PT. n. Mr. Darwin and Mr. Buckle. 63 



with such a wonderful variety of knowledge. Inde- 

 pendently, indeed, of the conclusions to which he 

 would lead us, his works afford an interesting study 

 to the general reader. Dr. Johnson remarked of 

 Oliver Goldsmith that he was writing a work upon 

 Natural History, and that he could make it as inter- 

 esting as a Persian tale. A similar remark may be 

 applied to Mr. Darwin with still greater force, while 

 handling his subject with far greater ability than 

 Goldsmith could ever attain to. There are, how- 

 ever, certain leading principles embodied in his 

 writings, which are, as it were, the pivots upon 

 which his system is founded, and upon these I shall 

 offer some remarks. They are the parts of his 

 reasoning upon which he has failed to carry convic- 

 tion to my mind. Throughout his works it appears 

 to me that he ignores, or, perhaps we may be justi- 

 fied in saying, denies, all evidence of the operation 

 of the First Cause ; his whole argument is founded 

 upon the endeavour to trace the entire scheme of 

 Nature to the operation of secondary causes only, 

 which seems to be set in motion, according to his 

 views, by some self-acting process. It would seem 

 that Mr. Darwin rejects altogether the belief in any 

 direct influence of a higher power to use his ex- 



