Dear Sir

On Jan ⁠⟨⁠  ⁠⟩⁠^th last an informal conference was held at Lambe⁠⟨⁠t⁠⟩⁠h Palace of Scientific Men; the Archbishop of Canterbury was in the Chair, when it was resolved unanimously, “That it is desirable that those Scientific men who believe in the truths of Religion should take every opportunity of stating that belief; and that the following be appointed a Committee wi⁠⟨⁠t⁠⟩⁠h pow⁠⟨⁠e⁠⟩⁠r to add to their number, for the p⁠⟨⁠u⁠⟩⁠rpose of maintaining communication a⁠⟨⁠mo⁠⟩⁠ng those desirous of promoting this object:— His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury ⁠⟨⁠Prof⁠⟩⁠^or Stokes, Prof^or Bal⁠⟨⁠fou⁠⟩⁠r Stewart, D^r Sorby, D^r Gladstone, Prof^or Rollestone and Prof^er M^cKendrick, Hon. Sec. M^r Walter Browne”.² The Committee have lately been able to take advantage of an offer kindly made to them by the proprietors of the “Contemporary Review”, who propose to publish a series of articles dealing with the present state of the various Sciences.³ It is proposed to consider how far the theories in each science, without any reference to Christianity, rest on fully proved & verified laws & how far on hypotheses, ⁠⟨⁠co⁠⟩⁠njectures more or less probable; in other words how far each science has advan⁠⟨⁠ced⁠⟩⁠ ⁠⟨⁠1 or 2 words⁠⟩⁠ & assured of ⁠⟨⁠  ⁠⟩⁠ bey⁠⟨⁠ond⁠⟩⁠ ⁠⟨⁠2 or 3 words⁠⟩⁠ conclusions ma⁠⟨⁠de⁠⟩⁠ to ⁠⟨⁠  ⁠⟩⁠ rather of speculation. I am ⁠⟨⁠re⁠⟩⁠quest⁠⟨⁠ed by⁠⟩⁠ the Committee to inqui⁠⟨⁠re⁠⟩⁠ wheth⁠⟨⁠er y⁠⟩⁠ou would kindly undert⁠⟨⁠a⁠⟩⁠ke to prep⁠⟨⁠a⁠⟩⁠re an article of this char⁠⟨⁠a⁠⟩⁠cter on the Science of Comparative Anatomy. The points which it is suggested, should be specially dealt with, are the evidence on the Theory of Evolution, but of course, much would be left to your own discretion in this matter. It is prop⁠⟨⁠ose⁠⟩⁠d that the series should comme⁠⟨⁠n⁠⟩⁠ce as early next year as possible and I m⁠⟨⁠a⁠⟩⁠y add that D^r Gladstone, D^r Sorby & Prof^or Balfour Stewart have already consented to take part in ⁠⟨⁠this.⁠⟩⁠ The ⁠⟨⁠hon⁠⟩⁠orarium for each ⁠⟨⁠artic⁠⟩⁠le wil⁠⟨⁠l be⁠⟩⁠ £1 ⁠⟨⁠per⁠⟩⁠ page & the article sh⁠⟨⁠ould⁠⟩⁠ run ⁠⟨⁠to⁠⟩⁠ about twenty pages. It is hoped that the series may be subsequently published in a volume.⁴

Hoping for an early & favourable reply | I remain | Yours truly | Walter R Browne | Hon. Sec

Chas. Darwin Esq^r F.R.S.