136 CHARLES DARWIN. 



them to adduce a solitary fact, of which it can 

 be said, this is irreconcilable with the Darwinian 

 theory." 



Taking this argument as a whole, it seems to me 

 to amount to the words of Mercutio quoted at the 

 beginning of this chapter. 



In the following year (1888) Huxley wrote the 

 Obituary Notice of Darwin for the Proceedings of 

 the Royal Society : it is reprinted in " Darwiniana " 

 (pp. 253 et seq.). In this admirable essay the author 

 recognises that Darwin evidently accepted evolution 

 before he could offer any explanation of the motive 

 cause by which that process took place. The theory 

 of descent with modification had often been thought 

 of before, " but in the eyes of the naturalist of the 

 * Beagle ' (and, probably, in those of most sober 

 thinkers), the advocates of transmutation had done 

 the doctrine they expounded more harm than good." 

 Huxley speaks of the " Origin " as " one of the 

 hardest books to master," in this agreeing with 

 Hooker (see p. 111). 



In this essay Huxley gives a clear and excellent 

 statement of natural selection, prefaced by these 

 words (p. 287) :— 



"Although, then, the present occasion is not suitable for 

 any detailed criticism of the theory, or of the objections which 

 have been brought against it, it may not be out of place to 

 endeavour to separate the substance of the theory from its 

 accidents ; and to shew that a variety not only of hostile 

 comments, but of friendly would-be improvements, lose their 

 raison d'etre to the careful student." 



