94 THE PROBLEM OF EVOLUTION 



touch upon the conflict between the Church and 

 Science, but sought merely to throw some light 

 upon the question : c What are we to think of 

 the theory of evolution ? ' At the very 

 beginning of his address, Professor Plate took 

 up a wrong standpoint, and transferred what 

 was originally a purely scientific argument 

 to the field of religious controversy, thus 

 rendering the matter more interesting. Even 

 Columbus is dragged in as a victim to the 

 conflict between Church and Science, although 

 he always declared the propagation of the 

 Catholic faith to be the chief reason for his 

 voyages of discovery, and although he died 

 wearing the Franciscan habit. 



Professor Plate went on to discuss the impression 

 made upon him by my lectures. ' Our lecturer,' 

 he said, * has a twofold character, he is a remarkable 

 combination of a scientist and a theologian ; both 

 contend about the same object, but in the contest 

 the theologian invariably prevails and the scientist 

 succumbs. Father Wasmann must say, in the 

 words of the poet, that " two souls dwell within 

 him." He speaks of inheritance, of adaptation, of 

 rudimentary organs, and in fact he avails himself 

 of all the assistance afforded by zoology, as long as 

 he is dealing with a topic on which the Church has 

 not laid hands, and with regard to which she has 

 uttered no final opinion. But no sooner does he 



