f- 7. Ae 
152 Darwin and his Teachings. | April, 
there would soon be a transition from liberty to licence, which would 
inevitably be succeeded by a reaction fatal to progress. It appears 
wholly unnecessary to seek examples of the truth of these propo- 
sitions, for who that will be at the trouble of thinking over the 
names of men conspicuous for their attainments in any department 
of human knowledge, in science, politics, or literature, can fail to 
alight upon numerous apt illustrations; but nowhere, we think, 
could a more perfect exemplification of what has here been advanced 
be found, than in the publication, reception, and influence of the 
teachings of Charles Darwin. . | 
In one place we find the author and his theories vehemently 
denounced as subversive of all religious and moral truth ; in another, 
he is held up as the founder of a new faith, and is almost deified by 
men who can see in nature nothing but a self-acting machine, whilst 
in Darwin, who is an apt student of nature, they manage to per- 
ceive a master-mind ! 
It has been chiefly urged against his theory of “ Natural Selec- 
tion,” by persons otherwise disposed to adopt his Zoological doctrine, 
that he attributes too much to “ Nature,” and too little to God. “It 
has been said,” he himself remarks,* “that I speak of natural selec- 
tion as an active power or Deity, but who objects to an author 
speaking of the attraction of gravity as ruling the movements of the 
planets? Everyone knows what is meant and implied by such 
metaphorical expressions ; and they are almost necessary for brevity.” 
But this and other explanations or justifications which appear im 
the later, but not in the early editions of his master-work,t do not 
seem to remove what is decidedly the objectionable portion of his 
theory, nor to strengthen its weak points. We are not now speak- 
ing of the religious or irreligious tendency of the omission, but 
simply of the defect in his biological dogma, for, as we shall endea- 
vour to show, “ Natural Selection ” is of itself not sufficient to explain 
the phenomena, past and present, of nature. Or, lest we should 
be met on the threshold of our inquiry by the objection that the 
illustrious naturalist does not claim for “ Natural Selection” any 
such power, let us rather say that all the causes denoted by him, 
whether clearly, or (as it appears to us in some cases) ambiguously, 
are insufficient to produce even the phenomena included by him 
within the limits of his law, much less to accomplish those results 
which some of his disciples have justly stated, must follow as a 
matter of course from its admission, although he studiously avoids 
their nearer observation or discussion. 
Tn these and other remarks upon Darwin’s views, let it be clearly 
* «Origin of Species,’ p. 85. (Murray.) Unless otherwise stated, our references 
will always be to the third edition, 1861. 
+ Compare, for example, ‘Origin of Species,’ first edition, p. 81, with third 
edition, pp. 84 and 85, where a paragraph is inserted ; also, first edition, p, 83, with 
third edition, p. 87, where “ natural selection ” is substituted for ‘ nature.’ 
’ 
* 
