216 FRANCIS ORPEN MORRIS 



which most assuredly the Darwinian doctrine is not 

 when looked at in the light of the facts of nature, 

 and put forth, moreover, as it is, with the most 

 flagrant, the most palpable, the most egregious self- 

 contradictions, the most extravagant demands, con- 

 tradicted by common sense, and in direct opposi- 

 tion to the teaching of astronomy, which proves 

 that in the inconceivably vast space of time which 

 Darwin demands for his theory it was utterly im- 

 possible for life of any sort to have existed on the 

 earth." 



For the interesting manner in which Darwin, 

 after such extraordinary labour and research, had 

 brought his facts together Mr. Morris had, of 

 course, nothing to express but admiration. This 

 was one thing ; it was another thing when some of 

 the chief followers of Darwin proceeded to draw 

 the inferences they did from those facts. It was the 

 process of reasoning which they adopted which was 

 the main exciting cause of all his opposition and 

 plain speaking. 



He did not, and could not, deny the existence of 

 connecting-links throughout the whole range of 

 animated nature ; indeed, he admits this in his writ- 

 ings. His views on this subject had been briefly 

 indicated in the pages of the " History of British 

 Birds." When speaking of one of the larger Hawks 

 (vol. i. p. 21, 2nd edition), and of its approximation to 

 the Owl tribe, he says : " That a real natural bond 

 of union, so to call it, does exist from the highest to 

 the lowest animal in the scale of creation is, without 



