declined the perilous honour. Neither in my own
opinion nor in that of anybody else, am I qualified
to contribute a special study of any of the scien-
tific, psychological, anthropological, or historical
problems which may throw light upon the central
issue. This must of necessity be the work of
specialists. No metaphysical system, again, am I
in a position to provide;--for reasons which will
appear in the sequel. A merely critical commen-
tary upon the systems of other people might
hardly meet either the expectations of my audi-
ence, or the wishes of those who appointed me to
the post. Indeed, the enormous range of modern
philosophic literature, and the divergent tenden-
cies of modern philosophic thought would make
the task, in any case, one of extreme difficulty.
Few, indeed, are those who, by the width of their
reading and the quickness of their intellectual
sympathy, are qualified to survey the whole field
of contemporary speculation; and, assuredly, I
am not among them.

The vast amplitude of relevant material daily
growing with the growth of knowledge, cannot
but hamper the sincerest efforts of those who de-
sire to take a comprehensive view of the great
problems which Lord Gifford desired to solve.
Most men are amateurs in all departments of ac-
tivity but the one, be it scientific or practical, or

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