said that it did? Atheists, at any
rate, are not aware that the universe ever _had_ an origin. As to
the "ultimate cause of the evolutionary process," it seems to us
mere metaphysical jargon, as intolerable as anything in the mounding
phraseology of the theologians.

But this is not all. Professor Huxley delivers himself of the following
utterance: "In fact it requires some depth of philosophical incapacity
to suppose that there is any logical antagonism between Theism and
the doctrine of Evolution." This is food and drink to a paper like
the _Christian World_. But what does it mean? Certainly there is no
antagonism between the terms "Theism" and "Evolution." They do not
fight each other in the dictionary. But is there not antagonism between
Evolution and any kind of Theism yet formulated? The word "God" means
anything or nothing. Give your God attributes, and see if they are
consistent with Evolution. That is the only way to decide whether there
is any "logical antagonism" between Evolution and Theism. The trouble
begins when you are "logical" enough to deal in definitions; and the
only definition of God that will stand the test of Evolution is "a sort
of a something."

We leave Professor Huxley to present that highly edifying Theistic
conclusion to his old theological opponents, and, if he likes, to flaunt
it in the faces of his Freethinking friends. But is it really worth
while for Samson to grind chaff for the Philistines? We put the question
to Professor Huxley with all seriousness. Let him teach truth and smite
falsehood, without spending so much time in showing that they harmonise
when emptied of practical meaning. A sovereign and a feather fall with
equal rapidity in a vacuum; and if you take away fact and experience,
one proposition is as "possible" as another. But why should a great man
waste his energies in propagating such a barren truism?

THE GOSPEL OF FREETHOUGHT.

Christians are perpetually crying that we destroy and never build up.
Nothing could be more false, for all negation has a positive side, and
we cannot deny error without affirming truth. But even if it were true,
it would not lessen the value of our work. You must clear the ground
before you can build, and plough before you sow. Splendor gives no
strength to an edifice whose foundations are treacherous, nor can a
harvest be reaped from fields unprepared for the seed.

Freethought is, in this respect, like a skilful physician, whose