410 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



pressly stated that the Board of Regents 

 were considering charges made in pri- 

 vate and from the pulpit that Prof. 

 Edwards was "teaching the Darwin 

 theory, and not orthodox science of 

 creation as treated in the Bible." If 

 that statement was not true, surely the 

 Board of Regents might, for the credit 

 of the university, have taken the trou- 

 ble to contradict it. "We have before 

 us also the letter in which Prof. Ed- 

 wards was apprised of his dismissal. 

 There is not a word in it of tlie now. 

 alleged ground of dismissal; simply a 

 statement that in the opinion of the 

 regents " the interest of tlie imiversity 

 requires your immediate removal." This 

 letter bears date June 21, 1894. Is it 

 not most singular, considering the light 

 in which the matter had previously 

 been represented in the press, that the 

 Board of Regents should not have 

 thought it worth while to put on record 

 in this letter that their action was based 

 not on any objection to the professor's 

 evolutionary views, but on a specific act 

 of personal misconduct, if such was 

 really the case? 



Dr. Wooten characterizes as " a pure 

 invention" the statement that Prof. 

 Edwards was removed because he was 

 an evolutionist, but he does not state 

 whether, in point of fact, the teaching 

 of evolution is permitted in the Uni- 

 versity of Texas. If it can be declared 

 without reserve that the successor of 

 the late professor of biology is perfectly 

 free to teach his class on the lines of 

 evolution, then the statement that Prof. 

 Edwards did not incur loss of office on 

 account of his scientific views will at 

 least have a measure of plausibility. 

 Certainly, judging by the tone of the 

 article in the Austin Daily Statesman 

 from which we quoted in our October 

 number, and of a further article in the 

 same journal rei)lying to our comments, 

 Ave should judge that the life of an evo- 

 lutionist professor in the Lone Star 

 State would not be a happy one. The 

 Statesman now says that the article we 



quoted from in October was only a local 

 one dealing with rumors. We can only 

 say that the style of that article and 

 that of the undoubtedly editorial one 

 now before us are so remarkably similar 

 as to suggest a doubt whether, in the 

 Statesman office, the differentiation of 

 local from general editorial work has 

 yet taken place. If it has, then we 

 must conclude that the local editor of 

 last summer has been promoted, and 

 now occupies the inmost sanctum. The 

 zeal for orthodoxy and the command 

 of picturesque and incoherent language 

 which his earlier article displayed could 

 not well be surpassed ; but we think 

 they are equaled in the following ex- 

 tract from the later and strictly editorial 

 article : " We confess that we are not 

 captivated by the historical accuracy of 

 the natural affinity orthodoxy of the 

 monkey and baboon nuptials ; and if 

 this periodical's [The Popular Science 

 Monthly's] facts on that subject are not 

 more correct than its representation of 

 the reasons for the resignation of Prof. 

 Edwards, the Texas populace are under 

 no obligations of logic to believe the 

 doctrine of evolution." Texas was evi- 

 dently waked up too soon, and when 

 people are waked up too soon they are 

 apt to be cross. A few years' more 

 slumbering on that " log " that the 

 Statesman told us about in its former 

 article would about meet the case. 



PROGRESSIVE THOUGHT. 



In marked contrast to the tone of 

 thought which characterizes some of the 

 educational institutions of this country 

 is that which finds expression in a re- 

 port that has reached us of the jubilee 

 lately held of Knox College, Toronto, 

 Canada. Knox College, as its name in- 

 dicates, is a Presbyterian institution, 

 and, if we are rightly informed, is af- 

 filiated with the University of Toronto. 

 Be its theological complexion what it 

 may, however, the speeches delivered 

 at its jubilee make it evident that, as a 



