304 THE CAUSES OF THE XI 
attention of all and the curiosity of all have been 
probably more or less excited on the subject of 
that work. All I can do, and all I shall attempt 
to do, is to put before you that kind of judgment 
which has been formed by a man, who, of course, 
is liable to judge erroneously ; but, at any rate, of 
one whose business and profession it is to form 
judgments upon questions of this nature. 
And here, as it will always happen when dealing 
with an extensive subject, the greater part of my 
course—if, indeed, so small a number of lectures 
can be properly called a course—must be devoted 
to preliminary matters, or rather to a statement of 
those facts and of those principles which the work 
itself dwells upon, and brings more or less directly 
before us. I have no right to suppose that all or 
any of you are naturalists ; and, even if you were, 
the misconceptions and misunderstandings prev- 
alent even among naturalists, on these matters, 
would make it desirable that I should take the 
course I now propose to take,—that I should 
start from the beginning,—that I should endeavour 
to point out what is the existing state of the 
organic world—that I should point out its past 
condition,—that I should state what is the precise — 
nature of the undertaking which Mr. Darwin has | 
taken in hand ; that I should endeavour to show — 
you what are the only methods by which that — 
undertaking can be brought to an issue, and to 
point out to you how far the author of the work 
7 weer Ts ye 
