ii6 Species; or, Darwinism. 



in species, form and order. Ah! but miracles! 

 exclaims materialistic science. Miracles! re-echoes 

 naturalism. " True science eliminates the super- 

 natural from nature; it cannot admit creative acts 

 or miracles!" This is all an appeal to prejudice, 

 and is called in logic the sophism ad odium. The 

 mention of God creates aversion in the bosoms of 

 some men; and, if a revolution in science means 

 the dethronement of His ancient dynasty, then 

 welcome the revolution! But if in the same per- 

 sons' minds there is something worse than a sin, if 

 there is such a thing as a blunder, I would beg to 

 submit that here there is a blunder in the facts and 

 in the logic. In no sound theory of the world's ma- 

 terial development or evolution, of which some three 

 or four might be sketched, is there any question of 

 creation, creative acts or miracles. After the first 

 creation of matter, there is only the normal action of 

 a Supreme Cause's administration, or government; 

 and that is not creative, nor miraculous. If anything 

 were miraculous in the development of nature, it 

 would be species evolving by descent out of ances- 

 tors or elements that never contained them, if the 

 nature of the case admits of no such production. 

 This kind of evolution would be the miraculous in 

 very deed. And M. Ferriere, an evolutionist of the 

 most materialistic type, turns round sharply upon 

 Haeckel for maintaining the miraculous, and the 

 absurdly miraculous. Professor Haeckel had said in 

 a discourse delivered at Paris: " Whoever does not 



