, in Europe was very largely due
to the literature of the Moors, and their luxury and splendour gave an
impulse to European art. Europe entered upon the remarkable intellectual
period known as Scholasticism. Besides this stimulus, it must be
remembered, the scholars of Europe had at least a certain number of old
Latin writers whose works had survived the general wreck of culture.

In the fifteenth century the awakening of Europe was completed. The
Turks took Constantinople, and drove large numbers of Greek scholars to
Italy. Out of this catastrophe issued the great Renaissance, or rebirth,
of art, science, and letters in Italy, and then in France, Germany,
and England. In the new intellectual ferment there appeared the great
artists, great thinkers and inventors, and great navigators who led the
race to fresh heights. The invention of printing alone would almost have
changed the face of Europe. But it was accompanied by a hundred
other inventions and discoveries, by great liberating and stimulating
movements like the Reformation, by the growth of free and wealthy
cities, and by the extension of peace over larger areas, and the
concentration of wealth and encouragement of art which the growth and
settlement of the chief European powers involved. Europe entered upon
the phase of evolution which we call modern times.

*****

The future of humanity cannot be seen even darkly, as in a glass. No
forecast that aspires beyond the immediate future is worth considering
seriously. If it be a forecast of material progress, it is rendered
worthless by the obvious consideration that if we knew what the future
will do, we would do it ourselves. If it is a forecast of intellectual
and social evolution, it is inevitably coloured by the intellectual
or social convictions of the prophet. I therefore abstain wholly from
carrying the story of evolution beyond realities. But I would add two
general considerations which may enable a reflective reader to answer
certain questions that will arise in his mind at the close of this
survey of the story of evolution.

Are we evolving to-day? Is man the last word of evolution? These are
amongst the commonest questions put to me. Whether man is or is not the
last word of evolution is merely a verbal quibble. Now that language is
invented, and things have names, one may say that the name "man" will
cling to the highest and most progressive animal on earth, no matter how
much he may rise above the ma