Excerpt from The Theistic Argument: As Affected by Recent Theories, a Course of Lectures Delivered at the Lowell Institute on Boston Speculative element, kept within due bounds, that imparted a peculiar fascination to his portrayal of historical persons and eras. When, therefore, he was invited to give a Course of Lectures at the Lowell Institute, in the spring of 1880, on the foundations of Natural Religion, he needed no other qualification than a careful review of the recent literature on the subject. This preparation was conscientiously made. In particular, the most prominent writers, as Mill, Spencer, Huxley, Dar win, Tyndall, who have dealt directly or indirectly with these topics from points of view more or less at variance with prevalent opinion, he examined afresh. At the same time he did not pass by the ablest of the later writers in defense of Theism. I perceive that he had profited especially by the perusal of Janet's thorough treatise on Final Causes, and Professor Flint's excellent volumes on Theism and anti-theistic Theories. The result of his reflections and researches appears on the pages which follow. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.