94 THE DOCTRINE OF DESCEXT 



fore, Darwinism, logically carried out, has, according to 

 Virchow, " an uncommonly suspicious aspect," this can 

 only be found in the idea that it offers a helping hand 

 to the efforts of the aristocrats. But how the social- 

 ism of the day can find any encouragement in these 

 efforts, and how the horrors of the Paris Commune 

 can be traced to them, is to me, I must frankly confess, 

 absolutely incomprehensible. 



Moreover, we must not omit this opportunity of 

 pointing out how dangerous such a direct and un- 

 qualified transfer of the theories of natural science to 

 the domain of practical politics must be. The highly 

 elaborate conditions of our modern civilised life require 

 from the practical politician such circumspect and 

 impartial consideration, such thorough historical train- 

 ing and powers of critical comparison, that he will not 

 venture to make such an application of a " natural 

 law " to the practice of civilised life, but with the 

 greatest caution and reserve. How, then, is it possible 

 that Virchow, the experienced and skilled politician, 

 who, above all things, preaches caution and reserve in 

 theory, suddenly makes just such an application of 

 transformation and Darwinism an application so 

 radically perverse that it actually flies in the face of 

 the fundamental ideas of these doctrines ? I myself 

 am nothing less than a politician. In direct contrast 

 with Virchow, I lack alike the gift and the training for 



