The times., 1901-03-17

his Iden of Human IN olutiOn-Lifc
on Earth Flcetinis nud Jnsatisfac-
tory-'Thc sun thc Final Heaven.
The ExEsteucc of the SupcrhuInun.
\ French scientist has recently advauc-
ID "a novel theory coucsrni1- the here and
hereafter of human existence. ~ FL
guier holds that our life is SO brief that
il can only D., accounted an accident. "a
fretius phenomenon. scarcely worth
counting in the history of nature, only "a
moment Of transition, an intcrmgtt te Pc
Iind which Providence has condemned Us
to- traverse with rapid step 10 reach "a
better state.
He arrives at this conclusion by dwell
iag upon the incumpietenes= and short
couiaps oI life ia this world.
The physical conditions of earthly life
be- says. are truly detestablc Man. ha
points out, exposed 10 every Kind of suf-
Iering owing a. s. much to the defective or
Eeuization ol his body as To- the external
causes which continually threaten it,
dreading extreme cold ana heat. feeble
and wrctched, coming into the world
naked and without any naJGTal defencls
against seventies of climates martyr
And quite as bad are tho conditions OF
human existence when viewed from a
moral standpoint. Il is proved fact he
notes, that happiness is Il thing impossi-
bl" here below. When the Holy Scriptures
t'u us that the earth is vale of tears
they only. convey to us AN iucoutestabIe
truth under "a poetic form Man suffers
in his affections. in his unsatisfod de-
sircs. in the aspirations and soarings of
his soul, continually driven back broken
lg resisting obstacles.
The few agreeable sensations that We
Jrsusiently feel are repaid hy the most
cruel griefs. We have affections only e.
lose their dearest objects; we have Ia
theirs, mothers. children. only to see thea
some day die in our arms. il is utterly
impossible that a condition So anomalous
should be q definite one But what is til,
second life that is going 60 follow this
earthly existence ln other words. what
becomes Of the human soul after death
has broken the ties which bind il TO tn
bodya
We believe that. after death the soul
passes into new body To- be incarnated
il another organism and constitute be-
ing greatly superior to man i'm moral pow
er. and ranking next above the human
species in the hierarchy of nature" says
N. Figuier This being above man IN
the scale Of the living who people the
universe has no name I'm amy language.
only the angel that the Christian religion
honors and worships can convey 10 us
any idea Of this being. Let us however
waive this word and give the name of
superhunan being to this improved crea-
ture, who, as We believe. is next higher
to man in the ascending scale of beings
in nature. After the dissolution of the
body, after life is extinct the soul then
tached it to the earth. goes to feel, 10
love. to conceive, TO enjoy freedom in
new body endowed with faculties more
powerful than those which belong TO hu-
manity- 1t goes to constitute the super
human being"
IN approaching the problem Of this new
being dwelling house. NJ Figuier first
directs attention to the prOdigious extent
To which life is lavished on our globe. We
cannot take step, We cannot cast a
glance about US, as h. notes without
seeing everywhere myriads OF living lee
ings. The earth Is a vast reservoir OF life
The fresh and salt water and indeed the
atmosphere, are inhabited by animate
creatures. Life supeTa bounds everywhere
ia the world. Our globe is Ike an enor-
nous vase in which life has been accu-
mulated, pressed down, and heaped up
Says NJ Figuer:
To convey an idea Of the enormous
number OF living creatures that the seas
alone hide. and that they have hidden in
former ages, let me cite here a fact we'll
known To geologists-that ali our build
ing stone. all the limestone that forms
mountains and chalk banks. are wholly
composed Of the accumulated fragments
~ shells of mollusks. Cisible or micro
scopic. which filed the basin of the seas
i'm the remOtest time since the creation OF
The world. All soils are formed by the
accumulation OF shells. II life were dis
tributed in the seas with such prodigalitv
I'm the geological periods ii must be- dis
tributed today in nearly the same man
ners for the actual conditions Of nature
have not changed since the primitive days
of our globe
The fact that life overfows ON this
earth. in the water and the air. leads the
investigator TO the conclusion that the
ethereal fluid which succeeds our atnos-
Hhere and fills space is also inhabited by
living beings. And the creatures whicn
live in the planetary ether Re-. in his he
lief. the superhuman beings brought into I
e new life, and furnished with all kinds I
of moral improvements.
NJ. tiguier explains that the fluid which /
astronomers and nsJuralIsts o.iIl ether be +!
gins at an elevation Of thirty to forty /