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CREATION OR EVOLUTION?

A Philosophical Inquiry.

by

GEORGE TICKNOR CURTIS.







New York:
D. Appleton and Company,
1, 3, And 5 Bond Street.
1887.

Copyright, 1887.
by George Ticknor Curtis.



    TO
    LEWIS A. SAYRE, M. D.,
    WHOSE PROFESSIONAL EMINENCE IS RECOGNIZED
    IN BOTH HEMISPHERES,
    WHOSE SKILL AS A SURGEON
    SUFFERING HUMANITY GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES,
    TO WHOSE ANATOMICAL LEARNING
    THE AUTHOR IS LARGELY INDEBTED,
    AND OF WHOSE FRIENDSHIP HE IS PROUD,
    This Book
    IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED.


    "_Dost thou not know, my new astronomer!
    Earth, turning from the sun, brings night to man?
    Man, turning from his God, brings endless night;
    Where thou canst read no morals, find no friend,
    Amend no manners, and expect no peace._"

    _YOUNG'S NIGHT THOUGHTS._




PREFACE.


Perhaps it is expected of a writer who steps out of the sphere of his
ordinary pursuits, and deals with such a subject as that which is
treated in this work, that he will account for his so doing. It is not
necessary for me to say that no class of men can have a monopoly in any
subject. But I am quite willing to take my readers into my confidence
so far as to state how I came to write this book.

Most men, who have a special pursuit, find the necessity for recreation
of some kind. Some take it in one way, and some in another. It has been
my habit through life to seek occasional relief from the monotony of
professional vocations in intellectual pursuits of another character.
Having this habit--which I have found by experience has no tendency
to lessen one's capacity for the duties of a profession, or one's
relish of its occupations--I some years ago took up the study of the
modern doctrine of animal evolution. Until after the death of the late
Mr. Charles Darwin, I had not given a very close attention to this
subject. The honors paid to his memory, and due to his indefatigable
research and extensive knowledge, led me to examine his "Descent of
Man" and his "Origin of Species," both of which I studied with care,
and I trust with candor. I was next induced to examine the writings
of Mr. Herbert Spencer on the subject of evolution, with which I had
also been previously unacquainted except in a general way. I was a
good deal surprised at the extent of Mr. Spencer's reputation as a
thinker, and by the currency which his peculiar philosophy has had in
this country, where it has led, among the young and inexperienced, as
well as among older persons, to very incorrect habits of reasoning on
subjects of the highest importance. The result of my studies of these
writers is the present book. I have written it because I have seen,
or believe that I have seen, where the conflict arises between some
of the deductions of modern science and the principles which ought to
regulate not only religious belief, but belief in anything that is
not open to the direct observation of our senses. But I trust that I
shall not be understood as having written for the purpose of specially
defending the foundations of religious belief. This is no official
duty of mine. How theologians manage, or ought to manage, the argument
which is to convince men of the existence and methods of God, it is
not for me to say. But a careful examination of the new philosophy
has convinced me that those who are the special teachers of religious
truth have need of great caution in the admissions or concessions which
they make, when they