The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-09-28

realm, to which we really belong, but nU 1ns
which for time and for practical purposes W
are Isolated. Our common or social assou,a
ton with matter gives certain opportunity,
and facilities combined with obstacles anu ~,
iculties which themselves opportunities
Tor struggle and effort.
other. and can communicate with those OF our
fellows who have ideas sufficiently like our
own for them to be stimulated into activity by
merely physical process set in action ny
ourselves. BY timed succession OF vihratory
movements las In speech and music). or by a
static distribution OF materials las In writing.
painting and scupture), we can carry on In.
telligent intercourse with our fellows; and
get so used to these ingenious and roundabout
methods that We are apt to think of them and
their like as not only the natural but the
only possible modes Of communication, and
that anything direct would disarrange
the whole fabric of science.
1t is clearly true that our bodies constitute
the normal means Of manifesting ourselves
to each other while on the planet. and that II
the Physiological mechanism whereby we 40
complish material acts is injured the convey
ance OF our meaning and the display of our
personality inevitably and CORRESPONDENCE
suffer
been possible to suppose that the oonamuni
eating mechanism, formed and worked by us.
is the whole of our existence. and that we ara
essentially nothing but tho machinery by which
ne are known. We find the machinery utiliz.
ing nothing but we'll known forms Of energy,
and subject to all the laws OF chemTstry and
so-and from that fact We try to draw valid
deductions as to nature and as to the I'm.
possibility OF: our existing apart from and In
dependent of these temporary modes OF ma.
terfal activity and manifestation We so uni.
formly employ them in our present circum.
stances. that we should be on our guard against
terial bodies are all that We nave any control
over, are all that we are eSperfmentally aware
OF; anything that we, can do with these is
open to us: any conclusion we can draw about
them may be legitimate and true. But to step
outside their province and to deny the exist.
ence OF any other region because have no
sense organ for Its appreciation. or because
tlike the ether it is too uniformly on,nipresent
Tor our ken, is to wrest advantages and
privileges from their proper use and apply
them TO our own misdirection.
But II we have learnt from science that Evo.
luton Is real. We have learnt great deal
must not venture to philosophize but certainly
great reality. Surely evolution is not an illusion;
surely the universe progresses in time Time
and Space and Matter are distractions, but
are none the less real: they are data given
by experience: and Time is the keystone O.
evolution. "Thy centuries follow each other.
perfecting small wild flower"
We abstract from living moving Reality
certain static aspect, and we call 1t matter
we abstract the element Of progressiveness.
and we call it Time. When these two abstrac.
lions combine cooperate interact VIC get reaL
lily again. 1t Is like PoyntiIg's theorem.
The only way to refute or confuse the theory
OF Evolution is to introduce the SUFFICIENTLY OF
lllne. mat theory involves the reality Of time,
and 1t Is in this sense that Professor Bergson
uses the sreat phrase. Creative Evolution"
see the whole material existence as steady
passage from past to future, only the single
instant which we call the present being actual.
The past is not non.exstent. however 1t Is
stored In our memories, there Is a record OF
It In matter, and the present Is based upon Il;
the future Is the outcome of the present and
is the product OF evolution.
Existence is like the output from loom
The pattern. the design for the weaving Is In
hut xphn
looms are mere machines, once the guiding
cards have been fed into them. the Loom OF
Time Is complicated by a multitude OF free
product more beautiful or more ugly according
as they are In harmony disharmony with the
general scheme. venture to maintain that
manifest imperfections are thus accounted for.