MR. DENTON'S LECTURES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4343, 25 March 1882, Page 3

MR. DENTON'S LECTURES.

_3'H Can UN 07 M_v. ; Mr- W.. Denton g mvo the last of his new serrea of - lectures at I ihe Oddfellows-' Hall last bight.. Tha subject was "The Origin of Mao"— a< lecture wb ich had oaused consider* able- controversy at . Dunedin. The hall was densely paoked ia ev< iry part. - : The leetußer, who \ vas loudly applauded on [his first appearance, < lommenced by referring to < the life which te ems everywhere. Man riaferwally questioned whence all this life sprang, and whence he himself- had come. There were- but two a: QBWers to the question. 'Li fa came into being either by- tbe operation of natural' laws- or t y the operation of »- miracle. 3_ tho wor Id we ace a univeraai- " observance of natural I aws, scoh as- the law of co!_9sion«ndsthe--*w ol f crystallisation. Why should the production of protozoa- be due to a miracle asj more th an the production of minerals and of inorga nio matter, generally ? -Not-' long., ago bhundi >r was • described m the- voice- of an ang ry God) but science explained it as- the product of electricity). Ini lite- manner rain was. no longer | pr%yed> for, because it was known to be the- result of tv iturdi laws. (Appl^vse.)) As soieaee m arched« on she took \ more- and more ot the » liracle- ground which, now* could; be found 01 ily in dark corners where' the light; oi ecien cc had. not reached. (&p»lause.)i No miraclei ■ werarecogpised by tho astronomer arthegeo logisf^and the time would come* vfhen it would be acknowledged that the Tiiii-wrsal Spirit hadt. always ruled b7>>law>;;thsD the universe never needed pitching, . for that Spirit madsvuo. blunder. (Applause.).; Tha- world ha d gene en steadily, s;sce its first issue from the sun till it be* erase suited for the habit atioa.-. of man* by the operation of the law. He Relieved in theesiatence of a law of lift* nseding^na-pre-i oxiating c-eaturea — bo eggi'- To him every ! atom of the-uniwsrae had ever had-life. Life ->aa asrnatural to the planet as s-rvstallitatioa. In. i hia he differed from Darwin. Take a quantity of water and allow it to> stand for a iwhile and; it would be found swarming with. ; life. Whence came the organic forms here* f 6und ?. It was said that the* germs* were gating ia the- air. It might be* bo.. Gould [it be proved? 1 Experiments- could be ;_uvde by boding a little hay fan- in* [(stance, and thus, it would be supposed.. ;<d«BtroyJng the germs. This wua doae, but /still, no- matter to what degree o& heat the itdecoctdon was raised, living beings- were ygenoraied in the- cooled inf uaiorai He did not Vasaercfthab this matter waa dett'itminod beyond jaU.~otitrove»ay. Authoritiea di£Se)red,.but he Jbeliewkl that living beinga did come into ■existence without eggs, without- pre-existing. igerms. He believed the same law* were now (in operation which caused the tapid waters of jthe early ages of the world to swarm, with, jlife. It might be said that tha early living •creatures would be very snail,, and continue bo, bub there waa a lav? oft variation, j which caused the progeny to deviate from the ? ancestral atock. As soon s* propagation r began, this law of deviation c*~i« into force. [ Then there waa the law of tendency, whioh [ was ignored by Darwin and hie-disciplea. He. ; the lecturer, reoogniacd in tliu planet a tendency to man. and believsd that it was. when it started, pregnant with int»n. Hence, with every geologic change higher and nobler forms were produced. Then came the law of hereditary transmission r. the child inherited the peculiarities . of hia progenitor, animals assumed new forms, passing from aperies to specieß, till the diversities amounted to a new genua. Then cam? the law of modification, depending upon.' surrounding con* ditiona. The lecturer gave-,many instances to show how aivmals adapted themselvea to their surroui. <«%». Ezeroise developed, powers, whih • on-use caused their diminution and ulti.<.«e disappearance. The conditions of th. world, geology showed, had become more and more favourable for the existence of -organic beinga,. and these beings had appeared. Another important law — and her= Charles Darwin, the nobleat man living (applause) waß right— was. the law of natural selection. All animals produced more descendants than oould poßßibly survive, and in the struggle for life those beat fitted for it would survive. There waa a general Providence that watched over everything with • eloeplesß eye. This Providence was not the partioular . providence of the believer in miracles ; but a Providenoe who, by the agency of natural Jaws, fitted -the animal for its habitat. There was no blind Providence, but an Infinite intelligence whioh guided the course of Nature's laws.- But fer the operation of theße laws man could never have come upon thia. earth, and in addition to these laws there were other points. Tho metamorphosis of animals was a "pointer." All animals, from the monad, to man, at. one timo cannot bo distinguish H from each other. The lecturer detailed < ha, changes whioh take place in the mosqui ii:;. . the silkworm, and the frog. Whatwas^tru. of these was equally true of man. Mr I'^nton detailed the ohanges through which the foetus paasea, resembling, in succession, a fish, a reptile, a bird, a lower mammal,, a monkey, and finally a pan. These, it would 'be noticed, were the animals that geology showed to have successively appeared -on> the earth. (Applause.) Anothor "pointer" was the anatomical similarity .between man, and the lower typos of organio life. The lecturer instanced the oxiatence in some animals of organs which they did • not use,, but which were similar to organß. used by other animals^ and tho rudimentary germs of which were found . in man. He did not hold that man hadifor his ancestors a monkey»a_d an oyster, but he believed that could people see the original man they would aay, " that is a monkey" Those who ridiculed the- monkey and oyster theory had in ita place a " rot and dust "theory, which was no less rtdioulous. He believed aa much aa any one that man waa ma.c by God ; but not by a God who worked like. a. carpenter and got tired.. If by God waa meant the Infinite Spirit that was always, working, he- seeog-ised that God* Man wa»not a complete animal yet, but was in process of improvement. He (the lecturer) did • aot believe tunf man was made perfect any more than any other animal. Geology showed a succesaion of stocks, and was it to be credited that God came down and started a fresh, creation with each geologioai. era ? When a new island- o? a now lake appeared did God come down and create a. population for it ? It> was nonsense to suppose it. But ho was teld that, the- first man wbb tbe image ct God* yet afterthe lapse of come 6000 yoars, the progeny of the first man and woman were thick-lipped,' and had distorted counton_noes, as could be. Bean, in the example of tbe faces he pointed to. If 6000 yeara had caused such a degeneration, what would be the state c.:- roan in. another 6000 yeara * (Laughter.) No ; I\o believed that man was improving, and that in ages to come man uould be aa superior to . wbut ho now ia as ho now is to what geology ; sliowed " prehistoric -man" to have been. . (Ap-. F pltvuflo.) In tho ladder by which man climbed frcn.il the duet to thf elovutod position he now. occupied, some rungs might be wanting, but tha rungs which had beon missing were already many of them found, and moro would yet be found till tho wholo ladder could- be traced.. It wfis said that man came from a brute that died at death — he denied thia, and contended that nrn at death entered into a apiritunllifo. livns eaid that tho views he advocated were .leatraed to drive re', iftion out of tho earth. Tie did not deny th»t those riowa would modify tbe religious ideas. of the world, but he had always desired to be true to God, and tp.i6*od that men would er*r obey the voice of God tellina thorn to lead a noble and manly lifo. Then wouid there be a religion t) f.t would dsro to go hand ia hand with Bciaue*, and not bo afsaid of anything loUnoe could discover. Tha relirioa that could not atand the test of eoienco could not livo. (Ap* plauao.) By God ho meant the infinito univorac, or ita Informing Spirit. The voice of that Qo& could be beard in our acuta calling us to load holy lives, and through olernity man's prayor would be " Nearer to Thee, my God ; noarer lo Thee." (Applause.) Before rotirinjr, Mr Denton announced that he would to-night leoturo "On the Scientific Evidences of Man's Futuro Kxistenoe." Tho leoturo wbb followed by o sorios of pxy* bydrrgen views.