existence, and made mistakes in their endeavour [sic] to persuade
themselves that they understood thoroughly a truth which they had
as yet perceived only from a long distance. Hence all the
dogmatism and theology of many centuries. It was impossible for
them to form a clear or definite conception concerning God until
they had studied His works more deeply, so as to grasp the idea
of many animals of different kinds and with no apparent
connection between them, being yet truly parts of one and the
same animal which comprised them in the same way as a tree
comprises all its buds. They might speak of this by a figure of
speech, but they could not see it as a fact. Before this could be
intended literally, Evolution must be grasped, and not Evolution
as taught in what is now commonly called Darwinism, but the old
teleological Darwinism of eighty years ago. Nor is this again
sufficient, for it must be supplemented by a perception of the
oneness of personality between parents and offspring, the
persistence of memory through all generations, the latency of
this memory until rekindled by the recurrence of the associated
ideas, and the unconsciousness with which repeated acts come to
be performed. These are modern ideas which might be caught sight
of now and again by prophets in time past, but which are even now
mastered and held firmly only by the few.

When once, however, these ideas have been accepted, the chief
difference between the orthodox God and the God who can be seen
of all men is, that the first is supposed to have existed from
all time, while the second has only lived for more millions of
years than our minds can reckon intelligently; the first is
omnipresent in all space, while the second is only present in the
living forms upon this earth-that is to say, is only more widely