346 DARWINISM STATED BY DARWIN HIMSELF. 



ginning of all time preordained, then that plasticity of 

 organization, which leads to many injurious deviations 

 of structure, as well as the redundant power of reproduc- 

 tion which inevitably leads to a struggle for existence, 

 and, as a consequence, to the natural selection or survival 

 of the fittest, must appear to us superfluous laws of na- 

 ture. On the other hand, an omnipotent and omniscient 

 Creator ordains everything and foresees everything. Thus 

 we are brought face to face with a difficulty as insoluble 

 as is that of free-will and predestination.^. 1 



WHY DISTASTEFUL ? 



Descent The main conclusion arrived at in this 



of Man, work, namely, that man is descended from 

 some lowly organized form, will, I regret to 

 think, be highly distasteful to many. But there can 

 hardly be a doubt that we are descended from barbarians. 

 The astonishment which I felt on first seeing a party of 

 Fuegians on a wild and broken shore will never be for- 

 gotten by me, for the reflection at once rushed into my 

 mind — such were our ancestors. These men were abso- 

 lutely naked and bedaubed with paint, their long hair 

 was tangled, their mouths frothed with excitement, and 

 their expression was wild, startled, and distrustful. They 

 possessed hardly any arts, and like wild animals lived on 

 what they could catch ; they had no government, and 

 were merciless to every one not of their own small tribe. 

 He who has seen a savage in his native land will not feel 

 much shame, if forced to acknowledge that the blood of 

 some more humble creature flows in his veins. For my 

 own part I would as soon be descended from that heroic 

 little monkey, who braved his dreaded enemy in order to 

 save the life of his keeper, or from that old baboon, who, 



