546 Sir William Macetven [June 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 



Friday, June 7, 1912. 



His Grace the Duke of Northumberland, K.G. P.C. D.C.L. 

 LL.D. F.R.S., President, in the Chair. 



Sir William Macewen, M.D. (Glasgow), LL.D. F.R.C.S.(Hon.), 

 D.Sc.(Oxon.), F.R.S. 



Lord Lister. 



Introductory Remarks. 



It is said that the Egyptian kings, after death, had to undergo a 

 trial before they were embalmed. Our great men appear to be 

 similarly arraigned, as their character and attainments are brought 

 to judgment by the lesser ones of earth, who bear testimony con- 

 cerning them, weighing them in their own balance, each to his entire 

 satisfaction. 



The reputation of the smaller great men may be affected by this 

 judgment. The reputation of the truly great lies beyond the reach 

 of blame or praise, and lives on in history after all those who have 

 weighed them have been forgotten. Such was Lister. 



Unlike the Egyptian kings, however. Lister was tried during 

 life. His struggle with disease and with the mind of his fellow-men, 

 though long and severe, was ultimately successful, and the great 

 good achieved by the adoption of his methods was universally 

 acknowledged. Whilst yet in the autumn of his life he was able to 

 look on at the spread of the antiseptic system over ever-widening 

 areas, and to rest in the consciousness that he had accomplished a 

 great work for the good of mankind. 



It would be out of place here to lay before you in their order the 

 honours and titles showered upon Lister in the latter period of his 

 life, or to refer to the impressive ceremony on the occasion of his 

 funeral in the fane of the immortals — Westminster Abbey— save to 

 remind you that, though the Abbey was open to receive his remains, 

 the true man was shown in him, when he directed that his body 

 should be laid where his dust would mingle with the ashes of one lie 

 loved, and who had been his constant companion and helpmate 

 during the most active portion of his life. 



