554 



ON THE RECEPTION OF 



out at sea ; or of the curves of their foam-crested breakers, 

 as they dash against the rocks ; let him listen to the roar and 

 scream of the shingle as it is cast up and torn down the 

 beach ; or look at the flakes of foam as they drive hither and 

 thither before the wind ; or note the play of colours, which 

 answers a gleam of sunshine as it falls upon the myriad bub- 

 bles. Surely here, if anywhere, he will say that chance is 

 supreme, and bend the knee as one who has entered the very 

 penetralia of his divinity. But the man of science knows that 

 here, as everywhere, perfect order is manifested ; that there 

 is not a curve of the waves, not a note in the howling chorus, 

 not a rainbow- glint on a bubble, which is other than a neces- 

 sary consequence of the ascertained laws of nature ; and that 

 with a sufficient knowledge of the conditions, competent 

 physico-mathematical skill could account for, and indeed 

 predict, every one of these " chance " events. 



A second very common objection to Mr. Darwin's views 

 was (and is), that they abolish Teleology, and eviscerate the 

 argument from design. It is nearly twenty years since I 

 ventured to offer some remarks on this subject, and as my 

 arguments have as yet received no refutation, I hope I may 

 be excused for reproducing them. I observed, " that the 

 doctrine of Evolution is the most formidable opponent of all 

 the commoner and coarser forms of Teleology. But perhaps 

 the most remarkable service to the Philosophy of Biology 

 rendered by Mr. Darwin is the reconciliation of Teleology 

 and Morphology, and the explanation of the facts of both, 

 which his views offer. The teleology which supposes that 

 the eye, such as we see it in man, or one of the higher verte- 

 brata, was made with the precise structure it exhibits, for the 

 purpose of enabling the animal which possesses it to see, has 

 undoubtedly received its death-blow. Nevertheless, it is 

 necessary to remember that there is a wider teleology which 

 is not touched by the doctrine of Evolution, but is actually 

 based upon the fundamental proposition of Evolution. This 

 proposition is that the whole world, living and not living, is 

 the result of the mutual interaction, according to definite 



