SOME REFLECTIONS ON HOW EMPIRE CAME TO US. 53 



Bishop's Lecture — I mean a reference to Darwinism. Darwin simply- 

 preached Evolution, though his words were purposely distorted. 

 To deny Evolution is akin to questioning the rotundity of the Earth. 

 It was not possible in the length of any man's life to bridge all the 

 gaps, but the main thesis was evolved by the great biologist ; 

 many gaps have been bridged and others being so as research 

 proceeds. The botanical researches of Gregor Mendel shed a new 

 light on the subject which illumined many of the dark spaces 

 obscure in Charles Darwin's day. Knowing the missing links in the 

 chain, naturally Darwin was aware that many awkward questions 

 could be asked which could not be answered at the time by his 

 system. This system has long passed the stage of theory and has 

 been fully demonstrated many times." 



The Rev. J. E. H. Thomson, M.A., D.D., writes : " I have read 

 with very great interest the proof of Bishop Ingham's forthcoming 

 Lecture on the above-named subject. He has made it abundantly 

 clear that the hand of Providence is to be seen in a very special way 

 in the growth of our Empire, and the manner in which it has come 

 to us. The Bishop has also shown how, to some extent at any rate, 

 we have recognized the duties consequently incumbent on us. The 

 abolition of the Slave Trade, the Freeing of the Slaves in our 

 Dominions, and the endeavour to spread the Knowledge of the 

 Gospel are all evidences that as a nation we have seen that our place 

 of privilege implies responsibilities, and that, however imperfectly, 

 we have made some efforts to meet these responsibilities. The 

 constant crusade against the Slave Trade maintained by our 

 Navy for so many years is a highly honourable page in British 

 History. 



" I am sure the Bishop will pardon a word of criticism. It seems 

 to me that he would have strengthened his position, and made more 

 obvious the hand of God in the building up of the British Empire, 

 had he appealed more to the history of its rise. There never was an 

 Imperial Power that more shrank from the acquisition of Empire. 

 This is specially clear in the conquest of India, our greatest depen- 

 dency. The East India Company sought simply facilities for trade ; 

 but the weakness of the Mogul Government compelled them in self- 

 defence to fortify their factories, and hire mercenaries to defend them. 

 The intrigues of Dupleix and the French authorities at Pondicherry 



