Thus from the war of nature, from famine and
death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, the
production of the higher animals directly follows. There is a grandeur
in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally
breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that whilst
this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity,
from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most
wonderful have been, and are being evolved." (p. 579)
In another of his works, he asks, "Did He (God) ordain that crop and
tail-feathers of the pigeon should vary, in order that the fancier might
make his grotesque pouter and fan-tail breeds? Did He cause the frame
and mental qualities of the dog to vary, in order that a breed might be
formed of indomitable ferocity, with jaws fitted to pin down the bull,
for man's brutal sport? But if we give up the principle in one case; if
we do not admit that the variations of the primeval dog were
intentionally guided in order, for instance, that the greyhound, that
perfect image of symmetry and vigor, might be formed; no shadow of
reason can be assigned for the belief that variations, alike in nature
and the results of the same general laws, which have been the groundwork
through natural selection of the most perfectly adapted animals in the
world, man included, were intentionally and specially guided.
Pages:
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59