32 All the Articles of the Darwin Faith. 



slightest evidence that facts correspond with his hypothe- 

 sis. The history, however ingenious, is purely imaginary 

 from beginning to end." 



" Further consideration has led him to perceive an im- 

 peritrtion in his hypothesis of natural selection. He had 

 not,' he says, ' sufficiently considered the existence of many 

 structures in animals which appear to be, as far as we can 

 judge, neither beneficial nor injurious ; ' and this he 

 believes to be one of the greatest oversights yet detected 

 in his work. In other words, the action of Natural 

 Selection will not of itself sustain the theory of the con- 

 tinuous evolution of all organized beings from inferior 

 forms." 



" That, at all events, is the practical result for all the 

 purposes of life. If, as seems to be admitted even by the 

 most advanced Evolutionists, species be so permanently 

 fixed that millions of years would be necessary to trans- 

 form them, it follows that for all human purposes they 

 must be treated as permanently independent." 



" It is impossible to maintain unbroken gravity in dis- 

 cussing such a dream. But let us turn to Mr. Darwin's 

 investigation of the physical basis of hia conclusion, 



