92 THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY 



science at this time is indicated by the foundation of the 

 Metaphysical Society in 1869, with the object of bring- 

 ing together leading thinkers of diverse opinions as re- 

 gards the " New Philosophy" {cf. p. 89). The credit of 

 the idea is due to James Knowles, and the Society, which 

 was not long-lived, justified its existence by enabling a 

 number of misconceptions to be cleared up, with no 

 small gain in the matter of mutual respect. The com- 

 position of the Society is described as follows by Mr. 

 Leonard Huxley (Life, i, p. 314) : — 



" Thus the Society came to be composed of men of the most 

 opposite ways of thinking and of very various occupations in 

 hfe. The largest group was that of churchmen : — ecclesiastical 

 dignitaries such as Thomson, the Archbishop of York, Ellicott, 

 Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, and Dean Alford ; staunch 

 laymen such as Mr. Gladstone, Lord Selborne, and the Duke 

 of Argyll; while the liberal school was represented by Dean 

 Stanley, F. D. Maurice, and Mark Pattison. Three distin- 

 guished converts from the English Church championed Roman 

 Catholic doctrine — Cardinal Manning, Father Dalgairns, and 

 W. G. Ward, while Unitarianism claimed Dr. James Martineau. 

 At the opposite pole, in antagonism to Christian theology and 

 theism generally, stood Professor W. K. Clifford, whose youth- 

 ful brilliancy was destined to be cut short by an untimely death. 

 Positivism was represented by Mr. Frederic Harrison ; and 

 Agnosticism by such men of science or letters as Huxley and 

 Tyndall, Mr. John Morley, and Mr. Leslie Stephen. 



" Something was gained, too, by the variety of callings 

 followed by the different members. While there were pro- 

 fessional students of philosophy, like Professor Henry Sidgwick 

 or Sir Alexander Grant, the Principal of Edinburgh University, 

 in some the technical knowledge of philosophy was overlaid by 

 studies in history or letters ; in others, by the practical experience 

 of the law or politics ; in others, again, medicine or biology 

 supplied a powerful psychological instrument. This fact tended 

 to keep the discussions in touch with reality on many sides. 



" There was Tennyson, for instance, the only poet who 

 thoroughly understood the movement of modern science, a stately 

 but silent member; Mr. Ruskin, J. A. Froude, Shadworth 



