ISO ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



there would have been the greater difficulty in arriving at a generally 

 accepted explanation of them all. There would have been endless dis- 

 cussion, polemics and critiques, and the intellectual force of the biolo- 

 gical division of the scientific world would have been largely wasted in 

 such exercises. Accordin,gly the Time Spirit would not have advanced, 

 and consequently religious and philosophical thought would not now be 

 very different from what it was fifty years ago; but above all the appli- 

 cation of the theory of evolution to the physical side of the Universe, one 

 of the greatest achievements and of supreme significance to tlie thought 

 of our day, would not have been made. 



It is Darwin's great and never-to-be-forgotten merit that he attacked 

 the central point of the problem and concentrated all the intellectual 

 force of the age on it. Instead of leaving the theory of evolution to 

 emerge slowly from the scientific and philosophical discussions of his 

 generation, " The Origin of Species " made it at once the cardinal issue 

 in the world of thought. Because of the setting in which the doctrine 

 was placed it was at once accepted by the great majority of biologists 

 and naturalists. This was due to the vast mass of facts which he had 

 patiently collected for twenty-one years and also to the long considera- 

 tion which he liad given the theory from 1843 on. In consequence when 

 the book appeared the tlieoi-y was elaborated in all its details and to 

 such a degree of completeness as to parallel the birth of ^Minerva, armed 

 with shield and spear, from the brain of Jupiter. The immediate effect 

 was division in the biological world and almost unanimous opposition 

 from the theologians, metaphysicians and moral philosophers. The op- 

 position of these latter would not have been aroused to the same e?:tent 

 had not the supporters of the theory raised the question of applying the 

 theory m explanation of the origin of moral and ethical ideas. This 

 intensified the keenness of the discussion and precipitated into the 

 struggle all the representatives of the older schools of thought. In the 

 twenty-one years following the publication of the " Origin of Species " 

 there was no topic as much discussed as Darwinism, and there has never 

 been a subject of philosophical and scientific import which has excited 

 more bitter and unfair opposition and criticism. 



Perhaps the bitter opposition was the best treatment that the new 

 idea could have experienced if it were ultimately to prove acceptable and 

 make headway. The keenest criticism could only at once have revealed 

 how strong or how weak it might be and of course its fate would sooner 

 be decided. The discussion, as it went on, served to clear ideas, it made 

 the concept diffuse through the minds of the intellectuals throughout the 

 world whose verdict finally silenced opposition. 



