64 A GREAT CONFESSION CHAP. 



metaphor. The confession of Mr. 

 Spencer is fatal only to claims which 

 never ought to have been made. Natural 

 selection represents no physical causa- 

 tion whatever except that connected 

 with heredity. Physically it explains the 

 origin of nothing. But the metaphorical 

 elements which Mr. Spencer wishes to 

 eliminate are of the highest value. 

 They refer us directly to those supreme 

 causes to which the physical forces are 

 "under subjection." They express in 

 some small degree that inexhaustible 

 wealth of primordial inception, of subse- 

 quent development, and of continuous 

 adjustment, upon which alone selection 

 can begin to operate. These are the 

 supreme facts in nature. When this 

 is clearly seen and thoroughly under- 

 stood, Darwin's researches and specu- 

 lations will no longer act as a barrier 

 to further inquiry, as Mr. Spencer 



