37 



meeting of the British Association at York, a monster clothed in 

 " armour plate," whose feet were a yard long ; of the gigantic 

 Dinotherium, no less than eighteen feet in length ; of the Iguonodon, 

 seventy feet on end ; of the Icthyosaurus, with jaws six feet in 

 length and containing a hundred and eighty teeth ; of the Plesiosaurus, 

 of enormous size, with the head of a lizard, the teeth of a crocodile, 

 the body of a serpent, the ribs of a chameleon, and the paddles of a 

 whale? You ask me also, whether this last-named came by "natural 

 selection " from a fish, a reptile, or a beast, or from all three at once ? 

 I say that it came from something, or that something came from it. 

 Which way it was, I leave you to find out for yourself, if you can. 



I believe also, as to birds, in the " survival " of the strongest, 

 though the marks of the footsteps and egg of a bird have been found 

 which must have been twice as large as an ostrich. 



I believe the same as to flying reptiles, though I have before me 

 the fossil remains of the Pterodoctyle, an enormous vampire, with a 

 long snout like a crocodile, and which was able either to swim, fly, 

 or creep, or to hang by its claws from trees. 



You tell me that Buckland said that all these " point out 

 unity of purpose and deliberate design in some intelligent First 

 Cause, from which they were all derived." I think no more of 

 Buckland than I do of Cuvier, or Sedgwick, or any other such. 

 How could either of them be Darwin ? I should like to know. Who cares for 

 the opinion of any of them, or of all of them ? I do not, for one, not I ! 



I believe, as I have told you again and again, that the imagina- 

 tion is of far more use in science than reason. You tell me that 

 Milton has said, " Our Reason is our Law." He said so, did he ? 

 Perhaps he did, but pray do not name Milton's opinion in the same 

 day with mine. That would be rather too much. 



I believe that the world has lasted for long enough in pre-historic 

 times, and man upon it in all so-called Time of inconceivable duration. 

 You may possibly ask me how it is that if so it has not been filled and 

 overfilled with mankind ages before this ? That is a question I cannot 

 answer, at least I decline to answer it. I consider it as quite beneath me 

 to notice it. 



I believe that " one hand has surely worked through the Universe," 

 though I have also said, over and over again, that there has been no such 

 hand at work at all. You may call this a palpable contradiction. Let it be. 



I believe that the old-fashioned notion that humility is the unfailing 

 characteristic of a man of science is quite exploded, and that conceit and 

 self-opiniation have properly taken its place. I can only speak for my- 

 self, and I am thoroughly self-satisfied. Let that content you. MiM me 

 plaudo. 



I believe, to conclude, you will allow me to repeat, that if such writers 

 as Cuvier, Sedgwick, Buckland, and others agree with me, they are in 

 the right ; if not, they are in the wrong. What more need be said ? 

 Why waste more words about it V That is the long and the short of the 

 matter, and it settles the question. 



To which I may add, what is an opinion good for, unless one 

 stands to it V At all events I am of the " same opinion still," evidencee 

 or no evidence, proof or no proof, right or wrong. That is my ultimatum, 



THE CONFERENCE is AT AN END. 



I will supplement the above per contra, with the opinions of The Times 

 and other papers, which are not so flattering to the scientific attainments 

 or reasoning powers of the Darwinites as their own estimate of themselves : 



