o that even individual peculiarities, of whatever
kind, in the parents, are almost always transmitted to some of the
offspring.

4. _The Law of Variation._--This is fully expressed by the lines:--

"No being on this earthly ball,
Is like another, all in all."

Offspring resemble their parents very much, but not wholly--each being
possesses its individuality. This "variation" itself varies in amount,
but it is always present, not only in the whole being, but in every part
of every being. Every organ, every character, every feeling is
individual; that is to say, _varies_ from the same organ, character, or
feeling in every other individual.

5. _The Law of unceasing Change of Physical Conditions upon the Surface
of the Earth._--Geology shows us that this change has always gone on in
times past, and we also know that it is now everywhere going on.

6. _The Equilibrium or Harmony of Nature._--When a species is well
adapted to the conditions which environ it, it flourishes; when
imperfectly adapted it decays; when ill-adapted it becomes extinct. If
_all_ the conditions which determine an organism's well-being are taken
into consideration, this statement can hardly be disputed.

* * * * *

This series of facts or laws, are mere statements of what is the
condition of nature. They are facts or inferences which are generally
known, generally admitted--but in discussing the subject of the "Origin
of Species"--as generally forgotten. It is from these universally
admitted facts, that the origin of all the varied forms of nature may be
deduced by a logical chain of reasoning, which, however, is at every
step verified and shown to be in strict accord with facts; and, at the
same time, many curious phenomena which can by no other means be
understood, are explained and accounted for. It is probable, that these
primary facts or laws are but results of the very nature of life, and of
the essential properties of organized and unorganized matter. Mr.
Herbert Spencer, in his "First Principles" and his "Biology" has, I
think, made us able to understand how this may be; but at present we may
accept these simple laws without going further back, and the question
then is--whether the variety, the harmony, the contrivance, and the
beauty we perceive in organic beings, can have been produced by the
action of these laws alone, or whether we are required to believe in the
incessant interference and direc