MODERN THOUGHT.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 455, 13 March 1909, Page 10

MODERN THOUGHT.

. v ———— LECTURES ON DARWINISM. } The concluding lecture' in London of ' tho Hov. P. N. Raggett, JI.A. (first-class Natu■rnl Science Oxford) on "Darwinism nnd Modern I bought" was or -all-informal and colloquial character, and did not lend itself to detailed report. . •. .. With regard to Natural Selection, it was shown that this process, as conceived, seemed to provido an automatic guidance of evolution; and so far to. weaken'the proof of Uivmo wisdom a*nd .'power drawn from an observation of tho diiferences, harmonies, and adaptations of living creatures. Tho weakening of teleology thus effected in the region of biology is-insensibly extended to the consideration of inorganic nature, of phenomena as a whole. The lecturer showed, by quotation, the Tcahty-ot tho-dismay-felt by believers in •luce ot this apparent weakening of the argument lor mind. The reply depends upon a,restatement of the Christian idea of Godnot a moderation of its forco, but a rcassortion or .its true and most exacting terms -Th'o result of the Natural Selection controversy had been; ho said, for tlioso who believed, conservative and oven recoHstruetive-a rescue of the u-uq Catholic doctrine of creation and .Divine government from the narrowness of a mode ot statement which really implied defects in current belief in the Infinite' and Jitenial Person of God.

On Monday, January 25, the' Rev. P N Waggett, who is ono •of tho "Cowley i'atners. (an Anglican religious order) began a, course of lectures on "Natural Inheritance ; and Moral Responsibility," to one of the largest audiences ever seen in Cambridge. -Ihe Victoria Assembly Rooms had been engaged for tho purpose, 1 which aro capable of holding about M) 0; but on this occasion there were men standing all down the passages, and some even kneeling and sitting on the floor to take notes. The listeners comprised all ages, from tho Master of Trinity to last term's Freshmen, and thelecturer was greeted with tho greatest enthusiasm. Fr. Waggett spoke first of the half-forgotten controversies beta con science and religion of twenty years ago, and impressed his hearers with the fact that the moral questions raised by inodorn theories of heredity offer, greater and sterner problems to any thinking man—not only tho religious man—than any questions of tho origin of species or special creation. His hearers look forward with tho greatest interest to tho development of his argument in future lectures.

In a letter to a Wellington correspondent, received by tlio last English mail, Father Wnggett states that he bas written a paper which will appear in a volume of "Essays on Darwin," about to be published by the Cambridge University Press. On Sunday, January 24, tho Rev. Dr. Figgis concluded his Hulscan lectures at Cambridge in defence of the Christian faith. Intense interest was elicited by these lcetures; and tho congregation at tho concluding lecture was larger and moro attentive than at any before. This (says the "Church Times") is only one among many other evidences of a romarkable religions niovomont now in process in Cambridge. Dr. Figgis is in many respects a distinguished personality. Ho had a brilliant career at Cambridge, and holds a high plnco among modern historians. He was a contributor to tho Cambridge. Modern Historv, and was editor with R. \ r . Lawrence, of Lord Acton's "Lectures and Essays." In 1007 ho decided to throw in his lot with the Community of the Resurrection, an Anglican brotherhood, living under a rule aud with a common purse.