xxvi EVOLUTION AND DOGMA. 



the example given by the International Catholic 

 Scientific Congress ought to dispel all doubts that 

 might be still entertained on the subject. For on 

 every occasion the Congress has yet assembled, the 

 discussion of evolutionary topics has been given 

 special prominence. And the interest exhibited in 

 such discussions was not confined to laymen and 

 specialists, but it was shared in by distinguished 

 prelates and scholars of international reputation. 

 They recognized the necessity of having all possi- 

 ble light on a question of such widespread inter- 

 est ; of seeking by all possible means to attain the 

 truth respecting a subject which has been so prolific 

 of error and has proved such an agency for evil. 

 What these learned and zealous men deemed it wise 

 to do, in the cultured capitals of the Old World, we 

 certainly can and ought to do in this land of ours, 

 where ignorance of the subject in question is more 

 dense and where knowledge is more needed. The 

 fact that certain propositions in this work have 

 given rise to such misunderstandings, and have led to 

 such misdirected controversy and such useless logo- 

 machy as have prevailed during some months past, 

 is the best evidence that there is yet much to be 

 learned regarding what is so often incontinently 

 condemned without a hearing. 



The great trouble now, as it has always been, is 

 the very general ignorance of the clench on the part 

 of those who pose as critics of Evolution and of evo- 

 lutionary theories. Without a sufficient knowledge of 

 the facts they venture to discuss, they are often led 

 to make statements which a wider acquaintance with 



