324 COMING OP AGE OF " ORIGIN OF SPECIES." [LECT. 



ID 1859, language of which this is an unin- 

 tentional paraphrase, occurring in the " Origin of 

 Species," was scouted as wild speculation ; at present, 

 it is a sober statement of the conclusions to which an 

 acute and critically -minded investigator is led by 

 large and patient study of the facts of palaeontology. 

 I venture to repeat what I have said before, that, so 

 far as the animal world is concerned, evolution is no 

 longer a speculation, but a statement of historical 

 fact. It takes its place alongside of those accepted 

 truths which must be reckoned with by philosophers 

 of all schools. 



Thus when, on the first day of October next, the 

 " Origin of Species " comes of age, the promise of its 

 youth will be amply fulfilled ; and we shall be pre- 

 pared to congratulate the venerated author of the 

 book, not only that the greatness of his achievement 

 and its enduring influence upon the progress of know- 

 ledge have won him a place beside our Harvey ; but, 

 still more, that, like Harvey, he has lived long enough 

 to outlast detraction and opposition, and to see the 

 stone that the builders rejected become the head-stone 

 of the corner. 



