260 



grandeur in this view of life with its several powers^ having 

 been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forras^ or 

 into one; and that wliil^st this planet has gone cycling on 

 according to the fixed laws of gravity, from so simple a 

 beginning, endless forms, most beautiful and most wonderful^ 

 have been and are evolved/^ 



34. This passage, even from its apparent clearness and sim- 

 plicity, has caused many very erroneous notions as to what is 

 Mr. Darwin's real doctrine. Contrast the passage quoted with 

 the following, taken from the Preface to the same work : — 



As many more individuals of each species are born than can 

 possibly survive; and as, consequently, there is a frequently 

 recurring struggle for existence, it follows that any being, if it 

 vary, however slightly, in any manner profitable to itself, under 

 the complex and sometimes varying conditions of life, will have 

 a better chance of surviving, and thus be naturally selected/' 



35. "We are now, mark, on Mr. Darwin^s own line. Natural 

 selection, as explained by him in the last paragraph, is the 

 corner-stone of his entire theory, — it is the backbone of 

 Darwinism. And yet what are we told? If so and so occurs, 

 then the species will have a better chance of surviving. There 

 cannot be here a superintending Creator, for He trusts nothing 

 to chance; neither can creation be thus carried out bylaw 

 according to the evolution theory ; for a Divine law must be 

 perfect — unchangeable, irrevocable. It cannot contain within 

 it the elements of chance. 



36. At page 64 of the same work Mr. Darwin writes : — 

 ""Where many species of a genus have been formed through 

 variation, circumstances have been favourable to variation; and 

 hence we might expect that the circumstances would generally 

 be still favourable to variation. On the other hand, if we look 

 at each species as a special act of creation, there is an apparent 

 reason why more varieties should occur in a group having 

 many species than in one having few."'' 



37. But surely a potentially-endowed plasm — or laws im- 

 planted in matter by the Creator for the purpose of evolution 

 — would not differ from those which would be the result of 

 special creation? AYe have, therefore, Mr. Darwin's own word 

 that he does not intend to avail himself of either of the above 

 alternatives. 



38. On page 157 of the same work, however, Mr. Darwin 

 states explicitly, " I have hitherto sometimes spoken as if the 

 variations so common and multiform in organic beings under 

 domestication, and in a lesser degree in those in a state of 

 nature, had been due to chance. This, of course, is a wholly 

 incorrect expression, but it serves to acknowledge plainly our 



