1893 THE ROMANES LECTURE 



letter to remind us of our promise to go there, and I have chir- 

 rupped back. 



The " chirrup ' ran as follows : 



HODESLEA, Nov. I, l8g2. 



MY DEAR MRS. ROMANES I have just written to the Vice- 

 Chancellor to say that I hope to be at his disposition any time 

 next May. 



My wife is " larking " I am sorry to use such a word, but 

 what she is pleased to tell me of her doings leaves me no alterna- 

 tive in London, whither I go on Thursday to fetch her back 

 in chains, if necessary. But I know, in the matter of being 

 " taken in and done for " by your hospitable selves, I may, for 

 once, speak for her as well as myself. 



Don't ask anybody above the rank of a younger son of a 

 Peer because I shall not be able to go in to dinner before him 

 or her and that part of my dignity is naturally what I prize 

 most. 



Would you not like me to come in my P.C. suit? All ablaze 

 with gold, and costing a sum with which I could buy oh ! so 

 many books ! 



Only if your late experiences should prompt you to instruct 

 your other guests not to contradict me don't. I rather like it. 

 Ever yours very faithfully, T. H. HUXLEY. 



Bon Voyage! You can tell Mr. Jones * that I will have him 

 brought before the Privy Council and fined, as in the good old 

 days, if he does not treat you properly. 



This letter was afterwards published in Mrs. Romanes' 

 Life of her husband, and three letters on that occasion, and 

 particularly that in which Huxley tried to guard her from 

 any malicious interpretation of his jests, are to be found on 

 p. 403. 



On the afternoon of May 18, 1893, he delivered at 

 Oxford his Romanes Lecture, on " Evolution and Ethics," 

 a study of the relation of ethical and evolutionary theory in 

 the history of philosophy, the text of which is that while 

 morality is necessarily a part of the order of nature, still the 

 ethical principle is opposed to the self-regarding principle 

 on which cosmic evolution has taken place. Society is a 



* The hotel-keeper in Madeira. 



