Tun best, most thoughtful, and in one way most remarkable articles in the papers just to hand are those which deal with the life and death of Mr. Darwin. At one tim" he was represented by the orthodox party as a malignant enemy of revelation, and his theories ridiculed by every little mind that lacked the power to understand them, Now, none are so poor but do him reverence. We shrill devote the greater part of our jottings to-day to a summary of what has been written of him since his death, our ol, ject being to show how utterly he has triumphed, by dint of a slow, unweary ch for truth, overhisnumerous detractors, He will be mourned," says the Times, by those in every land who can appreciate his vast services to kuowledge and who honour a lifelong devotion to truth; but with the mourning there will be joined the thought that he was happy in living so long, surrounded by devuied friends, and spared not only to do the work he had set himself to do, but to sce it accepted on every side. 'The storm whi howled around the ' Origin of Species its first appearance has subsided, Even the orthodox are adapting themselves to their environment,' and are hi 4 Evolution as a hypothesis which may i measure be harmonise with: the ples.... The time has gone by nit was conceived possible to exti nish a scientific hypothesis by authority. Then, of the Darwinian theory as hav lied itself as one of the accepted generalizations of science, the writer proceeds: In 1859, most zoologists believed that the past history vf the earth was catastrophic—that is, that frequent and sudden physical revolutions had taken place, and that the ordinary course of nature had been to proceed by periodic destructions and re-creations of the whole animal world, Now, no one dreams of a theory of this kind." The Spectator, too, contains some valuable remarks. The following passage strikes a very different keynote from what it would have struck a score of years nyo—No scientific man of our century has covered large " field of research, has surveyed it with #0 fai, no patient, ax well an 80 paid xo careful an atte are exper candour in withdrawing any thi 1 which, ona subsequent investigation, red to be ill-founded. So far the field of physical hypotheses tow he has cbielly limited himself is concerned, who knows Mr.
that he has cautious, and wise theoriser, one who as well when the materials of his speculation Were exhausted, as when they justified him in drawing an inference one who was as prompt to deprecate the extension of hie own inferences to the un-the limite of weakness of the objection his carefully grounded generalizations wer often met. Mr, Darwin was not only th brilliant, but the most icious of all the great uaturaliste of Uf none other could it be so truly said that a pure Jove of truth,—truth as man can alone grasp it, with all ite mortifying fi and abrupt "—truth even when it is slot neatly shummey, and ich he collected facts, whether they multed his own hypothesis or net, the anxtotis patience with which ko classified them, the large sngncity with which he often reconciled what looked like most lyres of them ing genius Darwin ig the direction in which he ought to look for the telling facta of the case; but Uhough not so remarkable in tellectual point of view, the strict and faithfulness, and perfect equanimity with which he welcome? what was unfavourable ows og well na what was blest characteristion We fully recognise, " continues the Spectator in another place, ' the theistic character of Mr. Darwin's general view of the Universe. That Mr Darwin had no place in us theory of the Universe for a special Providence, or for individual relations between man and God, we are aware 5 but that he res the creative force as originally material, and not intellectual, we wholly deny.... If Plate held that God is the great Geometer, Darwin certainly held that Gud is the great fountain of plastic art and biological method." The massage from the Saturday Review is also worthy of attention viously muppored to he in tory of very sla very gradual change, amd not a history of abrnpe teensiti actly the rame lesson was being tanyht by contemparancons Inbwurees in the fields of anthtopo agy, and even astronomy, Jer of the universe la tw order of remo mind working silently and closely ager, wud not rparmoitiontly thro turies, iv now ax much an accepted idea civilisuil scan ay the theory of gravitation, To the ral aeeoplance of this idea no pibuted yo powerfully aw Mr, Dar Although he contributed to it inn much less exclusive way than the way in which Newton contributed to the acceptance of the theory vitation, amusing now," writes the Atheneum, "to look back upon the ridicule and con: tempt with which his theory was. mot in many quarters at first, and to follow the gradual change wrought in public opinion as time hay gone on, An interesting view of the process mizht be gathered from a study of a reviews of his successive hooks in the Times newspaper. Punch made fun of his theory, and it was vehemently preached against, Even at Down, whilst he was addressing the whole educated world, the country parson used to refute im weekly to the rai congregation, ow this is past; the clergy are satisfied, and there remains no naturalist of reputation who does not at least accept his views, scarcely any who are not enthusiastically endeavouring to extend them and strengthen their position." This we think should be enough. The quotations we have made are sufficient to show what is the verdict upon Darwin's work by the entire world of intellect, be it in the department of science or of theology. 'The remainder of what lies before us must be dismissed nefly. 'The Spectator reviews Mr. Parton's fascio nating 'Life of Voltaire,' and treats it, we think, unfairly in many respects, ti Saturday devotes a highly laudatory cut que to Mr. Spedding's Evenings with Reviewer'—a book the motif of which is the utter destruction of Macaulay's Essay on Bacon. As Macaulay did to Croker, has Spedding done to Macaulay. Mr. Spedding is, indeed, blamed for tov great lenin ency. "The most valuable part of Macaulay's essay on Bacon," wrote Mr. Spedding, "is his bold and ingenious reduction of Bacon's philosophical doctrine to the simple riles of comuion sense," The Suturday remarks that Macaulay is certainly " puld in venturing on ground of which he has no real kuowledye, and "ingenious" in cone me his i In seems a sad pity auky is not alive to wield the miner in his own defence. would have been a curiously new sensation
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.