Miscellaneous. 403 



has so lately departed from among us. And we feel that it is the 

 more incumbent upon us to give expression to our profound feeling 

 of regret at the loss which the whole scientific world has just sus- 

 tained, as we were at the first opposed to the doctrines put forward 

 by Mr. Darwin, and have never been among the uncompromising 

 supporters of the special form of the theory of evolution which was 

 embodied in the ' Origin of Species.' 



Of the character of his writings it is unnecessary for us to speak. 

 Those who are capable of appreciating them know well how bril- 

 liantly the genius of true scientific investigation shines forth from 

 every page ; how marvellously all details are brought together that 

 bear upon the subject under consideration ; how the minutest points 

 are seized and their indications followed until they lead to most 

 important results ; how patiently and carefully lines of experimental 

 research are pursued ; how every fact that seems to make against 

 the author's views is candidly and conscientiously stated, often much 

 more strongly than they could have been by his oi)ponents them- 

 selves ; and, finally, how grandly, and yet how cautiously, the 

 enormous mass of facts accumulated is generalized. These qualities 

 of his work must in time have brought about a change in the senti- 

 ments of the public towards Darwin and his opinions ; but the 

 amount of prejudice with which they had from the first to contend, 

 rendered still more violent by the injudicious course taken by some 

 of his followers, makes it truly a matter of wonder that the merits 

 of the maa and the value of his labours should have met with siich 

 almost universal recognition within so short a period. 



One cause of this is no doubt to be found in the personal charac- 

 ter of the great naturalist — the modesty and amiability, the extreme 

 conscientiousness and candour which he displayed constantly in his 

 life as in his works. Those of us who had the honour of his ac- 

 quaintance can bear testimony to the manner in which these 

 qualities came out in personal intercourse, rendering his conversation 

 and correspondence always full of charm. In his writings also we 

 find everywhere the workings of the same admirable qualities ; he 

 never attempts to bear down an op|,oncnt or to shirk a difficulty ; 

 weak arguments are acknowledged to be weak, and he never assumes 

 a thing as a possibility in one page and adopts it as an established 

 fact in the next, " as the manner of some is.'' 



Among naturalists, however, another cause may have operated 

 to bring about the rapid acceptance of the new doctrine. It was 

 impossible for even ;i staunch believer in the independent creation 



