364 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Mr. Darwin in the general field of nat- 

 ural history, regardless of those pecul- 

 iar doctrines which have become identi- 

 fied with his name. There is probably 

 truth in both views sufficient to make 

 out a case. It is not to be denied that 

 Mr. Darwin has done a great deal of 

 valuable original scientific work as an 

 observer that has enriched biological 

 science, quite independent of the hy- 

 pothesis that he has contributed so 

 much to elucidate. But, on the other 

 hand, it is pretty certain that, notwith- 

 standing the extent of these merits and 

 claims, Cambridge would not have spon- 

 taneously honored a man who has come 

 to be the representative of all that is 

 most obnoxious in the inexorable ad- 

 vance of modern science, unless his 

 friends had vigorously bestirred them- 

 selves to secure the result ; and from 

 this point of view the action of the 

 institution may be fairly looked upon 

 as a victory of liberal ideas over the 

 traditional narrowness, prejudice, and 

 intolerance, which rule in the great 

 seats of English learning. For* if Cam- 

 bridge meant merely to grant its honor 

 to a distinguished man of science, the 

 question arises, " Why has she not done 

 it long before? " Mr. Darwin's labors 

 were widely known and thoroughly 

 appreciated by the highest scientific 

 bodies. He began his career as a nat- 

 uralist at the age of twenty-two by 

 joining the expedition of the Beagle, 

 which went on a four years' exploring 

 tour around the world. While absent 

 and at the age of twenty-five, he was 

 elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, 

 and he contributed an elaborate volume 

 narrating his discoveries in natural his- 

 tory and geology, which was issued 

 upon his return, and separately repub- 

 lished in 1845. Other important works 

 followed; in 1853 the Royal Society 

 awarded to him the Royal Medal, and 

 in 1859 he received the Wollaston Med- 

 al from the Geological Society. The 

 matured results of all his natural his- 

 tory studies were embodied in a vol- 



ume on " The Origin of Species," pub- 

 lished in the same year. Aside from 

 any question of the truth of the hy- 

 pothesis there presented, or any ques- 

 tion as to the exclusiveness of Mr. Dar- 

 win's claims in originating it, there can 

 be no doubt that this book has proved 

 one of the most powerful provocatives 

 of inquiry that have appeared in mod- 

 ern times. If, therefore, Cambridge 

 had been animated with a true spirit of 

 liberal scholarship, it is impossible to 

 see why she did not accord the doctorial 

 honor to Mr. Darwin fifteen or twenty 

 years ago. 



It would seem that the current no- 

 tion that these great schools are influ- 

 enced by just and generous ideals in 

 the bestowment of their honorary de- 

 grees is very much of an illusion. They 

 exhibit little alacrity in detecting merit, 

 and signalizing talent in its early and 

 decisive displays, when their recogni- 

 tion would be of some service to the 

 recipient. They wait until they get 

 more than they give by the transaction. 

 When a man of intellectual power has 

 fought his way to fame, and become in- 

 different to factitious honors, or when 

 a man of force has w r on some noto- 

 riety that makes him conspicuous, so 

 that everybody is watching and talk- 

 ing about him, the universities are then 

 ready enough to avail themselves of the 

 advantages that may arise from their 

 association with his name. Cambridge 

 was probably reluctant in this partic- 

 ular case, as its short-sighted authori- 

 ties probably thought that they might 

 lose more than they should gain by 

 crowning Darwin with the doctorate ; 

 but, as remarked by the editor of Na- 

 ture, the university seemed conscious of 

 the honor Mr. Darwin was conferring 

 upon it, and the enthusiasm of the per- 

 formance will no doubt satisfy the au- 

 thorities that they have done a good 

 stroke of business, as coming genera- 

 tions will assuredly view the matter in 

 a very different light from the way it 

 has been viewed in the past. 



