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I believe that it is " a strange arrangement " of Nature to " grant 

 to species the power of producing hybrids," and then to say to them. 

 " Hitherto shalt thou go and no farther :" " No road this way." I could 

 have done much better than Nature, and rny path is, in my own 

 opinion, a much better one than the old high road. You may think 

 that " species have been endowed with sterility simply to prevent their 

 being confounded in Nature. I think not. n That settles the matter. 



I believe that those who are opposed to me as to the question of 

 sterility "slur it over" as beyond their ''reasoning powers," though it 

 must be confessed that we ' do not understand, except on vague 

 hypothesis, several facts with respect to the sterility of hybrids," and 

 as to myself "no explanation is offered of it." You may consider this 

 as a confession of my own ignorance as being as great as your own 

 about the matter, but what is ig-norance in you is wisdom in me when 

 spread over many pages of high-sounding talk. 



I believe that on my " principle of natural selection," both animals 

 and plants may have been developed " from some " low form " of sea 

 weed ; and ' if we admit this," which I shall henceforth take as proved, 

 we must, of course, ' admit " that " all the organised beings have 

 descended from some one primordial form." In other words, my 

 theory being thus conclusive you may have done with a CREATOR. 

 Natural selection is the creation of my brain, and the only creation 

 that I mean to admit of. This is my Book of Genesis, and no other 

 can be admitted as true. This is a specimen of my reasoning powers. 

 If in law there is a " Coke upon Littleton," why should there not be in 

 logic a " Darwin upon Whately V" Why not? Echo answers, " Why not ?" 



I believe that " natural selection is a power incessantly ready for 

 action, and is as immeasurably superior to man's feeble efforts as the 

 works of nature are to those of art." In other words, as, according 

 to me, Nature and natural selection are all one, it results that 

 Nature's works are as superior to man's as Nature's works are. This 

 is a notable discovery, is it not ? At all events you will allow that it 

 is worthy of me of me, C. Darwin. 



I believe every useful variation is '-preserved by the term natural 

 selection ;" as for instance, that " the swiftest and slimmest wolves 

 would have the best chance of surviving, and so be preserved or 

 selected." You may, if you like, call this a figure of speech, as if 

 one were to say that when a ship is wrecked and a hundred of 

 the crew are drowned out of two hundred, the other hundred are 

 ' selected." Well and good. All is well that ends well. Certain animals 

 continue to exist. That is the great discovery that I have made. 



I believe that though geology " does not reveal " any traces 

 of the u missing links " in my chain, which, however, hangs together 

 to my view just as well without them as with them, yet that it ought 

 to have recovered and revealed them, which, in my judgment, comes 

 to exactly the same thing 



I believe that "certain forms are supplanted by new ones." True 

 this does away with the belief in the power and wisdom of a CREATOR, 

 but that you will never miss in the terra incoynita of my discovery. 



I believe, " I can see no reason to doubt," ' that all the various 

 gorgeous tints of birds" (and so, no doubt, of insects and fishes, too) 

 were organised by the admiration of the females for the first " feather 

 in the cap" of this, that, or the other cock bird. You may ask me 

 how on this supposition I account for the black colour of the crow, 

 and the dingy hue of the coot. You may ask me how I account for 

 the young birds not having the gay and gaudy colours which they 

 attain oftimes. You may ask me how I account for the fact that 

 some species of birds, as, for example, the crossbills, have every variety 



