WHAT IS DARWINISM f 115 



When discussing the paper of Mr. Henslow 

 on evolution, he says : " In speaking of this 

 paper I must commend the exceeding reverent 

 tone in which the author has discussed the sub- 

 ject, and I should like to see all such subjects 

 discussed in a similar tone. The view which 

 Mr. Henslow brings forward, however, does 

 not appear to be a very original one. It was 

 the first view ever brought forward on the 

 doctrine of evolution, and I was the first one 

 to point out that the whole doctrine was one 

 of retrograde character. The whole tone and 

 character of this paper, except that which re- 

 lates to the attributes and moral government 

 of God, 1 is nothing more or less than the same 

 view of the doctrine of evolution which created 

 such a sensation in this country when that 

 famous book came out, ' The Vestiges of Crea- 

 tion.' So far as I can understand the argu- 

 ments of Mr. Darwin, they have simply been 

 an endeavor to eject out of the' idea of evolu- 

 tion the personal work of the Deity. His 

 whole endeavor has been to push the Creator 

 farther and farther back out of view. The 



1 The second part of Mr. Henslow's paper concerns "the 

 methods of the Deity as revealed to us in the Bible." The 

 same is substantially true of his work, The Theory of Evolu- 

 tion. 



