tion, and it is only with a perfect
equilibrium that change, which is the condition of progress, would
cease. The ceaseless desire for something better is, therefore, in
itself an impeachment of things as they are. It is an indication of
there being something wanting, of the existence of a want of complete
harmony between man and his surroundings. Nor is the case of the theist
bettered if he retorts that without the sense of imperfection or of
dissatisfaction there would be no such thing as a conscious striving
after improvement. That may be admitted, but that is only proving that
perfection can never be achieved, and that even in this last resort
"God" has so designed things as to make a mock of man at the end. The
want of complete harmony that is seen in the physical structure of man
is carried over into his mental life. If theism be true man is mocked by
a mirage. And the knowledge is made the more depressing by the belief
that the plan is not accidental, it is not a product of the working of
non-conscious forces, it is the preordained outcome of a plan that was
deliberately resolved on by a being with full power to devise some thing
wiser and better. At the side of that, any theory of things is, by
comparison, hopeful and inspiring.

CHAPTER VIII.

GOD AND EVOLUTION.

There is no logical connection between what is called the "Moral
government of the universe" and the belief in God, but it must be
confessed that the criticism of the belief from the point of view of
moral feeling is of considerable importance. This is in itself a
striking illustration of the reaction of social developments on
religious beliefs. For there is originally no connection between
morality and the belief in God. Man does not believe in the gods because
they are moral, but because they are there. If they are, to his mind,
good, that is so much the better. But whether they are good or bad they
have to be faced as facts. The gods, in short belong to the region of
belief, while morality belongs to that of practice. It is in the nature
of morality that it should be implicit in practice long before it is
explicit in theory. Morality belongs to the group and is rooted in
certain impulses that are a product of the essential conditions of group
life. It is as reflection awakens that men are led to speculate upon the
nature and origin of the moral feelings. Morality, whether in practice
or in theory, is thus based upon what is. On the other