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view two main objects. My first was to show that the Darwinian theory is untenable, and that 'Natural Selection' is not the origin of species. My second was to demonstrate that nothing even in Mr. Darwin's theory (as put forth before the publication of his 'Descent of Man,') and, à fortiori, nothing in Evolution generally, was necessarily antagonistic to Christianity."

Reserving for further examination the first of these propositions, "that the Darwinian theory is untenable," it may be observed as to the second, that of the theistic doctrine of Evolution there are theoretically three main varieties: (1) That which limits the supernatural action in the origination of species to the creation of primordial cells. (2) That which, while maintaining the intervention of direct or special creation, regards the origination of species as being for the most part effected indirectly, i.e., through the agency of natural causes. (3) That which regards God as immanent in natural law, and recognises in all phenomena the result of present Divine action.

In his earlier writings, the theism of Mr. Darwin is most explicit. Thus, for example, when speaking of certain birds found in Tierra del Fuego, he says, "when finding, as in this case, any animal which seems to play so insignifi

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cant a part in the great scheme of nature, one is apt to wonder why a distinct species should have been created; but it should always be recollected that in some other country perhaps it is an essential member of society, or at some former period may have been so."1 And again: In his description of the Passage of Cordillera, he says, "I was very much struck with the marked difference between the vegetation of these eastern valleys and that of the opposite side yet the climate, as well as the kind of soil, is nearly identical, and the difference of longitude very trifling. The same remark holds good with the quadrupeds, and in a lesser degree with the birds and insects." "This fact," he adds, "is in perfect accordance with the geological history of the Andes; for these mountains have existed as a great barrier since a period so remote that whole races of animals must subsequently have perished from the face of the earth. Therefore, unless we suppose the same species to have been created in two different countries, we ought not to expect any closer similarity between the organic beings on opposite sides of the Andes, than

1 "Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of H.M.'s Ships Adventure and Beagle." London, 1839. Vol. iii.

on shores separated by a broad strait of the

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And to take but one other instance: In concluding his review of the causes of extinction of certain animals in Patagonia, he says,-" We see that whole series of animals, which have been created with peculiar kinds of organization, are confined to certain areas; and we can hardly suppose these structures are only adaptations to peculiarities of climate or country; for otherwise, animals belonging to a distinct type, and introduced by man, would not succeed so admirably even to the extermination of the aborigines. On such grounds it does not seem a necessary conclusion, that the extinction of species, more than their creation, should exclusively depend on the nature (altered by physical changes) of their country." In these passages we have not only the assertion of species as an established distinction in animal life, we have also the further assertion that these "distinct species," "with peculiar kinds of organization," are to be attributed to "Creation" as their cause, and not "to peculiarities of climate or country."

1 "Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of H.M.'s Ships Adventure and Beagle." London, 1839. Vol. iii. pp. 399, 400. 2 Ibid., p. 212.

But in his later works, the theism thus articulately pronounced is conspicuous chiefly by its absence. At the same time it is not expressly excluded. And on this account the agnostic and atheistic leaders take him roundly to task, notwithstanding his Abrahamic dignity. Thus, for instance, Professor Tyndall :—

"Diminishing gradually the number of progenitors, Mr. Darwin comes at length to one 'primordial form;' but he does not say, as far as I remember, how he supposes this form to have been introduced. He quotes with satisfaction the words of a celebrated author and divine, who had 'gradually learnt to see that it is just as noble a conception of the Deity to believe He created a few original forms, capable of self-development into other and needful forms, as to believe that He required a fresh act of creation to supply the voids caused by the action of His laws.' What Mr. Darwin thinks of this view of the introduction of life I do not know. But the anthropomorphism, which it seemed his object to set aside, is as firmly associated with the creation of a few forms as with the creation of a multitude. We need clearness and thoroughness here. Two courses and two only are possible. Either let us open our doors freely to the conception

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of creative acts, or, abandoning them, let us radically change our notions of Matter."1

Professor Tyndall, as is well known, adopts the latter of these alternatives, and discerns in Matter "the promise and potency of all terrestrial life." To do this, however, is, as he himself declares, to "abandon," once for all, "the conception of creative acts."

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Has Mr. Darwin abandoned that conception? If he has not, then he lacks "clearness and thoroughness "father of scientific men" though he be. So, at least, says Professor Tyndall, and Professor Huxley goes still further.

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Mr. Huxley's utterances on this subject possess a special interest from the eulogy pronounced on him as the accredited "expounder of the Darwinian doctrine. Thus, at Belfast, when introducing his summary of "The Origin of Species," Professor Tyndall said,—

"The book was by no means an easy one; and probably not one in every score of those who then attacked it had read its pages through, or were competent to grasp its significance if they had. I do not say this merely to discredit them; for there were in those days some really

1 "Address delivered before the British Association at Belfast." Longmans, 1874, pp. 53, 54.

2 Ibid., p. 55.

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