360 EVOLUTION AND DOGMA. 



with the noble attributes of reason, liberty and im- 

 mortality. 



Speaking for myself, I must confess that such a 

 modification appears unnecessary, and, in the light 

 of the teachings of St. Augustine and St. Thomas, it 

 seems that one may as readily accept the theory as 

 proposed by Mivart, as the restricted form of it 

 which the distinguished cardinal suggests. If we 

 are to admit the action of Evolution at all, in the 

 production of Adam's body, it appears more consist- 

 ent to admit that it was competent to complete the 

 work which it began, than to be forced to acknowledge 

 that it was obliged to leave off its task when only 

 partially completed. For, whether we assert that 

 the body of the first man was entirely, or only par- 

 tially, the result of evolutionary action, it was, in 

 both cases, according to the principles we have 

 adopted, the work, and ultimately the sole work, of 

 Almighty God. According to Mivart's view, the 

 body of Adam was formed by God solely through 

 the agency of secondary causes ; according to Gon- 

 zales it was formed by God partly through the con- 

 currence of secondary causes, and partly by His 

 direct and immediate action. If we are to ad- 

 mit that Evolution had anything whatever to do 

 with man's corporeal frame, it seems more logical to 

 admit that it finished the work which it began, 

 always, of course, under the guidance of the Divine 

 administration, than to suppose that God gave to 

 His secondary agents a work which they might com- 

 mence, indeed, but which, by reason of limitations 

 imposed on them, they were unable to complete. 



