l869 THE METAPHYSICAL SOCIETY 341 



would come of the general acceptance of such views as 

 Dr. Ward holds." * 



No amount of argument could have been more effectual 

 in supporting the claim for mutual toleration than these two 

 speeches, and thenceforward such forms of criticism were 

 conspicuous by their absence. And where honesty of con- 

 viction was patent, mutual toleration was often replaced by 

 personal esteem and regard. " Charity, brotherly love," 

 writes Huxley, " were the chief traits of the Society. We all 

 expended so much charity, that, had it been money, we 

 should every one have been bankrupt." 



The special part played in the society by Huxley was to j 

 show that many of the axioms of current speculation are far I 

 from being axiomatic, and that dogmatic assertion on some 

 of the cardinal points of metaphysic is unwarranted by the 

 evidence of fact. To find these seeming axioms set aside 

 as unproven, was, it appears from his Life, disconcerting to 

 such members of the society as Cardinal Manning, whose 

 arguments depended on the unquestioned acceptance of 

 them. It was no doubt the observation of a similar attitude 

 of mind in Mr. Gladstone towards metaphysical problems 

 which provoked Huxley to reply, when asked whether Mr. 

 Gladstone was an expert metaphysician — " An expert in 

 metaphysics? He does not know the meaning of the word." 



In addition to his share in the discussions, Huxley con- 

 tributed three papers to the society. The first, read Novem- 

 ber 17, 1869, was on " The views of Hume, Kant, and 

 Whately on the logical basis of the doctrine of the Immor- 

 tality of the Soul," showing that these thinkers agreed in 

 holding that no such basis is given by reasoning, apart, for 

 instance, from revelation. A summary of the argument 

 appears in the essay on Hume {Coll. Ess. vi. 201, sq.). 



On November 8, 1870, he read a paper, " Has a Frog 

 a Soul ? and if so, of what Nature is that Soul ? " Experi- 

 ment shows that a frog deprived of consciousness and 

 volition by the removal of the front part of its brain, will, 

 under the action of various stimuli, perform many acts 



* Zi/e of IV. G. Ward, by Wilfrid Ward, p. 309. 



