Page:The Philosophy of Creation.djvu/60

 superior to the ponderable; that their results utterly fail to respond to the universal longings of the human mind, rewarding the most hopeful and earnest effort with the despair of agnosticism. They have touched bottom in the downward investigation, and have revealed to the world that there is no light in that direction. We need not waste time to travel that way again. It is a warning therefore to us and to those to come who would investigate causes, and obtain an enlightened understanding of the universe, that no progress can be made by commencing with nature, the lowest, and looking downward.

The uses of the theory of Evolution are therefore negative. It is a Reductio ad Absurdum process, by which the opposite is demonstrated. It must serve only as the background of dark, upon which shall be painted a picture of light.