0 THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES 53 
-_ thunderbolts as its half-paralysed hands can hurl, 
those who refuse to degrade Nature to the level of 
primitive Judaism. 
Philosophers, on the other hand, have no such 
aggressive tendencies. With eyes fixed on the 
noble goal to which “per aspera et ardua” they 
- tend, they may, now and then, be stirred to 
- momentary wrath by the unnecessary obstacles 
with which the ignorant, or the malicious, encum- 
ber, if they cannot bar, the difficult path ; but why 
should their souls be deeply vexed? The majesty 
of Fact is on their side, and the elemental forces 
of Nature are working forthem. Not astar comes 
to the meridian at its calculated time but testifies 
to the justice of their methods—their beliefs are 
“one with the falling rain and with the growing 
‘corn.’ By doubt they are established, and open 
inquiry is their bosom friend. Such men have no 
fear of traditions however venerable, and no respect 
for them when they become mischievous and 
obstructive ; but they have better than mere anti- 
quarian business in hand, and if dogmas, which 
ought to be fossil but are not, are not forced upon 
their notice, they are too happy to treat them as 
non-existent. 
The hypotheses respecting the origin of species 
which profess to stand upon a scientific basis, and, 
as such, alone demand serious attention, are of two 
kinds. The one, the “ Special creation ” hypothesis, 
