126 MR. DARWIN'S CRITICS v 



shame, by the bright example of Catholic freedom 

 from the trammels of verbal inspiration. 



I regret to say that my anticipations have been 

 cruelly disappointed. But the extent to which 

 my hopes have been crushed can only be fully 

 appreciated by citing, in the first place, those 

 passages of Mr. Mivart's work by which they were 

 excited. In his introductory chapter I find the 

 following passages : 



" The prevalence of this theory [of evolution] 

 need alarm no one, for it is, without any doubt, 

 perfectly consistent with the strictest and most 

 orthodox Christian 1 theology " (p. 5). 



"Mr. Darwin and others may perhaps be 

 excused if they have not devoted much time to 

 the study of Christian philosophy ; but they have 

 no right to assume or accept without careful ex- 

 amination, as an unquestioned fact, that in that 

 philosophy there is a necessary antagonism 

 between the two ideas ' creation ' and ' evolution/ 

 as applied to organic forms. 



" It is notorious and patent to all who choose to 

 seek, that many distinguished Christian thinkers 

 have accepted, and do accept, both ideas, i.e. both 

 * creation ' and ' evolution/ 



" As much as ten years ago an eminently 

 Christian writer observed : ' The creationist theory 

 does not necessitate the perpetual search after 



1 It should be observed that Mr. Mivart employs the term 

 f< Christian" as if it were the equivalent of "Catholic." 



