144 DARWINIANA. 



"That, notwithstanding God hath rested and ceased from 

 creating [in the sense of supernatural origination], yet, never- 

 theless, he doth accomplish and fulfill his divine will in all 

 things, great and small, singular and general, as fully and ex- 

 actly by providence as he could by miracle and new creation, 

 though his working be not immediate and direct, but by com- 

 pass ; not violating Nature, which is his own law upon the 

 creature." 



However that may be, it is undeniable that Mr. 

 Darwin has purposely been silent upon the philosophi- 

 cal and theological applications of his theory. This 

 reticence, under the circumstances, argues design, and 

 raises inquiry as to the final cause or reason why. 

 Here, as in higher instances, confident as we are that 

 there is a final cause, we must not be over-confident 

 that we can infer the particular or true one. Perhaps 

 the author is more familiar with natural-historical than 

 with philosophical inquiries, and, not having decided 

 which particular theory about efficient cause is best 

 founded, he meanwhile argues the scientific questions 

 concerned — all that relates to secondary causes — upon 

 purely scientific grounds, as he must do in any case. 

 Perhaps, confident, as he evidently is, that his view will 

 finally be adopted, he may enjoy a sort of satisfaction 

 in hearing it denounced as sheer atheism by the incon- 

 siderate, and afterward, when it takes its place with 

 the nebular hypothesis and the like, see this judgment 

 reversed, as we suppose it would be in such event. 



Whatever Mr. Darwin's philosophy may be, or 

 whether he has any, is a matter of no consequence at 

 all, compared with the important questions, whether 

 a theory to account for the origination and diversifi- 



