On this theory only can we explain why this, the highest energy of the human soul, can sometimes be found with energies degrading; or why man even in the paleolithic age could pray, and hope for immortal life. The desire for union with God, is almost the first fire to burn in the soul of the thinking man, and it is certainly the last to die out. In a mind of low degree this holy tendency softens, cheers, purifies; while in a mind of high degree, it elevates to a feeling of kinship with the gods, and gives the steadfast hope of immortal life. Such a mind understands the Vedas: "There are two halves of man: This half is on earth; that half is in heaven. He who knows this union, becomes united. Lead us on by a good path, O thou God, who knowest all things; keep us from the crooked evil and we will offer thee the fullest praise. Deign, therefore, to take me out; in this world I am like a frog in a dry well. The light which is thy fairest form, I see it. I am what thou art This which is nearer to us than anything, this Self, is dearer than a son, dearer than wealth, dearer than all else Seeking for freedom I go for refuge to that God, who is the light of his own thoughts, he who first creates, and delivers. He who knows this, goes day by day into heaven."

(Sacred Books of the East, vols. I, XV).

The earthly half of man is ever changing to adapt itself to changed conditions, ever seeking organic equilibrium; so the heavenly half is ever changing, ever seeking spiritual equilibrium. Religion results from a universal, inherent, tendency of the soul toward God, governed in its develop

any country, is that which is natural to the inhabitants of that country, and cannot be changed except by a very slow process, and one fraught with danger. In all religions there is the same divine spark or nucleus; and one's religion widens in its grasp, and changes in its mode of expression, as the mind becomes more and more enlightened. As the dark intellect becomes radiant with intelligence, as the soul is exposed to higher incident forces falling from the bosom of the Infinite Father, as the light of the sun upon our dark, dark earth; so changes our religion, according to the laws of Evolution, to suit the requirements of the expanding soul. No greater proof can be had of the truth of a religion than that it satisfies the laws of Evolution; no greater proof of God's love and care for us can be had, than that in order to bring the world nearer to Himself, he raises up by his infinite energy in all things operating according to the laws of Evolution, men of different natures, wielding very different powers, who, nevertheless, manifest to the careful observer the truth of the Greek sentence:

46 Πολλων ονοματων μορφη μια
One form, though many names.

First the egg, then the helpless young crying for succor, then the fledgeling trying to fly, then the full-grown bird soaring aloft in the vaulted blue, this is the history of all religious growth. It shows the expansion of the soul-atom from the state of unconscious heavenly tendency to the dignity of a soul flooded with divine light, of a heart beating with divine energy. Evolution proves that the Man of Nazareth must have come in due time, when the old religions had lost their virtue for the time and place, the intellect

must be true, because in essential agreement with the teachings of all great moral and religious reformers, or instructors. As the old form of a religion, its shell, becomes too narrow, then by the striving of the intellect after higher knowledge, and the yearnings of the soul after God, there comes, according to the laws of Evolution, that knowledge of God which is needful for the time and place. Nature is not at a loss in supplying the things wanting, whether for the soul or the body. The principles of Evolution, when applied to the development of religions, discover to us the fact that religion, everywhere present, everywhere moving the soul by similar impulses onward to the same common end, is a natural result of human development under the laws of nature, which is another name for the universally present and uniformly operating Deity; and, therefore, Evolution proves that religions in their essence must be true.

A bubble in the Infinite Sea, a single pulsation of the Universal Heart, a meteor flashing upon our gaze from out an infinite void, and dashing into the fathomless profound,man might properly enough call himself an Agnostic; yet he gathers strength for a higher life, searches after the hidden Father, hopes, prays, adores; yea, his whole being gropes after immortal life; and in this strange and restless life, he is, indeed, "like a frog in a dry well":

"RERUMQUE IGNARUS, IMAGINE GAUDET." 66 Γν θι σαυτόν,”

όστις γαρ αριςτα γιγνωσκει αυτον

αριστα γιγνωσκει τον Θεον—
"Know thyself,"

For he who best knows himself,

BOOK THE SECOND.

THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.

"He is a freeman whose body is bound, and whose mind is free. He is a slave whose body is free, and whose mind is bound.”

(Epictetus.)

"But whether thou believest it of eternal birth and duration, or that it dieth with the body, still thou hast no cause to lament it. The former state of things is unknown; the middle state is evident, and their future state is not to be discovered. Why then shouldst thou trouble thyself about such things as these?"

(Vedas).