FROM THE " MONTH.'" 



These remarks form a rather long pre- 

 face to the consideration of the very small 

 pamphlet before us a pamphlet the visible 

 bulk of which does not give a fair idea even 

 of the actual amount of matter which is 

 contained in its pages, the print being of 

 the smallest. A much more considerable 

 work in point of appearance might have 

 been made out of half the amount of 

 material. Mr. Morris has acted on the 

 principle expressed in the well-known line 

 of Horace about the pre-eminent power of 

 ridicule in cutting things to the quick. His 

 little brochure looks like a mere squib, and 

 if it were no more, it would at least be an 

 amusing 1 one. But it is a great deal more 

 than a squib. He professes to give ''All the 

 Articles of the Darwin Faith " in a series 

 of short propositions, ridiculous enough as 

 they lie before us in his pages, and yet which 

 we believe it would be difficult for the most 

 devoted disciple of Mr. Darwin to repudiate 

 as unfair. We do not. of course, vouch for 

 every single proposition as having been 

 extracted rcrbntim and without violence to 

 the context from the writings of the authors 

 quoted for Professors Huxley and Tyndall 

 furnish Mr. Morris with his materials as 

 well as Mr. Darwin. but we believe in all 

 sincerity that the propositions quoted, and 

 which are absurd enough to be understood 

 as such, even by persons who have not 

 studied the books from which they are 

 taken, are really or equivalently to be found 

 in the writings of these authors. We believe 

 that Mr. Morris has not been unfair, either 

 in the gener- 1 idea which he gives of 

 our modern sophists, or in the particular 

 opinions which he attributes to them, or in 

 the expressions of self-assertion and self- 

 confidence, which he puts into their mouth, 

 if he does not ratber take them from it. It 

 is precisely because the pamphlet is not a 

 simple skit, that we are sorry to see it in a 

 form so comparatively insignificant. It is 

 the work of a man who is quite at home 

 with his authors a man who is devoted to 

 physical science himself, and who has con- 

 tributed his quota to our natural history in 

 a manner which shows that he is well- 

 acquainted with the cost and value of the 

 careful investigation of facts and the com- 

 parison of evidence. It is, therefore, the 

 /fit fl'eaprit of one who has as much claim 

 to the title of philosopher as either of the 

 men on whose works he comments so 

 severely and yet so amusingly. He has not 

 given chapter and verse for his quotations 

 they would have been out of place in so 

 small a work but if these were added, as 

 we have little doubt could be done, the 

 pamphlet before us would be valuable, even 

 to those who may have to confute in the 

 class-room the errors which have been 

 supported by the authority of the writers 

 named. A Christian Plato would find 

 materials here ready to his hand for many 

 a Socratic dialogue on the false dog- 

 matism of the day. 



FROM THE "RECORD." 



The question as to whether man was i 

 created ; ' a little lower than the angels," or / 

 whether by a process of evolution he has*-' 

 come to be something better than a tadpole, 

 is one of undeniable interest. And it 

 appears that modern philosophy so called 

 finds a good deal may be said in favour of 

 the tadpole theory ; although old-fashioned 

 folks, not much given to change and slow 

 to adopt new doctrines, may be brusque 

 enough to declare that " in the multitude " 

 of such words " there wanteth not " folly or 

 sin. Still. Messrs. Darwin and Huxley are 

 " deep thinkers," and it is surely well to 

 know something of the conclusions to which 

 they have attained, as the result of their 

 profound meditations. This valuable in- 

 formation is abundantly supplied in the 

 clever pamphlet now before us. Its writer, 

 the Rev. F. O Morris, who is honourably 

 known as the Editor of The Humanity 

 Series of School Books, published by the 

 Society for Promoting Christian Know- 

 ledge, and who is the author of an admirable 

 History of British Birds, has taken great 

 pains to bring together at least an approxi- 

 mately complete statement of the articles 

 of the Darwinian belief. We only wish 

 that Mr. Morris had, in order to facilitate 

 our comprehension of the Darwinian phi- 

 losophy, been so thoughtful as to number 

 these " articles," not of faith, but of 

 credulity ; for their sum far exceeds that 

 of the feet of the wonderful little insect from 

 which we imagine it must be Mr. Darwin's 

 "boast"' that his "birth is deduced." Xeed 

 we name the centipede ? 



From such an embarras de rwhesses it is 

 hard to cull extracts more choice than the 

 rest ; but we will do our best, only pre- 

 mising that our readers would do well to 

 invest a shilling in the purchase of the 

 pamphlet itself. ^ * * * * 



And now we think we have done enough 

 to prove that this able and amusing pam- 

 phlet will abundantly repay perusal. We 

 wish we could reproduce the grotesque 

 title-page, which exhibits the gradual 

 evolution of quadrupeds, tripeds, bipeds, 

 and unipeds, including monkeys, donkeys, 

 and giraffes. We must not, however con- 

 clude without expressing our sincere thanks 

 to Mr. Morris for having waded so deep 

 into the profound thoughts of the philoso- 

 phers whose views he has undertaken to 

 expound. We feel as if he had for our 

 sakes penetrated into some vast and bottom- 

 Less morass, whence he has emerged to give 

 liis experience for the benefit of incautious 

 wayfarers. Equally base : ess are the theories 

 he has exposed ; and far more dangerous 

 would be their adoption than a plunge into 

 a veritable quagmire. 



101375357 



