142 Evolution of An him! Life. 



any one individual are part of the environment to other 

 individuals, even of the same species, with which it may 

 come into competition. 



Now the theory of Evolution is that in some way, by the 

 combination of such interior and exterior forces, successive 

 animal forms have been produced. How this probably took 

 place, it not necessary to show, in order to establish Evolu- 

 tion as the most rational explanation of the facts. It is 

 quite true that a plausible suggestion of the mode of Evolu- 

 tion would greatly assist in recommending the theory ; but 

 it is conceivable tjiat an argument may exist — and, in fact, 

 such an argument does exist — based on undisputed observa- 

 tions, and establishing the theory of some sort of Evolution. 

 In other words, a man might with perfect consistency believe 

 that animal forms had originated by descent, and yet reject 

 the Darwinian hypothesis as a complete or half-complete 

 statement of the mode. He might think that Darwin's 

 formula left out more important factors than any of those 

 it contained. 



This is, indeed, the attitude, to a greater or less extent, 

 of the great body of scientific men at the present day. The 

 Darwinian agents of natural selection and sexual selection 

 are very generally held to have less controlling importance 

 than he (or rather, his ardent disciples — for Darwin was 

 not an extreme Darwinist ) gave to them, in their first en- 

 thusiasm. Mr. Spencer, and many eminent naturalists (es- 

 pecially in America ) lay greater weight upon laws and pro- 

 cesses, some of which are known, and others only surmised, 

 by which, more definitely than by natural selection as he 

 conceived it, specific stability has been determined. 



And this is the secret of the occasional announcements 

 which we hear (mostly, I am sorry to say, from the pulpit), 

 that Evolution has had its day, and is already on the wane ; 

 that the best scientific authorities are rejecting it, and so 

 on. How far this is true of Darwinism, we shall presently 

 see. Of Evolution, in its wider sense, it is not true at all. 

 The victory of that philosophy is complete ; and the sooner 

 theology realizes it, the better for theology. 



II. What is the Theory opposed to Evolution, in 

 the Animal Kingdom ? 



The opposite theory is, that species are substantially per- 

 manent, originating, each in its present form, in a first pair 

 or pairs ; spreading by migration ; forming, perhaps, varieties 



