22 DABWINISM TESTED BY 



proverbial narrow-mindedness of liis coun- 

 trymen in matters of religion, delivers him- 

 self of the scarcely consistent confession 

 that his views are not incompatible with the 

 idea of the creation. Of course it is not 

 our intention to touch upon that point here, 

 but the passage is one in which Darwin 

 contradicts himself ; his statements admit 

 only of the notion of a gradual formation 

 and development of organisms, not by any 

 means of the idea of a sudden starting from 

 nothing. The only logical conclusion to be 

 drawn from Darwin's theory is that the 

 common beginning of all living organisms 

 must be sought in that single cell, whence 

 proceeded, in the course of ages and ages, 

 the entire fulness of the now existing living 

 beings and of those already recovered ; that 

 simplest form of life is now to be found in 

 those organisms which are still on the lowest 

 stage of development, and likewise in the 



