; it acquires thereby a
certain individuality, a certain character. It may realize
itself, moreover, becoming conscious of its own mental and
spiritual existence; and it then begins to explore the Mind
which, like its own, it conceives must underlie the
material fabric--half displayed, half concealed, by the
environment, and intelligible only to a kindred spirit.
Thus the scheme of law and order dimly dawns on the nascent
soul, and it begins to form clear conceptions of truth,
goodness, and beauty; it may achieve something of permanent
value, or a work of art or of literature; it may enter the
region of emotion and may evolve ideas of the loftiest
kind; it may degrade itself below the beasts, or it may
soar till it is almost divine.

"Is it the material molecular aggregate that has of its own
unaided latent power generated this individuality, acquired
this character, felt these emotions, evolved these ideas?
There are some who try to think that it is. There are
others who recognize in this extraordinary development a
contact between this material frame of things and a
universe higher and other than anything known to our
senses; a universe not dominated by physics and chemistry;
but utilizing the interactions of matter for its own
purpose; a universe where the human spirit is more at home
than it is among these temporary collocations of atoms; a
universe capable of infinite development, of noble
contemplation and of lofty joy, long after this
planet--nay, the whole solar system--shall have fulfilled
its present sphere of destiny, and retired cold and
lifeless upon its endless way."

Such a conception of life carries us very far from the old popular view
of the origin of the race, but it is a conception that brings science
and religion into perfect agreement and will enable us to understand
human evolution and explain facts in life that would otherwise remain
incomprehensible.

The pre-existence of the soul, as a part of universal life, was taught
and commonly accepted in the early Christian period. If we accept the
fact of evolution at all, and are not materialists, there is no escape
from the belief of the pre-existence of the soul. Indeed, not even
materialism can save one from the necessity of accepting the
pre-existence of the individualize