The Reception of the Origin of Species | Page 3

do not remove, alter or modify the etext or this "small print!"
statement. You may however, if you wish, distribute this etext in
machine readable binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form,
including any form resulting from conversion by word pro- cessing or
hypertext software, but only so long as *EITHER*:
[*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and does *not*
contain characters other than those intended by the author of the work,
although tilde (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may be used
to convey punctuation intended by the author, and additional characters
may be used to indicate hypertext links; OR
[*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at no expense into
plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent form by the program that displays
the etext (as is the case, for instance, with most word processors); OR
[*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at no additional
cost, fee or expense, a copy of the etext in its original plain ASCII form
(or in EBCDIC or other equivalent proprietary form).
[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this "Small
Print!" statement.
[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the net profits
you derive calculated using the method you already use to calculate
your applicable taxes. If you don't derive profits, no royalty is due.
Royalties are payable to "Project Gutenberg
Association/Carnegie-Mellon University" within the 60 days following
each date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) your annual
(or equivalent periodic) tax return.
WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU
DON'T HAVE TO?
The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, scanning

machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty free copyright
licenses, and every other sort of contribution you can think of. Money
should be paid to "Project Gutenberg Association / Carnegie-Mellon
University".
*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN
ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END*

This etext was prepared by Sue Asscher

ON THE RECEPTION OF THE 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES'
by PROFESSOR THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY
FROM THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF CHARLES DARWIN
EDITED BY FRANCIS DARWIN

ON THE RECEPTION OF THE 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES.'
To the present generation, that is to say, the people a few years on the
hither and thither side of thirty, the name of Charles Darwin stands
alongside of those of Isaac Newton and Michael Faraday; and, like
them, calls up the grand ideal of a searcher after truth and interpreter of
Nature. They think of him who bore it as a rare combination of genius,
industry, and unswerving veracity, who earned his place among the
most famous men of the age by sheer native power, in the teeth of a
gale of popular prejudice, and uncheered by a sign of favour or
appreciation from the official fountains of honour; as one who in spite
of an acute sensitiveness to praise and blame, and notwithstanding
provocations which might have excused any outbreak, kept himself
clear of all envy, hatred, and malice, nor dealt otherwise than fairly and
justly with the unfairness and injustice which was showered upon him;
while, to the end of his days, he was ready to listen with patience and
respect to the most insignificant of reasonable objectors.
And with respect to that theory of the origin of the forms of life
peopling our globe, with which Darwin's name is bound up as closely
as that of Newton with the theory of gravitation, nothing seems to be
further from the mind of the present generation than any attempt to
smother it with ridicule or to crush it by vehemence of denunciation.

"The struggle for existence," and "Natural selection," have become
household words and every-day conceptions. The reality and the
importance of the natural processes on which Darwin founds his
deductions are no more doubted than those of growth and
multiplication; and, whether the full potency attributed to them is
admitted or not, no one doubts their vast and far-reaching significance.
Wherever the biological sciences are studied, the 'Origin of Species'
lights the paths of the investigator; wherever they are taught it
permeates the course of instruction. Nor has the influence of Darwinian
ideas been less profound, beyond the realms of Biology. The oldest of
all philosophies, that of Evolution, was bound hand and foot and cast
into utter darkness during the millennium of theological scholasticism.
But Darwin poured new life-blood into the ancient frame; the bonds
burst, and the revivified thought of ancient Greece has proved itself to
be a more adequate expression of the universal order of things than any
of the schemes which have been accepted by the credulity and
welcomed by the superstition of seventy later generations of men.
To any one who studies the signs of the times, the emergence of the
philosophy