The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1907-08-21

If there is unity and plan in the
universe from first to last. and it in
c!udes law of moral gravltation and
social development, it is the most pro-
foundry important truth with which
we can become familiar. Is there an
orderly and inevitble Evolution of
Society? Can it be traced and proved
b, tangible facts? If so its law
should be the guiding principle of our
lives and of all efforts to better
society.
| One of the great eoochs of human
knowledge was ushered iii by the Ger
man monk. Copernicus. in 1913, when
he advanced the then amazing doctrine
that this Earth of ours was not the
central planet of the Universe but it
self only one of family OF stars that
revolved about the sun. 1t is difficult
to imagine the readjustment of
thought which this idea involved. 1t
enlarged the vision and stimulated the
intellect of man. There dawned upon
him new and wonderful conception
of the universe and its Creator. and of
| man relativs' 60 both. Corpernicus
died in peace. in the Church, but his
gifted disciple Bruno carried like an
Evangel the new uovr1i.- .bro,o,
Europe. In the light of this age
| Bruno appears the most wonderful
oil
out upon the starry heavens as you
will tonight. and launched the sublime
speculation that every blazing star
was sun like our own. and each the
center of system Of whirling worlds
like ours. What he reached by q
leap Of the imagination far out be-
yond the knowledge Of his day is veri-
fed to US by the telescope and the
seal of scientific authority. He drew
the conclusion from it upon which
modern education ard prison reform
is based that evil is not a positive but
a negative quantity. which comes up
like a weed TO occupy the ground where
better things may be cultivated. And
they burned him in the flower market
of Rome in the year 1900 and, strange
anomoiy, did it in the name of Jesus
of Nazareth. Himself the supreme
sacrifice for mans advancement.
The period FROM the 18th to the
10th centuries was fruitful in the dis
! covery of facts to substantiate the
revolutionary theories of Copernicus
and Bruno. Calico. kepler and New
ton. with tire telescope and
spectroscopa. reduced to a certainty
the composition of the heavenly bodies
and the unity and harmony of the uni
verse. But while they were verify
ing with scientific precision what
Copernicus and Bruno had seen with
the scientific Imagination. an army OF
investigators in every field worked on
converging lines to the most momentous
generalization in the record of human
knowledge. Bruno had dreamed of
it: masters in zoology and botany ano
geology had been gathering apparently
unrelated evidence. which at las,
Joined together with irresistibl.
significance: but Charles Darwin mad,
the conclusive dramatic revelation
and less than fifty years from tn,
, publication of the .'Origin of tn,
t Species" the principle of universe
!, evolution is accepted in every univer
! sity of the world.
5 Instead of world planned an,
I finished as we see it. there is tn
{ conception of a world IN which al
e things have come to be what the
1 are through countless ages of time
e by process or definite. orderly
e inevitable development. connectin
e every living thing upon the earth to
9 day by direct decent or common an
j cestry to all preceding forms.
r So as far back towards the begin
4 ming as the mind of man can penetrat
}. the Law is found in control: and frol
that point up through an inevitabl
and pre-destined course. not only t
the development of man. but of al
Q of human societies. can be trac
ed its unbroken and majestic sway
This conception of Universe throt
: bling with mysterious life. charge,
4 with vital principal of development
y in every feature changing and re
8 spending to universal forces. is es
e tablished in the wor of science. bu
comes slowly into popular comprehen
I sion: yet we are not unfamiliar wit
! the common principles of Evolution
We recognize the influence of heredit
and environment in the breeding O
plants and animals: like tends to bege
like. but with variations and thes,
variations may be seized upon by
skillful breeder and established int
type that will perpetuate themselves
The proof Of the development o
one form by the modification of
another is not only to be found in the
fossils of extinct species but in tn.