1893 THE ROMANES LECTURE 293 



taken Prof. Eomanes' original reference to publication 

 by the Press to be a subsidiary request to whicli he 

 gladly assented. However, a satisfactory arrangement 

 was speedily arrived at with the publishers ; Huxley 

 remarking : — 



All I have to say is, do not let the University be in 

 any way a loser by the change. If the V.-C. thinks there 

 is any risk of this, I will gladly add to what MacmiUan 

 pays. That matter can be settled between us. 



However, he had not forgotten the limitation of 

 his subject in respect of religion and politics, and he 

 repeatedly refers to his careful avoidance of these 

 topics as an "egg-dance." And wishing to reassure 

 Mr. Romanes on this head, he writes on April 22 : — 



There is no allusion to politics in my lecture, nor to 

 any reHgion except Buddhism, and only to the speculative 

 and ethical side of that If people apply anything I say 

 about these matters to modern philosophies, except 

 evolutionary speculation, and religions, that is not my 

 affair. To be honest, however, unless I thought they 

 would, I should never have taken all the pains I have 

 bestowed on these 36 pages. 



But these words conjured up terrible possibilities, 

 and Mr. Eomanes wrote back in great alarm to ask 

 the exact state of the case. The two following letters 

 show that the alarm was groundless : — 



HoDESLEA, April 26, 1893. 



My deae Eomanes — I fear, or rather hope, that I 

 have given you a very unnecessary scare. 



You may be quite sure, I think, that, while I should 

 have refused to give the lecture if any pledge of a special 



