MARXISM AND DARWINISM. 28 



tant class, the leaders of industry. What argument 

 could the old class, the class that became nothing but 

 useless parasites, bring forth against them? They 

 leaned on tradition, on their ancient divine rights. 

 These were their pillars. With the aid of religion the 

 priests held the great mass in subjection and ready 

 to oppose the demands of the bourgeoisie. 



It was therefore for their own interests that the 

 bourgeoisie were in duty bound to undermine the 

 "divinity" right of rulers. Natural science became a 

 weapon in the opposition to belief and tradition; sci- 

 ence and the newly discovered natural laws were put 

 forward; it was with these weapons that the bour- 

 geoisie fought. If the new discoveries could prove 

 that what the priests were teaching was false, the 

 "divine" authority of these priests would crumble and 

 the "divine rights" enjoyed by the feudal class would 

 be destroyed. Of course the feudal class was not 

 conquered by this only, as material power can only be 

 overthrown by material power, but mental weapons 

 become material tools. It is for this reason that the 

 bourgeoisie relied so much upon material science. 



Darwinism came at the desired time; Darwin's 

 theory that man is the descendant of a lower animal 

 destroyed the entire foundation of Christian dogma. 

 It is for this reason that as soon as Darwinism made 

 its appearance, the bourgeoisie grasped it with great 

 zeal. 



This was not the case in England. Here we again 

 see how important the class struggle was for the 

 spreading of Darwin's theory. In England the bour- 

 geoisie had already ruled a few centuries, and as a 

 mass they had no interest to attack or destroy religion. 

 It is for this reason that although this theory was 



