e present some noble and glorious ideals of life
for men and women may not spring?

Surely it is unwise to read in the writing upon the wall, as so many
do, only a pessimistic presage of inevitable death. If there is
writing for students of evolution to read, then it should be taken as
a warning indication which direction to avoid and which to take.
Unrest is a sign, not of decay, but of life. Stagnation alone gives
warning of death.

And there are a number of facts to be faced before we can give an
opinion either way.

The first of these is, that all civilised nations are endeavouring to
stamp out ignorance and disease, and that an enormous advance in this
direction can be observed in the last fifty years. And, taking a
general view of the civilised peoples, a far greater number of their
units now lead less dreadful and degraded lives.

And surely these indications of mankind's advancement are as plain as
are some other signs of decline.

The stirring up of the masses by insufficient education is bound to
produce unrest, and until the different elements have assorted
themselves into their new places in the scheme of things, how can
there be tranquillity? All is out of balance, and has disturbed the
machinery of the country's life, for the time being. But if the aim
has been for enlightenment, the eventual outcome must be good.

All scum in a boiling pot rises to the top, and makes itself seen,
concealing the pure liquid beneath, until it is skimmed off. And so we
have political demagogues shouting the untenable fallacy that all men
are equal, together with other flamboyant nonsense; and hooligan
suffragists smashing windows. But all these are only the scum upon the
outside of a great upward movement in mankind, and are not to be taken
as the incontestable proof of the vicious condition of the whole mass.

The spirit that is abroad, though one of great unrest, is not one of
decadence, but of progress. But it would be folly not to admit that
there are aspects of it which presage disaster unless directed, just
as the pot will boil over if not watched.

It may be interesting to scrutinise, with unemotional common sense,
some of the causes of the present state of things, and perhaps from
this investigation come to some conclusions as to their remedy or
encouragement.

Nature, whether human, animal, or vegetable, will not be hurried, or
she produces the abnormal. Until about a hundred years ago everything
seemed