STORY OF THE EARTH.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1812, 11 April 1888, Page 2

STORY OF THE EARTH.

(By A. Ireland.)

Part 111. LIPB UPON THE EARTH— ITS DAWN AND

HISXOKY,

Evolutionists as a rule hold that life was only a part of the development from natural laws aoting of themselves without any guidance or direction from an Intelligent cause, such aa the Creator. There is muoh diversity of opinion among Kvolutlonista regarding this matter : most authorities are contradictory In their theories. No two of the great authorites are alike In their opinions ; not one of them has any basis to work from, fi'ach one from his own imagination oorjures up a plan to hia own apparent satisfaction. Darwin did more than any other man to put the evolutionary theory of organic life In a presentable form. He was a man of great research, his faculty of observation wa3 highly developed, but his power of oonitructLn was not more than ordinary. Hence, notwithstanding his ability as an observer, he has fallen Into many errors m making use of his observations. His discovery, or rather invention of >( natural selection " has been hailed by miny as the onl; thfng wanting to oomplete what is known now as 11 Darwinism." In giving It to the world he was ooneolous of many weak points and waa not above admitting it. But Evolutionists now are quite willing to sink all weak point*, and acoept natural eeleotion as a perfect theory. The great atumb.ing b\ocV ia to account for the dawn of ilfo. Darwin being a candid man (which is more than moat Evolutionists are) did not aeek to cover up that which oould not be bridged over. He believed m the Immutability of natural laws ; h9 did not believe chat natural laws would act m a certain way, producing certain results at one period of the Earth's history, and losiug that power at another period ; that m fact these laws aoting on Inorganic matter could produoe organlo life, and straightway lose the power again. Darwin was driven (not from choice or lnoUnatioD) .to the conolualon that the first organisation must have been created ; that the Creator must have breathed the breath of life into 4t, after which natural selection takes up and developea it into a thousand varlties and spocieß, by a alow Imperceptible process. Upon studying the history of organic life on the earth, as shown by fossil remains, there appears some show of reason In this Idea, but again there are facts which almost (if not quite) preclude [to possibility. There 1b seen to be a continual advance from less highly organised to more highly organised animals and plnnta, with the most primitive as a startIng point, And so far nataral seleotlon would answer all that is required of !•;. Thus, first mollusks, sea worms, and more simple organisms appear upon the scene. Then differeut kinds of fish, then reptiles, then birds, then mammals, and last man. These are the great divisions into whioh the history c-f creation 'ls divided by a staiy of foasil remains. This order would be m aooord with the working of nataral seleotlon. But there is one faot that is decidedly against it. It is this : Each order of animals, the reptileß for instance, during the reptilian age, appear upon the earth with remarkable suddenness, and of huge duvelopment as to slza and m other ways. They were the monarohs oi the animal kingdom daring that oge. For size at least the reptiles of this present age are not, to be oompared to them. The next age birds appear upon the scene iv the Bame manner as the reptiles did, i c., as regards suddenness and development. These birds during their age were the monarcha of the animal kingdom, the moa of New Zealand being a type of their kind. Then mammals appear, with the same characteristics, the mastodon being a type. Then man CJtno last, like these cs to the suddenness of his advent, although not aa to his physical eize. According tj the working of natural selection there oould bo no sudden appearing of a distinct and different creation of animals. "Evolutionißt3 Bay that thla difficulty Is traceable to the Incorapletoneßß of the record ; that the connecting hnka are wanting. But there is a method m these breaks that cannot be Recounted for. The record is replete In all the varieties of each kingdom, but there ia an abropt break ai betweeu each eerlts, thora is no merging of one kingdom Into another, If there were only one or two kingdoms or divisions m question, it might be possible that by aomo chance the missing links might occur just batween the divisions, but where there are five great divisions, viz , mnllnoka and more aim pie organisms, fiah, xeptiles, birds mammalo, and man, it la not possible, ono would think, that the blanks would occur (if they were not real blanks) m exactly the same place m each division. Evolutionists go to the fossil record for the act purpose of findIng evidence to nupport them, and to negleot or take no notioo of the blanks, or evidenoa that may tell against them. To an impartial observer it would appear that there was a distinct creation of each of these divisions though something akin to natural selection may have produced the varieties. If an animal or plant be placed In such a position that the conditions bearing upon its manner and nv/de of life be different from tbat of Its former ezpprlence then these circumstances, most likely, would cause tbat animal or plant to vary so as to be more m harmony with Ita surroundings, In snob, a manner it Is conceivable that a hen might become a water fowl, but that It ever should become a kangeroo or a whale is, I think, to Imagine the Impossible, more especially as there is no proof of any such t transaction. (To he continued )

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