COSMIC PHILOSOPHY 



St. George Mivart, it still seems to me that 

 the weightiest objections which have yet been 

 brought to bear on the Darwinian theory are to 

 be found in chapters vi.-ix. of Mr. Darwin's 

 own work, where they are elaborately and in 

 most cases conclusively answered. To such a 

 marvellous instance of candour, patience, and 

 sobriety, united with the utmost boldness of 

 speculation, the history of science can show but 

 few parallels. 



In 1858 a fortunate circumstance caused Mr. 

 Darwin to break his long silence, and to give to 

 the public an exposition of the results of his 

 researches. Mr. Wallace, who had been for sev- 

 eral years engaged in studying the natural his- 

 tory of the Malay Archipelago, had arrived at 

 views concerning the origin of species quite sim- 

 ilar to Mr. Darwin's, and in 1858 he sent Mr. 

 Darwin an essay on the subject, which in August 

 of the same year was published in the Journal 

 of the Linnaean Society. Sir Charles Lyell and 

 Dr. Hooker now earnestly advised Mr. Dar- 

 win to publish his own views ; and in 1859 the 

 memorable treatise on the " Origin of Species '* 

 was given to the world. 



It would, however, be incorrect to rate Mr. 

 Wallace's merits, in the discovery of the law 

 of natural selection, so high as Mr. Darwin's. 

 They do not stand on precisely the same level, 

 like Adams and Leverrier with reference to the 



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