If a man says he is
a Darwinian, many understand him to avow himself virtually an atheist;
while another understands him as saying that he adopts some harmless
form of the doctrine of evolution. This is a great evil.
It is obviously useless to discuss any theory until we are agreed as to
what that theory is. The question, therefore, What is Darwinism? must
take precedence of all discussion of its merits.
The great fact of experience is that the universe exists. The great
problem which has ever pressed upon the human mind is to account for its
existence. What was its origin? To what causes are the changes we
witness around us to be referred? As we are a part of the universe,
these questions concern ourselves. What are the origin, nature, and
destiny of man? Professor Huxley is right in saying, "The question of
questions for mankind--the problem which underlies all others, and is
more interesting than any other--is the ascertainment of the place which
Man occupies in nature and of his relation to the universe of things.
Whence our race has come, what are the limits of our power over nature,
and of nature's power over us, to what goal are we tending, are the
problems which present themselves anew and with undiminished interest to
every man born into the world."[1] Mr. Darwin undertakes to answer these
questions. He proposes a solution of the problem which thus deeply
concerns every living man.
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