Wilmington daily commercial., 1872-12-12
A REVIEW OF DARWIN.

EXTRACT FROM A SERMON BY REV. jacob TODD. OF
GRACE M. E. CHURCH, WILMINGTON, DEC. SrH,
| 1879.
Starting with man, aud tracing the chain OF
being downward, and observing the points of
| resemblance between each order Of being and
| the one next below it, scientists have hastily
concluded that creation is only an endless de-
velopment from the lowest thing in existence
| towards the higheat-that the vegetable creation
has been developed from the mineral the ami
NAL from the vegetable. and the spiritual from
| the animal. Thus having reached man, it is
only natural for the highest type of man to
spring from the lowest-the Christian from the
| Sinner
This theory, it will readily DO seen does away
with tie necessity Of any moral or spiritual
| change In man in order to secure for him q high
| and glorious destiny. He has only to wait until
| the plastic hand OF nature changes, by slow de-
| grees, his sin-spotted garments into the white
| robe OF the saints. ...-..H...- --.-....
Plausible a. this theory may at first sight ap-
pear, it is contrary TO History, to sound Science,
| and to Scripture.
History furnishes no single example of any
| tribe of men who have, without the religion OF
| the Bible, risen morally and religiously above
| the condition Of the first pair from which they
sprung. On the contrary, the history and tradi-
| tions OF every country outside Of Chiistendom
point back to the beginning OF the race rs its
Golden Age, and frankly confess a sad deteriiA-
| ton instead Of a progressio'. II man has never
| improved upon his primal condition, much less
does history furnish any example Of his having
! risen from a lower order Of intelligence into the
human species. No single case has occurred
| either Of man being developed from lower Or
/ der of creature. nor OF his having developed
| himself into higher order Of man. in moral
| point Of view, within the ages covered by history
/ and tradition.
| mna tl,ans,, IL M r,nra tanahIa in ll,a I;alt .
| science than in that Of history 1t is true, the
/ rock records Of our earth show a marked resem-
| blance between the animal tribes which are ex-
| tinct and those which now exist. They prove,
NOR cover, that the lower forms Of life were cre-
| ated first, and that each FORM in it's turn, was
/ succeeded by higher form until man crowned
| the ssrios. But 30 far from their establishing
the theory that the higher forms we're simply
| developments Of the lower, they conousively
| show that each form was distinct and separate
creation not developed out OF, but added to, that
| which previously existed.
II the one sprang from the other, then we
| should expect the disappearance OF the lower
to be coincident with the advent of the higher.
But In all the fossil remains we find the lower
forms Of animals existing at the same time with
| those into which they are supposed by this theory
| to have been metamorphosed. And at the pres
ent day we find all the lower forms OF life existing
side by sdj with man, the highest Of all. If
brutes have slowly changed into man, how comes
itthat the brutes are still here after man has
| taken their place anu now nhpp6nb IL LnAt our
ing the last six thousand years they have given
not the slightest indication Of ever becoming
anything but brutes f.? The fact is. that while
each genus be developed within the limi ts
which bound it's class, it has never, and can
never become auy other genus OF being.
Despite the resemblance between the different
kinds OF creatures, there is a radical difference
which shows each to be distinct creation. 1t
is exceedingly difficult to tell where the mineral
world ends and the vegetable begins-the
| highest form OF minerals 10 closely resembles
| the lowest form of vegetable life. But tue low
est vegetable that twines it's tendrils around the
| rocks OF the O'eun is infinitely greater than the
| brightest gem that sparkes in the cOrJnet OF
kings. 1t has form VI tJe unknown to min
| erals.
The lowest form OF animal life very closely
resembles some things in the vegetable world,
| but the difference is incaculable care not
how low the animal may be-if 1t have but the
faintest trace Of sensation--it has 3 life that
| vegetation can never enjoy, which makes II
thousand fold greater than the loftiest cedar
that ever lifted its green arms on LabAnon'e top.
So, too, the moral sense Of spiritual beings
very closely resembles the instinct Of brutes
hut the feeblest conscience that ever felt the
touches Of right and lorORg lifts its possessor to
4 an altitude above the highest brute, that only
, | God can measure. The lowest being that bears
Gods image belongs to family to which the
. highest creature that bears it not can claim no
kindred.
J So far as the material elments which enter into
their being are concerned, they may be precisely
4 | alike The crucible or some decomposing agent
may separate the parts which make up an organ
= ic and inorganic substance, and show the ele'
ments Of each to be precisely alike in quality, in
, quantity and in proportion. That which distin.
| guishes them is not difference in material
!, composition, but dlberentkind u life. The or.
{ gAnic has all that the inorgaic possesses and
d something more Il 1t has a higher kind of life
= which no chemical test can analyze and 10 phil
osphy explain, which lifts it into the realm OF a
d higher and nobler creation.
Turning now to Scripture, we shall find thai
J, inspiration gives no less whitening con radio.
+ tion to this groundless theory. We there read
o that God through six days was engaged In orea'
I ting the different animals which now people tht
}, | earth. The one was not developed from the
l. other through long and tedious ages, but &c
quickly did the creation OF the last follow upoT
. the heels OF the first that man is called upon to
n review the army OF the lower animals, fresl
:. from the hand OF God, and to give them thei
It names. The one had not suddenly been chang
|. e into the other for they all there at ont
10 and the same time. The whole account bear
4, upon its very face the idea not that one genul
l. was the undeyelooed germ OF another, but thai
= each was perfect it it's kind-God called it g0ot
70 Just az it then was. ....
70 MHistory, Science and Scripture all unite in de
Is claring that each class of creatures was made
T. the beginning perfect IN its kind, and that it wa
10 so bounded and limited that it could never be
,, come anything else. Each genus, both in thu
~ vegetable and the animal kingdom may be de
l. veluped and improved within the limits whicl
le bound its class, but no development can eve
D. | carry II across those limits and place il anon
10 the beings OF another clAsa. A rose eau be cul
tivated so As to beoom much larger and NOR
D. beautiful than it was by nature, but rose ca
I'd never become lily. nor can IL change its ew
10 robe for that OF the violet. Tue hsrse can b
It developed so as to ad to his speed, beauty an
o. usefulness, but be can never be changed unto