12 ESSAY ON CLASSIFICATION 



nations are retained for the sake of symmetry and harmony of pro- 

 portion, even when they have no practical object. 



I disclaim every intention of introducing in this work any evi- 

 dence irrelevant to my subject or of supporting any conclusions not 

 immediately flowing from it; but I cannot overlook nor disregard 

 here the close connection there is between the facts ascertained by 

 scientific investigations and the discussions now carried on respect- 

 ing the origin of organized beings. And though I know those who 

 hold it to be very unscientific to believe that thinking is not some- 

 thing inherent in matter, and that there is an essential difference 

 between inorganic and living and thinking beings, I shall not 

 be prevented by any such pretensions of a false philosophy from ex- 

 pressing my conviction that as long as it cannot be shown that matter 

 or physical forces do actually reason, I shall consider any manifesta- 

 tion of thought as evidence of the existence of a thinking being as the 

 author of such thought, and shall look upon an intelligent and intel- 

 ligible connection between the facts of nature as direct proof of the 

 existence of a thinking God,^^ as certainly as man exhibits the power 

 of thinking when he recognizes their natural relations. 



As I am not writing a didactic work, I will not enter here into a 

 detailed illustration of the facts relating to the various subjects sub- 

 mitted to the consideration of my reader beyond what is absolutely 

 necessary to follow the argument, nor dwell at any length upon the 

 conclusions to which they lead; but simply recall the leading features 

 of the evidence, assuming in the argument a full acquaintance with 

 the whole range of data upon which it is founded, whether derived 



" I am well aware that even the most eminent investigators consider the task of 

 science at an end, as soon as the most general relations of natural phenomena have 

 been ascertained. To many the inquiry into the primitive cause of their existence seems 

 either beyond the reach of man, or as belonging rather to philosophy than to physics. 

 To these the name of God appears out of place in a scientific work, as if the knowl- 

 edge of secondary agencies constituted alone a worthy subject for their investigations, 

 and as if nature could teach nothing about its Author. Many, again, are no doubt pre- 

 vented from expressing their conviction that the world was called into existence and 

 is regulated by an intelligent God, either by the fear of being supposed to share 

 clerical or sectarian prejudices; or because it may be dangerous for them to discuss 

 freely such questions without acknowledging at the same time the obligation of taking 

 the Old Testament as the standard by which the validity of their results is to be 

 measured. Science, however, can only prosper when confining itself within its legitimate 

 sphere; and nothing can be more detrimental to its true dignity than discussions like 

 those which took place at the last [1856] meeting of the German association of natural- 

 ists, in Gottingen, and which have since then been carried on in several pamphlets in 

 which bigotry vies with personality and invective. 



