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2 With her eternal music blent still more. And clearer felt, not distinct, as before, But needful parts of one full harmony. Where what one wants the other doth supply/' — Ellison.

have asked me to give you an account of the opinions really held by some of those authors whose views you have seen caricatured in Punch and censured in religious periodicals. The subjects on which you specially questioned me were the specu- lations of Mr. Darwin, and the real or pretended discoveries of mesmerists, spiritualists, homoeo- pathists, and phrenologists. But a little reflection will, I think, convince you that, if I pretended to give you, in a few conversations, the result of the lifelong labours of a succession of earnest and clever men, I could in reality only succeed in puzzling you, and in proving my own unfitness to act as the interpreter of any serious thinker what- ever. It will be, I think, more to the purpose if I endeavour to put into your hands an end of the golden thread which, as it seems to me, binds all science together, giving us a clue through its intricate mazes, bridging over its awful chasms, and enabling us to walk fearlessly, even where we can see no light. If you like it, I will after- wards try to tell you what 1 believe to be the true meaning of some of the real or supposed revela- tions of modern investigation; but my main object will be to show you how you may, through- out your studies, make facts speak for themselves, and get help from books instead of being confused by them.