1892 ON 'DARWINISM' 299 



' Upon the whole, then, it seems to me that such 

 evidence as we have is against rather than in favour 

 of the inference, that if design be operative in 

 animate nature it has reference to animal enjoyment 

 or well-being, as distinguished from animal improve- 

 ment or evolution. And if this result should be 

 found distasteful to the religious mind — if it be felt 

 that there is no desire to save the evidences of design 

 unless they serve at the same time to testify to the 

 nature of that design as beneficent — I must once 

 more observe that the difficulty thus presented to 

 theism is not a difficulty of modern creation. On 

 the contrary, it has always constituted the funda- 

 mental difficulty with which natural theologians 

 have had to contend. The external world appears, 

 in this respect, to be at variance with our moral 

 sense ; and when the antagonism is brought home to 

 the religious mind, it must ever be with a shock of 

 terrified surprise. It has been newly brought home 

 to us by the generalisations of Darwin, and there- 

 fore, as I said at the beginning, the religious thought 

 of our generation has been more than ever staggered 

 by the question — Where is now thy God ? But I 

 have endeavoured to show that the logical standing 

 of the case has not been materially changed; and when 

 this cry of reason pierces the heart of Faith it re- 

 mains for Faith to answer now, as she always answered 

 before — and answered with that trust which is at 

 once her beauty and her life — Yerily thou art a God 

 that hidest Thyself.' 



In the spring of this year Mr. Eomanes wrote for 



