70 Evohttion and its Conseqttences, 



ments, and to narrow my base, by representing me as a mere 

 advocate for specially Catholic doctrine.^ 



I altogether decline to allow the issue to be thus limited. 

 I decline it because neither did I intend such limitation, nor 

 do any words of mine justify such a construction of m}- 

 purpose. I took up, and I take up, only the ground common 

 to me and to all who hold the Christian reHgion as expressed 

 in the Apostles' Creed, or who maintain the inspiration of 

 Scripture. The better to make sure of my position I made 

 use of an extreme case, knowing that if I could maintain even 

 that, then all within that extreme term could not certainly be 

 questioned. Purposely then I set out to show, and I did 

 show, that even the strictest Ultramontane Catholics are 

 perfectly free to hold the doctrine of evolution, thereby 

 making evident that with regard to Christians in general, 

 there could not be a doubt as to their freedom in the matter. 

 For this end I expressly selected just such persons as would 

 commonly be supposed not to be those from whom (in 

 Professor Huxley's words) 'modern science was likely to 

 receive a warm welcome,' and amongst others the Spanish 

 Jesuit, Father Suarez, precisely because, as Professor Huxley 

 says, 'the popular repute of that learned theologian and 

 subtle casuist was not such as to make his works a likely 

 place of refuge for liberality of thought.' 



My critic shows how he misapprehends my aim and 

 intention when he speaks of 'Mr. Mivart citing Father 

 Suarez as his chief witness in favour of the scientific freedom 

 enjoyed by Catholics.' Had he been such a witness I should 

 not for one moment have thought of citing him; it was 

 precisely as one of the most rigid theologians, and of 



^ At p. 454, Professor Huxley gives the words ' Catholic theology ' with 

 marks of quotation as if mine, though in fact they were not so. This typo- 

 graphical en-or does not misrepresent my substantial meaning, but it none 

 the less tends to create a prejudice against my statements in the mind of the 

 public. 



