New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-09-05

he saw t admitted IT, accepted the consequences ana
boldly embraced the whole animal world In his scheme
Of Immortality. Bishop Butler accepted with unwaver
ing chronology of the Old Testament describ
ing eonrmed by the natural and civil history Of
the world collected from historians from the
state OF the earth. and from the late inventions
of arts ana sciences" These words mark prog
ress: they must seem somewhat hoary 10 the
Bishops Of to-day II hardly necessary 10 IN
form you since his time the domain OF the naturalist
has been Immensely extended-the whole science or
geology with astounding revelations regarding tho
life OF the ancient earth. having been created The
ridity OF conceptions has been relaxed, the public
mind being rendered gradually tolerant OF the idea that
not for six thousand sixty thousand for six
thousand thousand bu, for icons embracing untold NIL
lions years this earth been the heater OF life and
death. The riddle o. the rocks has been read by the
biologists and paleon oost from subcambrtaD depths
to the deposits thiekenng the seabotoms Of to-
day And upon the leaves OF that stone book are, ~
know, stamped the characters, palmer and surer
than those formed by the ink Of history which carry the
mind back into abysses OF past time compared with
which the periods satisfied Bishop
have a visual angle.
WHAT THE THEOLOGIASs HAVE CONCEDED.
Everybody knows this all admit 1t still
when they first preached these yertes Of science
found loud gued denuncatOrs who proclaimed not
only their baseessness considered scientifically but
their Immortality considered questions Of ethics and
religion. The BOOK of nests had stated the question
in different fashion and science must necessarily 90 20
pieces when It FLASHED with this authority. And as the
seed Of the thistle produces THISTLE and nothing else
these directors scatter their abroad and repro
their kind, ready play again the part OF their
intellectual progemtors. show the vIrulence,
the ignorance achieve for time the
cess, and finally TO suffer the same memorable defeat
Surely the time must at last when human nature
iui IA ffad
alone satisfy will and interpreters and ex
p0sitors Of different stamp from those rash and III in
formed persons have hitherto ready 90 hur
themselves against scientific revelation lest
t should endanger what they pleased 10 consider
theirs The lode of discovery struck, those petr
fed forms which life at time active increased
tomuttudes and demanded classification. The general
fact soon became evident that none but the simplest
forms Of life lie lowest down. that climb higher
and higher the supermposed strata perfect
forms appear The change, however from form 70 form
was not contnuous-hut BY steps, some small some
great. " A. secuon," says Mr. Huxley "a hundred feet
thick will exhibit at different nights dozen species Of
Ammonte, none OF which beyond its particular
of limestone clay into the below it into
that above it." In the presence Of such facts IL not
possible to avoid the question: Have these forms show
ing though in broken stages and with many irreguari
ties this unmstakable general advance been subjected
to no continuous law OF growth or yaTationi Had
our education been purely scientific, had 1t been
sufficiently detached from influences which, how.
ennODng in another domain, have always
proved hinderances and decisions when intro
duced factors into the domain Of physics, the
scientific mind could have swerved from the
search for law Of growth allowed itself 10 accept
the anthrOpomOrphism which regarded each successive
kind Of mechanics bench for the manufac
ture of species out OF all relation TO the old.
Bassed however by their previous education the great
majority OF nsturass invoked special creative act 90
account for the appearance Of each new group Of organ
isms. Doubtless there were numbers who clear.
headed enough to that this was no explanation at
ALL that in point OF fact it attempt by the intro
ducUOn OF greater difficulty. 10 account for less
But having nothing offer in the OF explanation
they for the most part held their peace. SIN the
thoughts Of rejecting men naturally and necessarily
slmmered round the question.
EARLY APPROACHES TO DARwIyIsa.
De Maillet contemporary OF Newton has been
brought into notice by Prof. Huxley one who had
notion of the modihabIlity OF living forms" 10 my
frequent conversations with him. the late Sir Benjamin
BrodIe. OF highly philosophic mind often drew
my attention to the fact that, early as l79i Charles
Darwns grandfather the pioneer OF Charles Oar
In 1901, and in subsequent years, the celebrated
Lamarck who produced > profound an impression on
the public mind through the vigorous exposition OF his
views by author Of the Vestiges of Creation en-
deaYOrcd 10 SHOW Tue Developments Oh out VI
changes OF habit and external conditions. In lsl3
DR.. Wells the founder Of our present theory OF
Dew read before the Royal Society paper In winch, to
use the words Mr. Darwin he distinctly recognizes
the principle Of natural selection and this Is the nrst
recognition that has been Indicated" The thoroughness
and skin with which Wells pursued his work and the OBJ
vious independence his character rendered hun long
ago a favorite with me, and it gave me the iyeliess
pleasure to alght upon this additional testimony
to his penetration Prof. Grant, Mr.. Patrick Mat
thew Won Buch the author OF the Vestiges,' Haloy,
and Othe by the enunciaon OF views more OF less
clear and correct showed that the question had been
ermentng long prior the year 1885, when MI Darwin
and Mr.. Wallace simultaneously, but Independently
placed their closely concurrent views 1pon the subject
before the Lnnean Society These papers we're FOL
lowed in 1859 by publication OF the first edition OK
the Origin OF Species" All great things come slowly 10
the birth. Copernicus informed you, pon Tered his
great work for 50 years. Newton for nearly 70 years
kept the idea Of gravitatOn before his mind; Tor 70
years dwet upou his discovery OF fdxions and
doubtless would have continued to make 1t the object
Of his private thought nad he not found that Leibnitz
was upon his trackf Darwin for y pondered the
problem of origin OF species aud doubtless he would
have continued do had he not found Wallace upon
his track. A concentrated, but full aud powerful
epltome Of his labors was the consequence. Inc
book was by means an easy one ana PROV
ably not one in every score OF those who
then attacked it had read Its pages through, or
were competent TO grasp their significance II they mad
do not sag this merely TO dscredt them, Tor there
we're in those days really eminent scientific men,
entirely raised above the heat OF popular prejudice,
willing to accept any conclusion that science had 10
offer provided it duly backed BY fact and argu-
ment and who entirely mistOok Mr.. Darwins views In
fact the work needed an expounder and it found ore
in Mr. Huxley know nothing more admirable IN the
way of scientific exposition than those early articles OF
his Oh the origin species BE swept the curve OF dis
cusson through the really significant points OF the sub
ect enriched his exposition with profound original re-
marks and reflections. often summing up IN SINGLE
pithy sentence an argument which less compact mind
would have spread over pages.