374 DARWINIANA. 



many years ago but a series of creations through 

 countless ages, and of which the beginning is un- 

 known. 



These references touch a few out of many points, 

 and merely allude to some of the difficulties which 

 the unheeding pass by, but which, when brought be- 

 fore the mind, are seen to be stupendous. 



Somewhat may be justly, or at least plausibly, 

 said in reply to all this from the ordinary standpoint, 

 but probably not to much effect. There were always 

 insuperable difficulties, which, when they seemed to 

 be few, might be regarded as exceptional ; but, as 

 they increase in number and variety, they seem to fall 

 into a system. No doubt we may still insist that, "in 

 the present state of our knowledge, the adaptations 

 in Nature afford a large balance of probability in 

 favor of creation by intelligence," as Mill concluded ; 

 and probability must needs be the guide of reason 

 through these dark places. Still, the balancing of 

 irreconcilable facts is not a satisfying occupation, nor 

 a wholly hopeful one, while fresh weights are from 

 time to time dropping into the lighter side of the bal- 

 ance. Strong as our convictions are, they may be 

 overborne by evidence. "We cannot rival the fabled 

 woman of Ephesus, who, beginning by carrying her 

 calf from the day of its birth, was still able to do so 

 when it became an ox. The burden which our fa- 

 thers carried comfortably, with some adventitious 

 help, has become too heavy for our shoulders. 



Seriously, there must be something wrong in the 

 position, some baleful error mixed with the truth, to 

 which this contradiction of our inmost convictions 



