, 1877-09-09

~ 4nttulnesS. anu there must still oe E2o
lnent when the cell from which the humal
organism springs, dead rs ali other matter, be
| comes alive, and receives with life all the po
| tentialities which human life involves. Why i
| Que emcrgencc into life SO much less credible
| or more wonderful. Or more of 4 ''burst,
| than the other! Why should the mo1iai sud
| denly moye-think Of the change, the dead be
| coming liyiag!-and not excite our awe, AM
t then the re~living Of Newton's mind seem a,
| fmpoestbility! We lnav not quote Scripture i.
| this discussion as effective argument, but vi
may, we suppose. quote It as poetry, and ask Mr.
| Greg If Paul of Tarsus has not answered hin
ages since; ask him if lie denies that there mus
| BE- moment, point Of time, when the impus
sibiity he describes SO eloqucntIy occurs. ane
the dead grain OF corn, obeying laws fixed a.
tate, though emanatinE from the will Of Crea
tor, becomes productive power? What is there
in second 1ite-we exclude the word aim,nor
tallty," which Implies an idea that the human
mind only SEEMS to grasp--whch should so ut.
tcr1y distinguish It from the first?
2. But, says Mr. Grey, your idea OF evolution
involves endless graaations OF ascent through
living beings up to man, and why should they
all perish, and not rout Many Of them are
marvellous creatures. most complex in struct-
are: most closely resembling you in intelligence:
GOD wastes 50 much, why deny that Il may waste
gil: "Neithcr of you sec ANYTHING startling or
repuEnant in your fundamental creed or sup
position that all the nunherlcss preceding, pre-
pafa1ory, dpprox'Mafotg forms Of animal exist
ence die out without future, perish irrctrieyy-
biz in making ready for ns,-irl paving the way
Tor that eliminating wonder of Creation. You
DO not cry out against this astounding waste: it
does not seem Tor moment to strike you Us
waste, or is astounding. simply because it is lead
Ing up TO you." Doessfr. Greg, Us he writes by
his lamp. mourn for the oil that has pcrished to
produce his light! He may be morally right in
reprobating man for his PRIDE but surely he
cannot, from his own basis Ut thought, BE- intel
1ectually right, for there is nothing that exists
to make which cxisteuccs have not pcrishcd
What ages OF creatures have not passed, as Mr..
Huxley recently showed, in order that the horse
might t,bc! and mau--lf he lives not us IN cplicm-
crisis worth many horses Nay, is it not
rue,-though the argument may seem so tanci-
1ul to some that we half hesitate to employ it.
that to make every man existeuccs without end
perish vlsibly; that in order that Newton, the
philosopher, may be, Newton the baby, the
child, the boy, the adolcsccnt.--all which are,
mentally at least. several entties,-must pass
away into nothngncss! Let air. Greg condemn
that, II he will, us fancy, and still he,
IS student Of science, will acknowledge
that to make every living thing that
exists-say, o. Cape sheep, with its
lat tail-ages Of living things have perished use
lessly save for that result, and why should they
not perish to produce n,au! II out OF u man
more perfect creature is to spring, be may also
be "wasted," but then that is exactly the belief
denied There NAV be, nay, there is, waste, but
endless waste is the law equally OF Darwin and
Of God. It is resultlcss waste thut we disbc-
lieye. The fossil horse, with his 1lyc toes dis
played and no hoof, lacked somcwhat-who
shall say what9-buf f3we have the horse; the
authropoid lacked somewhat-who shall say
what, unless it be the accumula.iny m;nd?-but
the Spectators unp;tyingncss for non-immnrtal
ancestors is but trenchant phrase, for no
argucr, be lie wise or sophist, can be ashamed of
an unpityingncss which is God's.
!. Aud then, at last, we come tn the main
Of Mr.. Grcg:s letter, i'll which We nrc
hampered by no reference to past discussions,
in which he states unhcsitatingly, without alarm
aud without co1npunetion, his conrlction-or
shall VIC say rather, his hypothcsis2- even
granting the Spectators datum, the necessity of
need not i've again, because on this earth he
fulflls the high purpose of his Creator. He is
Of he may become So noble, so happy. so full Of
intellectual power, that his existence, even if
duration be but seventy or 100 Years, may OF
itself fulfill the purpose OF the Almighty.
= Of man, and We can but ask where is
he evidence OF tic coming perfect breed
Endless cycles have elapsed since the
nonad, and We have the English
nan, and we have also the fetish-worshipcr
ii the Gam5ar as enduring rs the Engiishnian
md more capable Of acclimatization. Why is
he outcome Of civilization in England to .bc
nore durable than its older outcome in Egypt,
the Copt, who, after SO many centuries, is |
robably less competent than when be whipped !
hd1chiidreu of Israel into building the fyra-
nids without pay! Where does Mr. Greg find
lis proof that the Athenian of the future will |
i've. and endure, and advance, any more than !
he Athenian OF the past! What gives Hodge |
Ie predicts, in words instinct with attraction |
or the Western man. who. having been civilized |
or all hour, has forgotten all but civilization, ]
lor;ous destiny for the race; but is 1t not at /
at as not probable 5nat mans 3h,+ destiny hs
overs, unsupported BY adequate wisdom and !
GOODNESS, will bc setf-dcstructiye-hc uses
henlistry already chiefly to kill-that instead !
# his mastering himself, himself may master !
inns May nut the death OF his belief in Il
his morale! Mr.. Greg sings |
pan over the future, but may not i dirge be
he more truthful melody, may not the destiny |
man we'll be not to develop into an Athcuia,l.
OF tie Colorado bertIe Of humanity conquer |
the great fightl Or If it does not, il nun ad
anres from stage to stage till earth is peopIcd +
, Ncwtons, Tcnnysons, and Howartls, If all
ecomc wise as the ,wiscsst now are,
ID new t bcne 81 ire py dc
apacitics OF pain, il what we now call genius
cco1pes universal. without its strange accom-
animent, the sterility which has hitherto pro-
ibited the existence Of Brahmin caste Of
nue, does it all amount? To this,--that man
III cu1minatc an hour before he ceases as utter
as lhe lost Pieiad. The world is slowly cool
'g, and In that cooling is the inevitable end,
ie oblivion behind which there is nothing, an
ristence no whit Erander, be it as grand IS you
.am. Man, ii 1nort2l, is faill1rc; might as
eli. or better, have lacked all his distinctive
rec, for OF that force, it he dies as flower,
othipg can come What use IL thought, II