2 THE HYPOTHESIS AND THEORY OF 



of every biologist, let his views on religion be what 

 they may. Finally, we are told by a third party 

 that the theory of evolution is in direct antagonism 

 to Christianity, and is, as Haeckel says, ' the chief 

 weapon employed against Christianity by the heavy 

 artillery of Monism.' 



Which of the three statements is true ? I am 

 inclined to believe that all are to some extent both 

 true and false. Our first business must be to 

 formulate our ideas clearly. Clearness always leads 

 the way to truth, therefore whoever seeks truth 

 must first aim at clearness. On this account I 

 regard it as the object of these lectures to explain, 

 as clearly as possible, the various ideas which we 

 have to distinguish in our consideration of the 

 theory of evolution, and to show in what light 

 it behoves us to regard these ideas, and what ought 

 to be our attitude towards them. 



Do not imagine that I have come here to argue 

 against Haeckel's views. Such is by no means 

 my intention. In July of last year the Sachs 

 Concert Committee invited me to come to Berlin 

 in order to read a paper against Haeckel. I 

 declined the invitation, as it did not seem to me 

 expedient to appear in direct personal opposition 

 to him, and I had no wish to increase the already 

 existing excitement. More than enough antagon- 

 istic speeches have been delivered already, and I 

 only wish to throw some real light on the subject, 

 trusting in this way to do a good work. 



