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MR. DARWIN.—Twenty years ago few observers would have believed that the death of Mr. Darwin would be regarded as a calamity not only by Englishmen, but by the whole civilised world. So rapidly has his fame extended that he is universally admitted to have been one of the greatest men of science, perhaps the very greatest whom this country has produced since the time of Newton. It is, of course, a mistake to represent him as the discoverer of the general law of evolution. He himself, the most modest of eminent men, never advanced any such pretension he was, indeed, most scrupulous in acknowledging the services of his predecessors. His title to a lofty position in the history of human intelligence consists in the fact that he suggested a theory by which the process of evolution may be explained, and supported his theory by a vast mass of evidence evidence which is of high value, whether or not his particular way of interpreting it be accepted. It may be questioned whether any previous student ever produced so speedy and fundamental a change in contemporary modes of thought. In every department of inquiry his method is that which prevails and it is found to solve multitudes of problems to which he himself could not have applied it, and which were formerly supposed to be insoluble. For a long time his doctrine excited bitter hostility, because it was believed to be hostile to Christianity and to all forms of religion. It is now better understood, as was shown by the admirable discourses delivered in Mr. Darwin's honour in St. Paul's and in Westminster Abbey. Scientific men may trace the process of evolution, but they can neither determine how the process began nor explain the ultimate significance of the laws by which it is regulated. These are questions beyond the range of science, and Mr. Darwin was always careful to show that the answers offered to them by theology were in no way affected by his researches.