Introduction 



ONE of the admirable maxims that crystallises 

 the better sense or experience of men reminds 

 us that we must ^' say nothing but good of the 

 dead." Unhappily, we have taken the words of 

 our sage fathers in too large a sense. A feeling 

 has grown amongst us that we should " say 

 nothing good except of the dead," at least as 

 regards those who differ from us. So has many 

 a man gone from the world with little suspicion of 

 the appreciation that might have warmed him in 

 the last chill years ; many a man sunk into the 

 grave with the harsh echo of dishonouring words 

 still rumbling in his ears. It may be that our 

 ideas, our truths, would not suffer greatly if we 

 could patiently endeavour to trace the community 

 of humane feeling that lies beneath the wide gulfs 

 that often separate us intellectually from each 

 other. 



Professor Ernst Haeckel is one of those com- 

 bative figures of all time who take misunder- 

 standing as a part of their romantic career. If he 



