164 
AXXIVEESAEY ADDEESS. 
observation or experiment I should have felt very prond and 
happy, and should have considered it far better than all the specula¬ 
tions in the world. 
I will now bring my observations to a close. One thing I will at 
all events keep clear of, and I wish that others who know far more 
of natural history and natural science than myself would do the 
same. It is now too much the custom to make every lecture 
—almost every conversation—on these subjects a pretence for 
plunging into the most awful and most sacred mysteries. Ground 
on which angels may well fear to tread is rushed into by everybody 
who has read a little of Darwin or tried to read a little of Herbert 
Spencer. I do not wish to be misunderstood. I am in favour of 
free discussion on all and every subject. I do not admire the plan 
of the Papal Syllabus. To issue a list of books that are not to be 
read is only to call attention to them. Besides this, to discourage 
free discussion is at once to admit that to allow it would be in¬ 
jurious to your cause. All I wish is that the discussion should be 
conducted with due reverence, and that it should be considered 
necessary before engaging in it, not merely to have a smattering of 
knowledge, but to have deeply and patiently and anxiously studied 
the whole question. I think you have done very wisely hitherto 
in keeping clear of theological and religious speculation, and I have 
carefully followed the example. I will now, as I said, bring my 
observations to a close. I have determined that if I cannot be 
instructive, I will at least avoid being tedious. I thank you most 
cordially for the indulgent manner in which you have received me, 
and I hope that next year you may hear within these walls a more 
instructive and more practical address. 
