On the Origin of Species

Origin of Species. Within a year Huxley argues it against Wilberforce at Oxford; by 1864 the X Club is formed and its members go on to run the Royal Society; Huxley writes the opening article of Nature (1869).

In plain words

Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species; within a year Huxley argues it against Wilberforce at Oxford, and his circle goes on to run the Royal Society, with Huxley writing the opening article of Nature. The seat moves to the bench: the authority travelled faster than the biology.

The mechanism

THE SEAT MOVES TO THE BENCH — what travelled faster than the biology was the authority. An account of origins that needed no altar to certify it now had institutions, journals, and a phrase that ends the conversation

How it was checked

• EvidenceT5 INDEPENDENT SECULAR; Status: COMMITTED; a capture
• Letter eraTHE SEAT MOVES TO THE BENCH 1713 to 1945
• Plate — Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species, title page, 1st ed., London, 1859 · Biodiversity Heritage Library · Public domain · source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:On_the_Origin_of_Species_1859_-_Titlepage.png
• SourcesSECULAR RECORD