428 Dr. St. George Mivart [June 5, 



WEEKTiY EVENING MEETING, 

 Friday, June 5, 1891. 



Sir Dyce Duckworth, M.D. LL.D. F.R.C.P. Vice-President, 



in the Chair. 



St. George J. Mivart, Esq. Ph.D. M.D. F.E.S. V.P.L.S. 



V.P.Z.S. M.BJ. 



The Implications of Science. 



After a brief introduction, the lecturer said : — By " the implications 

 of science " I mean nothing to which any section of my hearers can 

 object, whatever their notions about creed or conduct may be. I desire 

 carefully to eliminate all question of either religion or morals, and I 

 shall confine myself purely and simply to the consideration of 

 certain propositions which appear to me to be latent within, and 

 to give force to, what we regard as well-ascertained scientific truths. 

 They are propositions which must, I believe, be assented to by every 

 consistent follower of science who is convinced that science has 

 brought to our knowledge some truths on which we can with entire 

 confidence rely. 



My appeal then is to the pure intellect of my hearers, and to 

 nothing else. And, indeed, I desire to take this opportunity plainly 

 to declare, that not only here and now, but everywhere and always, 

 I unhesitatingly affirm that no system can or should stand which is 

 unable to justify itself to reason. I possess no faculty myself, nor 

 do I believe that any human faculty exists, superior to the intellect, 

 or which has any claim to limit or dominate the intellect's activity. 

 Feelings and sentiments have their undoubted charm and due place 

 in human life, but that place is a subordinate one, and should be 

 under the control of right reason. 



Yet it is by no means only, or mainly, against those who would 

 undervalue reason in the interest of sentiment, that I have this 

 evening to protest. My object is to uphold what I believe to be the 

 just claims of our rational nature against all who, from whatever side, 

 or in the name of whatsoever authority, would impugn its sovereign 

 claims upon our reverence or unduly restrict the area of its sway. 



As I have already intimated, I propose to fulfil this task by calling 

 attention to some half-dozen far-reaching truths implicitly contained 

 in scientific doctrines universally admitted ; so that those doctrines 

 cannot logically be maintained if such implied truths are really and 

 seriously doubted, and still less if they are really disbelieved and 

 denied. These truths, then, are what I mean by " the implications of 

 science." But what is science ? 



