the whole ami
NAL kingdom in the production of new indi-
ylduals. And here / come to the closing evi.
dence have to submit. There ale several hun
dred thousand different kinds of animals living
on this globe, of all types of the animal king.
dom. Now every one of them has its line of
development, and each passes through Ger.
tain number OF changes. Every sparrow begins
with the egg, and goes through the changes which
are characteristic of sparrow life until 1t is capa-
bic of reproducing itself in eggs, which will go
through the same changes Every butterfly
arises from an egg, which produces caterpil-
lar, that caterpillar becomes chrysalis and
that in turn becomes a butterfly and thus
changes until it is perfect animal capable of
producing another egg. So il Is with every
living being. There are those which are low
and those which are high; there are those
which belong TO the lowest type of their class
and those which belong to the highest; in fact,
the animal kingdom, as it is now is constantly
UNDERGOING greater changes every wear than
the whole animal Kingdom has passed through
from the beginning until now and
mails swerve from the line anpolnted
for 1t, and change into something that is not
like itself. This is the great fact. Every living
being reprOduces itself under conditions which
are the same now as they were in the beginning
OF the world till now, and vet they do NOT
cbange. why! Because by nature thew are
not chaneeable: That is what we must infer,
ana do not pass from one into another. though
they represent all the changes which animals
can pass through, is it logical to assume that
lhose OF earlier ages have become other than
N,in, VIVA. we see the animal to be now in conse-
nave changed in such manner that that which
n0es not take place now should have taken
pace IN earlier times? say just as much as
in underooinS ~ eFSSay dnIlnai passes through