1890 THE EEDE LECTUEE 153 



He delivered the Eede Lecture at Cambridge, and 

 in it he criticises the materiaHstic position. (It must 

 be remembered that his anti-Theistio book was pub- 

 Hshed anonymously, and at that time he had no 

 intention of ever referring to it.) 



The reaction set in very soon after the ' Candid 

 Examination ' was pubhshed. 



He was severe, as it seemed often to those who 

 knew him best, unduly severe with himself, and often 

 described himself as utterly agnostic when possibly 

 ' bewildered ' would have better described him. 



Through these years, underneath all the outward 

 happiness, the intense love for scientific work, there 

 was the same longing and craving for the old belief, 

 and before his eyes was always the question, ' Is 

 Christian faith possible or intellectually justifiable in 

 the face of scientific discovery ? ' 



These years between 1879 and 1890 were years of 

 frequent despondency, of almost despair, but also of 

 incessant seeking after truth, and year after year he 

 grew gradually nearer Christian belief. 



The letters which follow will be interesting in 

 this place. They arose out of a correspondence in 

 'Nature.'^ 



To Professor Asa Gray. 



May 16, 1883. 



Dear Professor G-ray, — The receipt of your kind 

 letter of the 1st instant has given me in full measure 

 the sincerest kind of pleasure ; for in the light sup- 

 plied by your second letter communicated to 

 ' Nature ' I came deeply to regret my misunderstand- 

 ing of the spirit in which you wrote the first one, and 

 now you enable me to feel that we have shaken 

 hands over the matter. 



' See Nature, January 25, 1883. 



