32 man: 



evil ; and an elaborate treatise on a matter as yet so 

 little familiar might have been to deter from, rather 

 than excite to, its study and comprehension. What 

 I have aimed at is an outline rather than an array of 

 details ; a review for the general reader, and not at 

 exhaustive argument for the man of science ; a thing 

 rather suggestive of what the question involves than 

 instructive of truths already arrived at. My object 

 has been to write as I would reason in conversation 

 with a friend, earnestly and unreservedly ; convinced 

 that subjects of this kind will never be fully under- 

 stood nor generally accepted till they are dealt with 

 as great truths, which it is the business of every edu- 

 cated mind to endeavour to comprehend, and the duty 

 of every man to explain to his less-informed neigh- 

 bour. Where I have failed in disarraing opposition, 

 my plainness and directness of speech may prevent 

 misrepresentation ; and where I have not been suc- 

 cessful in convincing, I trust at least that doubt has 

 been awakened and a desire excited for fuller and 

 more detailed information. And this, in matters at 

 variance with olden opinion, is often all that can, at 

 the outset, be attained. Men are in general slow to 

 accept new views, and the first and most hopeful step 

 towards this end is to induce them to question the 

 soundness of their previous convictions. 



