THEISM AND EVOLUTION. 313 



stood. They did not do this for the simple reason 

 that the subject had not even been broached in its 

 present form, and because its formulation as a theory, 

 under its present aspect, was impossible before men 

 of science had in their possession the accumulated 

 results of the observation and research of these lat- 

 ter times. But they did all that was necessary fully 

 to justify my present contention ; they laid down 

 principles which are perfectly compatible with the- 

 istic Evolution. They asserted, in the most posi- 

 tive and explicit manner, the doctrine of derivative 

 creation as against the theory of a perpetual direct 

 creation of organisms, and turned the weight of 

 their great authority in favor of the doctrine, that 

 God administers the material universe by natural 

 laws, and not by constant miraculous interventions. 

 As far as the present argument is concerned, this 

 distinct enunciation of principles makes for my 

 thesis quite as much as would the promulgation of 

 a more detailed theory of Evolution. 



The Scholastic Doctrine of Species. 



It may, however, be objected, that the authorities 

 so far quoted favor development only in a vague 

 or general way ; that the Fathers and Scholastics 

 distinctly maintained certain views which are abso- 

 lutely incompatible with Evolution as now under- 

 stood. It is said, for instance, that the scholastic 

 doctrine of species, to which all the Schoolmen are 

 irrevocably committed, completely negatives the 

 view that their principles are compatible with 



