102 WHAT IS DARWINISM? 



and earnest opponent of Mr. Darwin's theory. 

 He wrote as a naturalist, and therefore his ob- 

 jections are principally directed against the 

 theory of evolution, which he regarded as not 

 only destitute of any scientific basis, but as 

 subversive of the best established facts in 

 zoology. Nevertheless it is evident that his 

 zeal was greatly intensified by his apprehen- 

 sion that a theory which obliterates all evi- 

 dence of the being of God from the works of 

 nature, endangered faith in that great doctrine 

 itself. The Rev. Dr. Peabody, in the discourse 

 delivered on the occasion of Professor Agassiz's 

 funeral, said : " I cannot close this hasty and 

 inadequate, yet fervent and hearty tribute, 

 without recalling to your memory the reverent 

 spirit in which he pursued his scientific labors. 

 Nearly forty years ago, in his first great work 

 on fossil fishes, in developing principles of 

 classificationj he wrote in quotations, ' An in- 

 visible thread in all ages runs through this im- 

 mense diversity, exhibiting as a general result 

 that there is a continual progress in develop- 

 ment ending in man, the four classes of verte- 

 brates presenting the intermediate steps, and 

 the invertebrates the constant accessory ac- 

 companiment. Have we not here the mani- 



