BIOGRAPHICAL (1854-1870) 25 



derive their ideas from The Times, reflect. And 

 whatever they do, they shall respect Darwin." 



Following upon this came the now famous meeting 

 of the British Association at Oxford in 1860. Here 

 Huxley came forward demanding a fair hearing for 

 Darwin, and probably his fame as a debater dates 

 from this time — certainly his prominence in the 

 fighting line of science does so. 



On the Saturday of the meeting Bishop Wilberforce,, 

 carrying out his intention to smash Darwin, addressed 

 a meeting, probably the most sensational ever re- 

 corded in the amials of the British Association. It 

 became famous, not merely because two great 

 anatomists, Owen and_Huxley, found themselves 

 in conflictj but because it marked for the first time 

 the absolute cleavage between science and the church 

 which it has taken all these years to bridge. The 

 paper was read by Dr. Draper of New York, the 

 President of the section, Professor Henslow being 

 in the chair, with Bishop Wilberforce on the right. 

 After the paper came the discussion, prefaced by an 

 announcement from the President that only those 

 who had arguments to advance would be allowed 

 to speak. After several more or less unimportant 

 speeches, the Bishop was called upon to speak. He 

 did so for half-an-hom*, making finally that famous 

 taunt which has since become historical. In the Life 

 of Darwin it is described thus : " In a hght, scoffing 

 tone, florid and fluent, he assm'ed us there was noth- 

 ing in the idea of evolution ; rock-pigeons were what 

 rock-pigeons had always been. Then, turning to 

 his antagonist ^vith a smiling insolence, he begged 

 ^^ to know, ' was it through his grandfather or his 

 grandmother that he claimed his descent from a 



