ii2 CHARLES DARWIN 



CHAPTER VH. 



THE DARWINIAN REVOLUTION BEGETS., 



So far as the scientific world was concerned the ' Origin 

 of Species ' fell, like a grain of mustard seed ? upon 

 good and well-prepared ground ; the plant that sprang 

 from it grew up forthwith into a great and stately tree, 

 that overshadowed with its spreading branches all the 

 corners of the earth. 



The soil, indeed, had been carefully broken for it 

 beforehand : Lamarck and St. Hilaire, Spencer and 

 Chambers, had ploughed and harrowed in all diligence ; 

 and the minds of men were thoroughly ready for the 

 assimilation of the new doctrine. But the seed itself, 

 too, was the right germ for the exact moment ; it con- 

 tained within itself the vivifying principle that enabled 

 it to grow and wax exceeding great where kindred 

 germs before had withered away, or had borne but 

 scanty and immature fruit. 



Two conditions contributed to this result, one ex- 

 ternal, the other internal. 



First for the less important external consideration. 

 Darwin himself was a sound man with an established 

 reputation for solidity and learning. That gained for 

 his theory from the very first outset universal respect 



