Last Appearance at Oxford 265 



should address the University on a subject neither re- 

 ligious nor political. Mr. Gladstone was the first lect- 

 urer, and, at the suggestion of the founder, Huxle)^ 

 was chosen as the second. For years he had been tak- 

 ing a special interest in both religion and politics, and 

 he was not a little embarrassed by the restrictions im- 

 posed by the terms of the foundation, for he determined 

 to make ethical science the subject of his address, and 



"ethical science is, on all sides, so entangled with religion 

 and politics, that the lecturer who essays to touch the former 

 without coming in contact with either of the latter, needs all 

 the dexterity of an egg-dancer, and may even discover that 

 his sense of clearness and his sense of propriety come into con- 

 flict, by no means to the advantage of the former." 



As Huxle}-, on that great occasion, ascended the 

 rostrum in the Sheldonian theatre, very white and frail 

 in his scarlet doctor's robes, there mtist have been 

 present in his mind memories of the occasion, four-and- 

 thirty years before, when he first addressed an audience 

 in the University of Oxford. Then he was a 570ung 

 man, almost tmknown, rising to lead what seemed a 

 forlorn hope for an idea titterly repugnant to most of 

 his hearers. Now, and largel}- b}- his own efforts, the 

 idea had become an inseparable part of human thotight, 

 and Huxley himself was the guest to whom the whole 

 University was doing honour. Graduates from all 

 parts of England had come to hear what, it was feared, 

 might be his last public speech, and practically every 

 member of the University who could gain admission 

 was present. The press of the world attended to report 

 his words as if they were those of a great political leader, 

 about to decide the fate of nations. Although his voice 

 had lost mtich of its old sonorous reach, and althotigh 

 the old clear rhythms were occasionally broken by 



