26 WHAT IS DARWINISM? 



that greatest of all miracles, the original crea- 

 tion of the world. 



Mr. Darwin's Theory. 



We have not forgotten Mr. Darwin. It 

 seemed desirable, in order to understand his 

 theory, to see its relation to other theories of 

 the universe and its phenomena, with which it 

 is more or less connected. His work on the 

 " Origin of Species " does not purport to be 

 philosophical. In this aspect it is very differ- 

 ent from the cognate works of Mr. Spencer. 

 Darwin does not speculate on the origin of the 

 universe, on the nature of matter, or of force. 

 He is simply a naturalist, a careful and labo- 

 rious observer ; skillful in his descriptions, and 

 singularly candid in dealing with the difficul- 

 ties in the way of his peculiar doctrine. He 

 set before himself a single problem, namely, 

 How are the fauna and flora of our earth to be 

 accounted for ? In the solution of this prob- 

 lem, he assumes : — 



1. The existence of matter, although he 

 says little on the subject. Its existence how- 

 ever, as a real entity, is everywhere taken for 

 granted. 



2. He assumes the efficiency of physical 



