214 EVOLUTION AND DOGMA. 



of Science, Prof. Marsh said : " I need offer no argu- 

 ment for Evolution, since to doubt Evolution is to 

 doubt science, and science is only another name for 

 truth." " The theory of Evolution," writes M. Ch. 

 Martins, in the Revue de Deux Mondes, " links to- 

 gether all the questions of natural history, as the 

 laws of Newton have connected all the movements 

 of the heavenly bodies. This theory has all the 

 characters of Newtonian laws." Prof. Joseph Le 

 Conte, however, goes much further : " We are con- 

 fident," he declares, "that Evolution is absolutely 

 certain, not indeed Evolution as a special theory 

 Lamarckian, Darwinian, Spencerian but Evolution 

 as a law of derivation of forms from previous forms ; 

 Evolution as a law of continuity, as a universal law 

 of becoming. In this sense it is not only certain, it 

 is axiomatic." 



Ignorance of Terms. 



But, wherefore, it may be asked, have we such 

 diverse and conflicting opinions regarding the nature 

 and tendency of Evolution ? Why is it that some 

 still persist in considering it a " flimsy hypothesis," 

 while others as stoutly maintain that it is a firmly 

 established doctrine? Why is it that some believe 

 it to be neutral and indifferent, so far as faith is con- 

 cerned, and others find in its tenets illustrations and 

 corroborations of many of the truths of Dogma ; that 

 there are so many who see, or fancy they see in it, 

 the negation of God, the destruction of religion, and 

 the subversion of all order, social and political ? 



1 "Evolution, and Its Relation to Religious Thought," p. 65. 



