New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-08-21
SCIENCE.
THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION.
THE MONKEY QUEsTIoN-A STORMY DEBATE.
rpDnM Oup nXvN CnpppSpONDENTI

EDINBURGH, Aug. Sat every meeting OF the
British Association there certain topics which seem
10 with much regularity astronomical phen
We had the monkey up again yesterday In the
AnthropOlogosl Department and the monkey OF course
brought out the ministers They showed in great force
They are no friends the British Association perhaps
not even friends the Advancement of Science Ger
tanly are friends to those branches OF science
which conflict with the accepted dogmas Of theology
Just they particularly Interested in proving
that men-and, Of course ministers-do not descend
from monkeys hut from ADAM they certainly proven
that there was good deal OF the old Adam left In scotch
ministers A more cOmbatve body of men never saw
thought their scientific opponents sngary forDeais
in not quoting at them those passages out oil the D
which epjon meekness and brotherly love.
The beginning Of ali the hubbub yesterday was inc
reading Of a paper by Mr. c. Standard Wake on " Man
and the Ape" MI Wake is Darwinian' ana ye' nc Is
not He believes the ape our ancestor put reJeo.s
the doctrine OF descent by natural selection Inc ohy
way. according TO Mr. Wake, TO explain man ORIGIN
consistently with his proved mental ana phy Si'a ~
nectioa with the ape, to conceive nature as u"
whole and man the natural result its evolution.
eording 70 Darwin and the theory OF seiec'iou' no
appearance Of man on the earth must have Deeh III
tain sense accidental while Mr.. Wakes yew' organic
nature could have evolved In tho droc'ioH VI '
he being the necessary result OF such eFoiu"on' anu
perfect epome of nature itself Now the iorins vi 'ne
Association do not permit Interruptions whe paper Is
roading Won nav imagine, therefore, how hot the
ministers had become before the end OF this had been
reached. They had quilted their pupits ana stood
ready 10 defy satan his stronghold ana 10 90 Datte
with Belial and with all the enemies OF the Son OF Man
and particularly with those who said he came from an
ana SO when poor Mr. Wake sat down, they sprang at
him have no wish to speak lightly OF their manifesto
tons OF ZEAL indeed ii moved one to pity to them
advance with an air Of innocent confidence and white
cravss TO their DOOM should like to speak admirngy
OF their arguments but they scarcely condescended to
argument. They were too much possessed with a
a righteous indignation. Not one Of them really got
away from his pulpit They launched storm Of III
vecves at poor Mr.. Wake They preached at him. some
Of theu and some of them idiculed him. The Rev.
Canon TrsTam-and need not say that q canon
must be respectable manifold Mr.. Wake that his talk
was no better than the old problem Of Thomas Aquinas
how many angels could dance the point Of needle
He told him that many Of his expressions used only
10 conceal the emptiness and vagueness Of his idea And
he finished his speech and Mr. Wake together by decar
ing that In the whole Of his paper there nothing
but a pyramid OF theory an apex Of imagination.
Then the Rev. Mr. BrOde took up the sword OF Gideon,
and smotc the unbeheyer hip and thigh He gave US a
do1nOn OF science, which is knowledge and fact but
ayerred that the talk about evolution was neither one
nor the other. He found difference between animals
and men, in that the latter Alone civilized and savage
some of the Darwnisns excepted had the hope OF ln
mortality. But remember to have heard minister OF
different pattern Theodore Parker say that there is no
and that he believed in heaven for bears as much as
for men Mr.. Brodie settled the whole mat
ter to his satisfaction by declaring that the
argument for evolution rested upon mere assumption
Indeed. l don't why the reverend gentlemen need
have turned out such numbers, for they ALL or nearly
ALL agreed the Uext speaker, DR.. Thomas smith, said
that the used by Mr. Wake were merely convenient
forms Of covering what of necessity and must
bo absolute ignorance in regard to the whole matter
He Dr. SMITH not afraid Of discussing such ques-
he and the enemies Of science were not the
ministers Darwinians and such people, who were the
scum of science who would day be got rid of, and
then all science would be, and even now Is where III
ia fully developed in support Of theism and religion;
which true but not in the sOnse the Rev. Dr. Thomas
Smith meant it.
Perhaps have quoted as much Of this kind OF thco-
logical argument as anybody will TO read Let no
body say treat the cergymen with disrespect much
less their great body Of colleagues in America do not
Tho thing have done TO them Is 10 quote what
they said But they not entitled to any special DEF
erence They enter the voluntarily, and when
there they refuse to be bound by the rules to when
their opponents submit They substitute personalities
for arguments TDey appeal to popular prendices by
crying out Hat these men OF science are
attacking religion, and IL is in the name
of religion that, with flushed faces and cieIcheo
fists they scream denunciaous against men as hon
est as themselves Now there many, hope great
majority Of cergymen who would not DO tnlS' anu VIM
will depore such mistakes, and pray that theH hope
procsSon may saved from such scandals as some Ol
its weaker brethren bring upon it, Mr.. Conway-though
don't know whether he considers himself as still be-
longing 10 the CLOTH at any rate he delivers Sunday dis
courses i'm London regularly-suggested that MI wake
had I'm fact offered compromise to the theology OF the
dav: which showed small gratitude for the prohered
boon.
Nv this time the interest OF the public in Anthropoiogy
and the ministers had outgrown the limits OF lecture
room All during the week. the crowd had been great
and every day struggle for admission TO us mar
row and closely packed benches On Tuesday the De
partment migrated 1t took possession OF the great hall
OF the Museum. Cerberuses guarded the doors, and
eyerybody who failed to produce his card OF membership
was vigorously excluded. But the throng was as great
"a ever and the ministers came back TO renew
the fght albeit the ape.questiOn was nos on the
list of paprs read. 1t appears then that tey con
tribute 6 apiece To the scientific treasury ana are
resnonsle 10 that for the propagation on what
they call nfdel doctrines. Think counted eht clergy
men. That makes so for heresy and there may nave
been more. TIE bait that tempted them to-day was a
paper on toe AntlropOOgy OF Comic, ana sArely the
chance Of anathematiSing the greas PoslhViSs
oigbt tiue. Oyer was worth the money hoy
Maid. They Iado stormy session m ~ Lay
members strong orthodoxy reinforced their SPIRITUAL
ruides They could not, or did not, speak, but they
missed the infdels soundy; and, for ght know hiss
ing may be a new means OF regeneration Nj kalhtss
naper was lucid and dispassionate bat no answer was
soft enough to turn away the ministers wrath As TOT
their share Of the scene il the same as Oh Monday
g. W. =
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION.
,,.vtrc VANS IN Observation-Disclosures SECOND