Smyrna times., 1872-03-20
Bryant on Darwin.

The poet Bryant lately made a speech at q
meeting OF the alumni of Williams COLLEGE in
"niGn 9 he thus treated of Darwinism.
Ii Is good while since the remark was
maze 6y al English wit, that he did not Ike
~ l9oE at monkeys, they seemed to him so
- ntuih 1i IKE poor relations. What was regarded
e"l a. 'naG time as cleaver jest, has since been
on A1m Wy an eminent naturalist as the basis of
dn extensive system, which Processes 70 ac-
count Tor the origin of the human species Ac-
coruIng to Mr.. Darwin, man is an imnroved
nCnhGy: In his system the lowest form of
anIiilal NINA NE Is minute animated cell. A mum
p eel Vi LheSe cells come casually together. and
IEG form dab OF jelly fixed on crag in the ocean
1hey somehow become arranged in a sort of
symmetry; they gradually acquire organs
tmney "a rise to the dignity of oysters and muscles
ty they multiply by principle of selection on
biL fio par! oi the parents, they rise higher and
nIsa nEner IN the scale of being; they become
JraIiI I"dItmiIupeuSi they crawl upon the land; they
tIol M|uule pn the shore IN the shape of seals
Crey D9lld houses as beavers; they climb trees
as squirrels their talonS and paws become
handS furnished with fingers, and we have the
monhey the monkey acquires the faculty of
aPeech' ana natures into man. 1t is the old
IheoIy OF MOnbOddo prOpounded hundred
years ago. but spread over larger surface
ana set forth with new illustrations
=, but allowing all that its authors saws Of
the consangulnity Of man and the inferior
animals admitting that we are of the same
nesh and blood as the baboon and the RAT
where does he find his proofs, that we are
tLnproVlng ~ instead OF degenerating? He claims
t'a'Ie hn E. ulIh Is an Improved monkey how does
ne know that the monkey is not degenerate
man, decayed branch of the human fam;lv
1allen away from the high rank he once held
ana haunted by dim sentiment of his lost
dignity, as we may infer from his melancholy
aspect! Improvement, Mr. President and
gentlemen, implies effort, it is uphill work
iuegeneracy Is easy, it asks only neglect. inda,
lence, lnaction. How often do the descendants
OF lilustnous men become the most stun;d
OF the human race! How many are there,
each OF whom we may call
THE tenth transmitter of foolish face"
"a line or Savage, the best he ever wrote.
worth all MS other verses put together
The tenth transmiter Of foolish face"
and that face growing more and more foolish
rom generation to generation | might in
stance the Bourbon family, lately reigning in
Spain and Naples. | might instance the royal
family OF Austria. There is a whole nation.
millions upon mlllions-Our Chinese neighbors
OF whom the better opinion is, that they have
been going backward in civilization from
century to century Perhaps they wear the
plgtall as an emblem of what they are all COM
ing to some thousands of years hence. How.
then, can Mr. Darwin insist that if we admit
the near kindred of man to the inferior animals
we must believe that our progress has been up
ward, and that the nobler animals are the
progeny of the inferior? Is not the contrary
more probable? Is it not more likely that the
more easy downward road has been taken,
that the lower animals are derived from some
degenerate branch of the human race, and that
II we do not labor to keep the rank we hold,
our race may be frittered away into the meaner
tribes OF animals, and finally into animalcue?
Then may our Tweeds become the progenitors
of those skulking thieves of the western wild.
the prairie wolves, or may swim stagnant pools
Ill the shape of horse-leeches; our astute law
yers may be represented by foxes, our great
architects by colonies of beavers, our poets bv
clouds of mosquitoes, furnished and musical:
our doctors of divinity say it with all respect
for the cloth-by swarms of the mantis, or
praying insect, always in the attitude of devo
ton. If we hold to Darwin's theory-as I do
not how are we to know that the vast multi
tudes of men and women on the earth are not
the ruins SO to speak of some nobler species,
with more elevated and perfect faculties,
mental, physical, and moral, but now extinct? ?''