Life: Its True Genesis Part 12

Ingersoll or any other boasted descendant of a gorilla. And he also insists that when _a priori_ speculation is lost in abstract conceptions, the highest must necessarily press alone upon the intuitions of consciousness, where all generalizations cease, and all synthesis is undeniably at an end. Here, in this mysterious chamber of the soul, we stand silent and alone, with only dim and shadowy phantoms about us, as if in the august presence of Deity itself.

But how does scientific speculation propose to stifle these intuitions of consciousness--reduce them to the least of all potential factors in the universe? We will take the very latest of these speculations. In supplementing both the Darwinian theory and the grander speculation of Laplace, the scientists, so called, tell us that the process of aggregation, or the turning out of new worlds in the universe, is still going on; but that the time is coming when all the primeval potency or energy, originally inhering in diffused matter, will have exhausted itself in actual energy, and that then all light, life and motion in the universe, will cease and be at an end. This dissipation of potential energy is to result, they say, in a played-out universe, as it has already resulted, they claim, in a played-out moon, if not countless other heavenly bodies.[38] All the exterior planets, or a majority of them at least, are to be placed in this category of dismantled worlds, or those in which all life has hopelessly ceased and become extinct. All has utterly disappeared, or, to paraphrase one of Pope's couplets,

"Beast, bird, fish, insect--what no eye can scan, Nor gla.s.s can reach--from zoophyte to man."

All these dismantled planets, and satellites to planets, are only so many immense cinders--mere refuse slag--of no conceivable interest to science, except to predicate the ultimate conclusion--"a played-out universe, resulting from a played-out potency within the universe." The magnificent clockwork of the heavens will then have run down, with no Darwinian whirligig to wind it up again, and the terrible reality of Byron's dream, which it would seem was not all a dream, be realized in the bright sun extinguished, the stars darkling the eternal s.p.a.ce, rayless and pathless, and the icy earth swung blind and blackening in the moonless air.

Oh, if this be star-eyed science, give us anything in place of it!

Blear-eyed bigotry in his cloistered den, mumbling unintelligible prayers, and believing that man is to be saved, not by what he does, but by a _credo_ only, is far preferable to it. But oh, how unspeakably preferable the simple faith of the star-led Magi, who

"Deeming the light that in the east was seen An earnest and a prophecy of rest To weary wanderers, such as they had been,"

came on that bleak December night, 1880 years ago, to pay their homage to the Christ-child--the long expected Messiah--the Redeemer of the world!

Footnotes

[1]: It may be proper, however, to state that the tenth and concluding chapter was originally written as a lecture, and delivered about a year ago in New Haven, Boston, and at other points. A request for its publication has induced the author to place it in this volume, with the portion referring to the Bible genesis omitted. It will be found germane to the general subject.

[2]: "Without this latent presence of the 'I am,' all modes of existence in the external world flit before us as colored shadows, with no greater depth, root, or fixure, than the image of a rock hath in the gliding stream, or the rainbow on the fast-sailing rain storm."--_Coleridge's_ "_Comments on Essays_."

[3]: And science that is not purely inductive--i.e. primarily based on the inviolability of our intuitions--is no science at all, but the sheerest possible speculation.

[4]: This presence of an active living principle in nature, one originally a.s.signed as the "_divina particula aurA _" of every living thing, is frequently referred to in the higher inspirational moods of our poets. Wordsworth exquisitely refers to it in the following lines of his "Excursion:"--

"To every form of being is a.s.signed An _active_ principle: howe'er removed From sense and observation, it subsists In all things, in all nature, in the stars Of azure heaven, the unenduring clouds; In flower and tree, in every pebbly stone That paves the brooks."

[5]: The existence of vital units is conceded by some of the staunchest materialists, such as Herbert Spencer, Professor Bastian and others.

Professor Bastian says: "The countless myriads of living units which have been evolved in different ages of the world's history, must, in each period, have given rise to innumerable mult.i.tudes of what have been called 'trees of life.'" He insists, however, that they have been "evolved" from something, or by some unknown process. But we shall show further on that a "unit" can neither be _evolved_ nor _involved_, and that this is as true of vital units as of the mathematical or chemical unit. Neither evolution nor involution will ever effect the value of a unit.

[6]: According to Aristotle, the great world-_ordainer_ is the constant world-_sustainer_.

[7]: The definition which Professor Robinson, in his Lexicon of the New Testament, gives of the word IfIEuroI-II1/4I+-, as connected with the "divine life," entirely harmonizes with this view of the subject. He says: Trop.

I John 3, 9, IEuroa1/4fI, a1/2 I cubedI muI cubedI muI1/2I.I1/4I-I1/2I?I, a1/4I I"I?I... I'I muI?I... IfIEuroI-II1/4I+- a1/4EuroI...I"I?I1/2 (I'I mua1/2"I1/2) I muI1/2 a3/4I1/2I"a?

IEuroI muI1/2I mua1/2 _i.e._ the germ or principle of divine life through which he is begotten of G.o.d, I"I? IEuroI1/2I mua1/2'I1/4I+-.

[8]: Professor Schmidt, of the University of Strasburg, who insists that species are only relatively stable, admits that they remain persistent as long as they exist under the same external conditions.

Time is, therefore, not a factor in the mutation of species. Nor are environing conditions factors, except as a failure of conditions results in the disappearance of species, as the presence of conditions results in their appearance.

[9]: Says M. Ch. Bonnet, in his "La PalingA(C)uA(C)sie Philosophique;" "Il est de la plus parfaite A(C)vidence que la matiere est susceptible d'une infinitA(C) de mouvemens divers, et de modifications diverses," and this is the universal claim of the materialists.

[10]: Professor Burdach (as trad, par Jourdan), in speaking of the productive power of nature, says, "LimitA(C)e quant Ai l' A(C)tendue de ses manifestations, elle continue toujottrs d' agir pour la conservation de ce qui a A(C)tA(C) crA(C)A(C), et, quoiqu' elle ne maintenue les formes organiques supA(C)rieures que par la seule propagation, il ne rA(C)pugne point au bon sens de penser qu' aujourd' hui encore elle a la puissance de produire les formes infA(C)rieures avec des elA(C)ments hA(C)tA(C)rogA(C)nes, comme elle a crA(C)A(C) originairement tout ce qui possA(C)de l'

organisation." This shows that its author believed in the possibility of the "superior organic forms," like the mastodon, megatherium, etc. from the "heterogenetic elements"--those undergoing every conceivable change--as well as the "inferior forms." At all events, it is a legitimate induction from materialistic premises.

[11]: This point is conclusively made by Professor Burdach, who says (we quote from Jourdan); "La tendance interieure Ai la configuration existe avant sa manifestation." And by his _tendance interieure_ he must mean some vital or other law, equivalent to an _entia_ in matter, which results _in_, not _from_ manifestation.

[12]: Goethe borrowed his idea of an archetypal world from Plato and the Eleatic school. They held that the world was originated, and not eternal; that it was framed by the Creator after a perfect archetype, one eternally existing in the divine mind, if not an actual soul-world of which our own is but the reflex.

[13]: In a note to Prof. Bastian's "Beginnings of Life" (vol II. p. 537) an important fact is mentioned as obtained from the writings of Dr.

Schneider, to wit, that _Nematoids_ (microscopical forms) may be "obtained at will," almost as readily as mushrooms, by a process entirely independent of spores. For instance, small pieces of beef were carefully examined to see if they contained any of the ova of Nematoids, and, finding none, they were buried in a small quant.i.ty of earth (also carefully examined for the presence of Nematoids or their ova) in a gallipot. "After three weeks," says Prof. B. "this earth was found to be absolutely swarming with two kinds of Nematoids--quite different from any forms which I had previously, seen, although I had been seeking them for more than two years previously in all sorts of situations." The reason why he had not found them previously, was because the "necessary conditions" for their appearance had not been obtained by him, or he had not sought for them in their proper environment. They were not produced "at will," but were the natural outgrowth of conditions, as much so as the spores of fungi, which make their appearance whenever and wherever the necessary environing conditions exist. According to Dr.

Gros, it takes about three weeks for these Nematoid forms to develop into a reproductive state.

[14]: The necessity of turning plants and animals into "tramps" is just as great in the case of "Evolution" as in that of "specific creation in pairs." In both cases, we must insist upon geneological consanguinity. For the chances of any two highly specialized forms, originally starting on different lines of divergence, and ultimately reaching individual ident.i.ty, both in form and characteristics, is an impossible problem in the determination of chances. Consequently, Mr. Darwin finds the necessity of accounting for the presence of northern forms in the southern hemisphere, and the reverse, just as great as in the LinnA an theory, which was fully accepted by Cuvier.

[15]: Burdach, in his "_TraitA(C) Physiologie" (Trad. par Jourdan_. 1837) says: "Effectivement nous rencontrons des traces de vie dans toute existence quelconque." This is as broad a panspermic statement as can be made, and is only true of inorganic matter so far as vegetable life is concerned, including such infusorial, mycologic, and cryptogamic forms as may lie so near to the "force vegetative"

of Needham as to be indistinguishable from it.

[16]: In the case of volcanic islands, the upheavals were undoubtedly accompanied by deposits of mud, sand (ocean detritus), marine vegetation, and more or less animal matter, and these organic substances were washed down by the rains into the broken valleys and plains below, when land vegetation almost immediately made its appearance; not because seeds may have drifted thither by any of the different agencies that have been mentioned, but because organic matter can no more help bringing forth life in some form, when conditions favor, than salt water, when exposed to evaporation, can help crystallizing into its symmetrically-arranged salts. And the same would be true of all the coral islands, bringing up the organic matter of the sea to the influence of the light, the rains, and the dews. The islands thus formed in the Pacific Ocean begin to exhibit vegetable life almost as soon as they make their appearance above the reefs, and a line of sea-beach is formed about them.

[17]: These, while presenting the most varied and diverse forms of infusorial life, are nevertheless the most constant and abundant type. They abound more or less in all organic infusions. Ehrenberg, however, holds that they are no more animal than vegetal forms. They vary in length from 1/15000 to 1/2000 of an inch, and are consequently too minute to be satisfactorily cla.s.sified in respect to all their diversified characteristics.

[18]: The extent of the southern ice-cap may at least be approximately reached from explorations already made. Capt. Weddell, in 1823, extended his explorations southward to within about 15A deg. of the south pole, where he found an open sea. Capt. Ross, in 1842, approached to within about 13A deg. of the same pole, without serious obstruction. It is true that, in the following year, he encountered ice barriers near the line of the antarctic circle, but they were floating barriers coming down from Weddell's open sea. Capt.

Wilkes, in 1840, explored a considerable portion of the Antarctic Continent, lying almost entirely within the antarctic circle. Other explorations have been made, showing that the southern ice-cap does not probably extend, continuously at least, much farther north than 78A deg. or 80A deg., or to within some ten or twelve degrees of the south pole, independently of the packs of drifting ice in the otherwise open seas.

[19]: The truth or falsity of "Evolution" depends entirely on the successful solution of this problem, for the chances are quintillions to ones that no two identical forms could have originated from different centres, or from the same centre on divergent lines, and ever reached identically the same results. And how any two forms should happen to be s.e.xually paired, on the same or different lines of divergence, is one of those inexplicable mysteries which must puzzle Herbert Spencer in all his labyrinthian searches into "Force-correlation," "Differentiation," "the Dynamic Force of Molecules," etc., etc. However successful he may be in other directions, he will inevitably fail in this. We must fall back on the grand Old Bible genesis for the solution of this difficulty, where every living thing was commanded to produce seed, or multiply and replenish the waters and the earth with offspring.

[20]: These transcendental or ideal forms may be said to correspond to the "spiritual essences" of Plato. They are the eternal, immutable principles which are discernible to the eye of the soul, as the sensible objects they represent are discernible to the eye of the body. Modern metaphysics may deem them mere abstractions, but a higher realistic philosophy will treat them as substantive forms, of which the objective reality is but the shadow.

[21]: Herbert Spencer may be quoted as authority on this point. He says: "There is invariably, and necessarily, a conformity between the vital functions of any organism, and the _conditions_ in which it is placed ... We find that every animal is limited to a certain range of climate; every plant to certain zones of lat.i.tude and elevation."

And the same law holds good as to the marine fauna and flora, each specific form being confined to its own sea-depth, or distance north or south from the thermal equator.

[22]: Speaking of the ultimate principles or elements of matter, Plato is quoted by Humboldt as exclaiming with modest diffidence, "G.o.d alone, and those whom he loves among men, know what they are." It is only those who seek to eliminate G.o.d from the universe that speak with confident flippancy on the subject of molecular machinery and force-correlations.

[23]: As long as the evolutionists cannot agree among themselves as to what const.i.tutes the process of evolution, it can hardly be expected that the public will accept their speculations as conclusive inductions. Professor Bastian, who strongly commits himself to the doctrine, thinks the word "evolution" arbitrary and open to many objections, while Mr. Herbert Spencer says;--"The ant.i.thetical word Involution would much more truly express the nature of the process."

[24]: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of G.o.d, and that the spirit of G.o.d dwelleth in you?" 1 Cor. 3. xvi.

[25]: Dr. Drysdale, in his work on the "Protoplasmic Theory of Life,"

says: "Matter cannot change its state of motion or rest without the influence of some force from without. True spontaneity of movement is, therefore, just as impossible to it as to what we call dead matter.... So we are compelled to admit the existence of an exciting cause in the form of some force from without to give the initial impulse in all vital actions." In all life-manifestations, this "force from without," must be a pre-existing vital principle operating to effect the otherwise impossible change in matter.

[26]: A favorite set-phrase of Professor Bastian in speaking of morphological cells or "units," as he sometimes calls them.

[27]: That great and justly celebrated naturalist, Buffon, in speaking of the universal origination of the lower forms of animal life by a process termed, in his time, "spontaneous generation," says: "There are, perhaps, as many living things, both animal and vegetable, which are produced by the fortuitous aggregations of 'molA(C)cules organiques,' as there are others which reproduce themselves by a constant succession of generations." It is said that Buffon was for some time a.s.sociated with the AbbA(C) Needham in his experiments in vital directions, and was much influenced by them. So that it is by no means certain that he did not accept the AbbA(C)'s "force vA(C)gA(C)tative" in place of his more materialistic views respecting "molA(C)cules organiques." At all events, his statement that as many living things appear in nature independently of reproducing causes as by successive generation, is no doubt true.

[28]: M. TrA(C)vira.n.u.s, who followed Spallanzani and M. Bonnet in these flask experimentations, first noticed the important fact that the animalculA appearing in different organic infusions, depended on the nature and quality of the infusions themselves, and that the changed conditions of the same infusion produced new and independent forms of life.

[29]: Leibnitz, as quoted by M. Bonnet, says:--"Que l'Entendement Divin A(C)toit la religion A(C)ternelle des Essences; parce que tout ce qui existe existoit comme de toute A(C)ternitA(C) comme possible ou en idA(C)e dans l'entendement de Dieu. J'exprimerai cette vA(C)ritA(C) sublime en d'autres termes: le plan entier d'univers existoit de toute EternitA(C) dans l'entendement du SuprAme Architecte. Tou tes les parties de l'univers et jusqu' an moindre atome A(C)toient deffinA(C)s dans ce plan.

Tous les changemens qui devoient survenir aux diffA(C)rentes pieces de ce Tout immense y avoient aussi leurs reprA(C)sentations. Chaque etre y A(C)toit figurA(C) par ses characteres propres: et l'acte par lequel la Souveraine Puissance a rA(C)alisA(C) ce plan, est ce que nous nommons la CrA(C)ation."

[30]: Here is a fact given us by Dr. F. Hall, of Wallingford, Conn.: In a peat meadow in that town, owned by him, which was at no time subject to overflow, a large quant.i.ty of peat had been removed at different intervals of time, when the excavations naturally filled with water.

In these excavations there appeared not only the _Cyprinidae_ in considerable numbers, but fresh water clams which grew to be as large as those in the most favored streams. They made their appearance the very first season after the peat was removed, and have flourished there ever since. In no other portions of the meadow were there any fish or clams ever noticed before, nor was there any other source of water-supply than the rain-falls in that locality.

[31]: Professor Beale, in one of his very latest works says: "Of the chemical and physical forms of energy something is known, but of the relations.h.i.+p of the so called _vital_ energy, nothing has been proved. We only know that the influence it exerts is altogether different from that which has been traced to physical and chemical energy."