62 LECTURES ON EVOLUTION m 



contrast is still more marked. Thus the circum- 

 stantial evidence absolutely negatives the concep- 

 tion of the eternity of the present condition of 

 things. We can say, with certainty, that the 

 present condition of things has existed for a com- 

 paratively short period ; and that, so far as animal 

 and vegetable nature are concerned, it has been 

 preceded by a different condition. We can pursue 

 this evidence until we reach the lowest of the 

 stratified rocks, in which we lose the indications of 

 life altogether. The hypothesis of the eternity of 

 the present state of nature may therefore be put 

 out of court. 



We now come to what I will term Milton's 

 hypothesis the hypothesis that the present con- 

 dition of things has endured for a comparatively 

 short time ; and, at the commencement of that 

 time, came into existence within the course of six 

 days. I doubt not that it may have excited some 

 surprise in your minds that I should have spoken 

 of this as Milton's hypothesis, rather than that I 

 should have chosen the terms which are more 

 customary, such as " the doctrine of creation/' or 

 "the Biblical doctrine," or "the doctrine of 

 Moses," all of which denominations, as applied to 

 the hypothesis to which I have just referred, are 

 certainly much more familiar to you than the 

 title of the Miltonic hypothesis. But I have had 

 what I cannot but think are very weighty reasons 

 for taking the course which I have pursued. In 



