a habit of
specially regarding the general uniformity of nature begets a desire to
assume its absolute and universal uniformity."

There _is_ a great mystery underlying life and the plan in which the
animal form, the organs of sight, hearing, and the rest, run through the
whole creation: and, given a mystery, there is always ample room for
speculation. Taking firm hold of the facts of development and variation,
the extreme evolutionist is carried away with the idea of having the
same principle throughout: he is impatient of any line or any check; he
is therefore prepared to ignore all difficulties, to hope
against hope for the discovery of to him necessary--but, alas,
non-existent--intermediate forms, till at last he comes to deny, not
only his God, but his own soul, as a spiritual and supra-physical
entity.[1]

[Footnote 1: Those who want a specimen of the way in which extreme
evolutionists will _romance_ (it can be called nothing else) will do
well to read Dr. Haeckel's "History of Creation," only they must be on
their guard at every step. The author constantly states as facts (or,
perhaps, with an impatient "must have been") the existence of purely
hypothetical forms, of which there is _no kind_ of evidence. To such
ends does the love of completeness lead!]

Such extremes are no part of true science, and have neither helped the
progress of knowledge, nor advanced the condition of mankind. But, on
the other hand, let us hear no more of a sweeping condemnation of the
theory of Evolution as a whole; let us beware of any insistence
on, or assumption of, the supposed fact that God created
separately--ready-made and complete--all known animal forms, bringing
them up from the ground, like the armed men in the Greek legend, from
the dragon's teeth.

We have no more right to dogmatize and assume a scheme of creation from
a popular and long-accepted interpretation of the Bible, than the
evolutionist has to ignore the palpable evidences of Divine guidance and
design, and construct a theory or organic being which ignores both.

PART II.

CHAPTER X.

_THE GENESIS NARRATIVE--ITS IMPORTANCE_.

We have now completed the first portion of our inquiry: there remains
the second, which, to a large class, at any rate, will appear of not
less importance. For the Scriptures, which they have been taught to
trust, contain a brief but direct and positive statement regarding
Creation, as well as numerous other less direct