Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Book Notes for the Week, Vol. 4: Consisting of Literary Gossip Criticisms of Books and Local Historical Matters Connected With Rhode Island; April, 1886, to April, 1887
The doctrine of Evolution, in the modern acet-ptation (if the term, is now twenty-live years old; that is, that period of time has elapsed since Mr. Darwin promulgated it. An immense amount ot'studv has been given to the. Subject, md almost innumerable are the publications relating to it; so great in fact as to preclude the possibility of any general readers getting even a smattering knowledge of the subject. And yet it is a subject about which no educated person can tii'ord to be entirely ignorant. When first pro mulgated it Was thought to be a blow at the fundamental basis of the Christian religion. People have at last discovered that this is not true, and that it is not inconsistent with that belief. Even with evolution there must have been it creation, and it' a creation then a Creator, God. Hence a man may be an evolutionist and a Christian; and thus we find among the. Staunch cst evolutionists, Dr. Bit-cosh, the president of a Presbyterian college; Dr. Winchell, a lfctluyh'sz; Dana a Congregation(dist; Asa G ray, an Episco palian; St. George Mivart, a Itoman Catholic; and Mr. Wallace, a Christian Spiritualist. In fact there is no Christian sect Which has not its evolutionists. Prof. H. W. Conn, oi' Wesleyan University, has written a bee}: on the subject, the title of which very fully explains the character of the book. It. Is Evolution of Today, a summary of the theorv of evolution as held by scientists at the present time, and an account of the progress made by the discussions and investigations of a quarter of a century. That is described as well as the non-ls could describe it. Mr. Conn gives you the conceded facts, and also the disputed positions; and concerning these latter he gives the argument for and against. There are two serious breaks in the theory: ist, at the beginning, that is creation; 2d the connecting 'oi'inan with the lower. Types This latter point is by far the most interesting to us. If we can be 80 connected it is, indeed, necessary that we reconstruct our theories of eternal conditions. Thus far no advance whatever has been made, so far as man is concerned. Each side claims ad vance, of'course. But these claims are not to our present purpose. A thing that can be denim strated, cannot be successfully denied. '1 his has not. Yet been so demonstrated; and Mr. Conn closes his book with this phrase, above all, the investigations have not brought scientists much nearer to the real significance of life itself, which, like all other first principles, becomes the more inexplicable the more it is studied. Mr. Conn makes an admirably clear statement ofthe whole discussion, which plat'es it within the easy grasp of the general reader. L'utnams are his publish.
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