When a great man, recently, in his address before the body of a famous university, solemnly asserted that mankind is growing better, day by day, he must have had before his inner eye fair visions of a future race--the Future of Truth, which come it must--some day--but now lies dormant in the lap of the gods, its alluring, visionary, transcendental form depicted, for an optimistic instant, in the fervent, hopeful heart of a sincere but far-sighted reformer. But it is written: false prophets must come, deceiving in respect to all things in heaven and earth. "Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur." (The world wishes to be deceived, therefore, let it be deceived.) The world elects to be deceived. It is so--often on the most paltry of pretences. And here lies the fatal and prolific cause which has ever, throughout the ages, wrought infinite harm and impeded the progress of the world: _The world's indifference to truth._ For the proper understanding and radical cure of any disease it is of primary importance to have before the mind's eye a distinct picture of its character and developments, thus tracing it back step by step to its source, so that the therapeutic, or healing measures employed may be properly adjusted to its various stages. Nature has her foes, chief amongst which are ignorance, indulgence and fear; and these foes have ever waged fierce warfare upon her from time immemorial. But today a positive spiritual revolution is being wrought among men, for Mother Nature is calling defaulting humanity back to herself with no uncertain voice. Back to Nature is now the cry. Never before were homilies on food so manifold and the ability to profit by them so diminished; never were remedies so abundant and conditions of health so bad; never were deeds of charity so numerous and the poor so discontented; never were measures of reform so prominent and their results so meagre; never was production of commodities so enormous and the cost of living so excessive; never were the resources of all the world so accessible and counterfeits so plentiful; never was enlightenment so widely diffused and sound judgment so restricted; never were the avenues of truth so open, yet never was falsehood so widespread, as in our time. Our age--well named by Dr. Rudolph Weil, the Age of Nerves--has brought to our service the most significant development of natural forces--electricity in all its forms of application, to medicine and industry and traffic; the expression of motive power in terms of machinery--railroads, ocean travel, air navigation, and endless appliances from the almost limitless scope of which, in the hands of man, the master, not even the very wild beasts escape. Meanwhile however--most strange anomaly--mankind degenerates in body and still more in mind. The race has become diseased, is suffering, cries out for a betterment of its conditions, grows constantly more embittered and renounces its faith in the powers, human and divine.