I really have been unable to understand what my critics have been dreaming of when they raise the objection that the ethical process being part of the cosmic process cannot be opposed to it.
They might as well say that artifice does not oppose nature, because it is part of nature in the broadest sense.
However, it is one of the conditions of the "Romanes Lecture" that no allusion shall be made to religion or politics. I had to make my omelette without breaking any of those eggs, and the task was not easy.
The prince of scientific expositors, Faraday, was once asked, "How much may a popular lecturer suppose his audience knows?" He replied emphatically, "NOTHING." Mine was not exactly a popular audience, but I ought not to have forgotten Faraday's rule.
Yours very faithfully,
T.H. Huxley.
[A letter of congratulation to Lord Farrer on his elevation to the peerage contains an ironical reference to the general tone of the criticisms on his lecture:—]
Hodeslea, June 5, 1893.
CI DEVANT CITOYEN PETION (autrefois le vertueux),
You have lost all chance of leading the forces of the County Council to the attack of the Horse-Guards.