XII.] THEOLOGY AND EVOLUTION. 311 



the direct action of the first cause in merely natural pheno- 

 mena ever eludes our grasp ; for assuredly those same 

 phenomena will ever remain fundamentally inexplicable 

 by physical science alone. 



Enouo'h has been said as to the distinction between 

 absolute and derivative " creation." It remains to consider 

 the successive "evolution" (Darwinian and other) of "spe- 

 cific forms," in a theological light. 



As to what "evolution" is, we cannot of course hope 

 to explain it completely, but we may define it as the 

 manifestation to the intellect, by means of sensible im- 

 pressions, of some ideal entity (power, principle, nature, 

 or activity) which before that manifestation was in a 

 latent, unrealized, and merely "potential" state — a state 

 which is capable of becoming realized, actual, or manifest, 

 when the requisite conditions are supplied. 



" Specific forms," kinds or species, are (as was said in the 

 introductory chapter) " peculiar congeries of characters or 

 attributes, innate powers and qualities, and a certain nature 

 realized in individuals." 



Thus, then, the '' evolution of specific forms " means the 

 actual manifestation of special powers, or natures, which 

 before were latent, in sucli a successive manner that there 

 is in some way a genetic relation between posterior mani- 

 festations and those which preceded them. 



On the special Darwinian hypothesis the manifestation 

 of these forms is determined simply by the survival of the 

 fittest of many indefinite variations. 



On the hypothesis here advocated the manifestation is 

 controlled and helped by such survival, but depends on 

 some unknown internal laws which determine variation at 

 special times and in special directions. 



