, 1877-09-02
EVoLUTI0N: FOR AID AGAINST.

4 EFU1u lluN: Fur AID AGAINST.
The recent inaugural address dolivere
by Prof. SEELrE upon assuming the Preo
dency Of Amherst College, in which he dis
cussed the relations Of religion with civiliza
tloa and education, has aroused decided ad
mlrntion On the one hand, and equally declde
antngonism on the other. As the addrcs
bids fair to become tho basis of n very in
teresting conflict, in which the doctrine o
evolution will be prominently involved, til
positions alrendy taken, pro aud con, will b
Of interest, and statement of them viii
enable the reader to watch tho conflict ant
follow it intelligently.
President SEE1rE's positions are two il
number, and may bo stated ns follows: First
that the historic phenomena of nationa
decay disprove the doctrine of evolution
and, second, that whatever progress there
has been is due to the supernatural Upor
these points We quote from the address:
No historical fact is clearer than that human
progress has never revealed any inherent power ri
! se}f- -DerpetnEtion. Arts, languages, Literature,
sciences, civilizations religions, have in unnum,
besed instances dcierioratcd and left people 1e
| gropc In the shadow Ut death whose r1ogcuiiotf
seem to rejoice in the light of life.
TWAS not the construction Of his house that taught
man to b"lt Ills temple, but exactly the otIlc.
| way The same il true with sculpture painting
| poetry, and music. 1t was a religious jmp,1l lsc
"hlrl gave TO all these their first Inspiration The
oldest monuments we possess Of any Ut thc@e
arts are assocatcdwith some religious rite or faith
| But, more than t,ls. we must also notice the I'M
doubted fact that the arts have grown in .ury 1ust
| hH. in
| 1.-The supernatural, says President SEEL-
| 1E, sis the Alpha as we'll as the Omega OF
human thought" The Popular Science
Monthly, in discussing and dissenting from
| his positions, cites the following statement
Of his views, which he has made still clearer
in al article on "Darwinisln" in johnson s
Neao Unicc,*al Encyclopedia:
The history Of men is full Of instances Of dctcri-
Grafton. II wc weigh it simply by number, whether
of years. or OF nations, OF OF individuals, dcgcn-
Grafton and decay vastly prcponderatc. Where is
the civilization now Of Tyre, and Carthage, and
Babylon, and Nlneyeh: and where are the arts
which built the Great Pyramid and Baalbec: All
over the world VIC have evidence Of tendency
among nations and to sink away from clyillza-
ton into bartarisu but history does not show an
instance OF nation rsing BY 1t. own efforts from
testable fact is, thut human nature reveals no in
herent impulse to Improve or perfect itself. tls-
tory gives nnnunbcred cases nj 7 downward tend
cncy, but not single INSTANCE Of sclf-ero!ycd
prngrcss. The lamp which lights nation in its
advancement: has nrcn at':ays lighted hy lamp be-
hind 1t. Civilization is neye: indigenous; i, is an
exotic plant wherever found. This Is the simple
truth Of history, which makes I'LL such discussions
III Mr. DAEwiS's respecting the descent OF man as
faee to fact us they are abb orient to philosophy.
Upon the one hand, these statements have
been greeted with enthusiastic admiration,
some OF his admirers, among them the Chris
tian LntctHgencer, declaring that the address
has fallen like a bomb into the camps of
skepticism, and has startling Significance in
this day of theological enervaton and cow
artlice before s. dogmatic evolution" Says
the wrterin tho lhteligencer: "Most ACUTE
ly and eloqnently does he prick this bubble,
blown of sentimentalism aud conccit, which
has so long been suffered to pass unchnl-
lenged, and oven been hastily adopted BY
Christian thinkors."
The friends of President SEELYE and the
advocates of his doctrines are not to capture
evolution, however, without bitter struggle.
Its friends are rallying to its defense, and al
rendy the Popular Science Monthly has sent
a solid shot into President SEE1rE's camp, |
which is m earnest of what may
follow when other advocates Of Evolution, |
who are not 80 orthodox rs the Monthly, |
commence the defense by assault. It takes
the bold ground that President SEnrE's doc
trine of national decay, instead of disproving |
the Development theory, is i'll harmony with
it, because decay is NOT possible except upon
The hypothesis of previous growth, and be-
cause community cannot degenerate unless
it has first been organized and unfo!ded.
The conclusion is certainly logical, that,
before civilizations can dissolve, they must
irst be evolved; so that to affirm, II law of
deterioration is necessarily to imply a pre-
'ious law Of evolution With regard to
he preponderanco of decay and degenera-
ion Ill the past career Of humanity, it calls
he attention of President SEE1YE to the
,reat law Of life, that :sthe eggs that are
wasted aud the seeds that are scattered md
ost vastly preponderate over those that
nature" Nature is profuse in the
'aoeo u 4t4cs u9 eueLt ulu5t al |
Ways disappear. Death is simply the
consequence and the logical result of
ife. Nations die to make way for others,
nd civilizations disappear that humanity
nay advance, the impulses which they have
aimed reappearing in higher stages of de-
elopment. Upon this basis, the Monthly
ands the following hard nut to President
EEL1E, with the request that he crack it:
II thc dissolution Of States and the decay OF !
DO not break the continuity OF those |
gcncies bE which man is civilized, how can thcr
lndcr that sraduot improvement OF the process |
nd heighteniny of the effects which evolution in
lies as the consequence OF prolonged, varied, and
national experiences!
With regard to tue second point made by
resident sEE11E, respecting the relations Of
'ligion to civilization and the element of the {
1pernatural, the 4Aonthly hardly occupies ,
'ntroversial attitude, but rather looks upon
as interesting from the indications it affords ,
the rationailstic tendency of New t
ngland orthodoxy. It makes no objection
the theory that religion plays an important
nt in promoting the progress Of man, but t
puts the dilemma in which the orthodox c
'mirers Of the Address are placed somewhat a
follows: It cannot be cihimed that the t.
Valuations Of Tyre, Carthage, Nineveh, and t
abylOn were due 10 the Christian religion. | i,