TRANSMUTABLE. 23 



ever discovered in the wild blue rock during the 

 last five thousand years, under the operation of 

 Mr. Darwin's law of what he terms "natural se- 

 lection ?" Why, surely if man could by crossing 

 and selection produce such a variety of forms, the 

 other great principle, though acting slower, ought 

 to have borne some fruit? Why have we not des- 

 cendants of the blue rock in the wild state with 

 the form of the "short-beaked tumbler," the "pou- 

 ter," or the "fantail?" But that there are none 

 such known, Mr. Darwin adduces as one of the 

 strong points of his theory of their origin. No ! 

 the "blue rock" still keeps its place unaltered and 

 unchanged in the great scheme of nature, adapted 

 to its position by a wise Creator. Designed to 

 fulfil a destiny in the living world, it has re- 

 mained unchanged in habit and structure, since 

 it came into being by the fiat 'of an all-omni- 

 potent and never-dying God. 



And so I believe with the rest of nature. We 

 shall, by and bye, as the arguments open out, 

 see the groundless nature of this natural selection 

 myth. It is not, in fact, a force in nature at 

 all. It is not design, for that would spoil Mr. 

 Darwin's theory altogether. It is not a natural 

 law, for this cannot act partially or by chance. 

 As well might we say the liver secreted bile 

 one day, and the kidneys the next. It cannot 

 be a principle attached to matter when first 

 created, or else it would be guided by natural 

 law, which we have seen it is not. It cannot 

 be a force of "necessity," for there is not one 



