The Metaphysical Society was a British society, founded in 1869 by James Knowles . Many of its members were prominent clergymen  .  Papers were read and discussed at meetings on such subjects as the ultimate grounds of belief in the objective and moral sciences, the immortality of the soul, etc. A description of one of the meetings was given by William Connor Magee (then Bishop of Peterborough) in a letter on 13 February 1873: The last meeting of the society was held on 16 May 1880 and it was dissolved later in November of that year.Christopher A. Kent, "Metaphysical Society (act. 1869–1880)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, URL 2004. Retrieved 15 April 2013. Huxley said that it died "of too much love"; Tennyson, "because after ten years of strenuous effort no one had succeeded in even defining metaphysics." According to Dean Stanley, "We all meant the same thing if we only knew it." 
The Metaphysical Society was a famous British debating society, founded in 1869 by James Knowles , who acted as Secretary. Membership was by invitation only, and was exclusively male. Many of its members were prominent clergymen , philosophers, and politicians . The society met monthly, from November to July (to mirror the sitting of Parliament). Its members were never all present at once, and most meetings never exceeded twenty attendees.Metcalf, Knowles, pp. 216-217 Papers were read and discussed at meetings on such subjects as the ultimate grounds of belief in the objective and moral sciences, the immortality of the soul, etc. A description of one of the meetings was given by William Connor Magee (then Bishop of Peterborough) in a letter on 13 February 1873: The last meeting of the society was held on 16 May 1880 and it was dissolved later in November of that year.Christopher A. Kent, "Metaphysical Society (act. 1869–1880)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, URL 2004. Retrieved 15 April 2013. Huxley said that it died "of too much love"; Tennyson, "because after ten years of strenuous effort no one had succeeded in even defining metaphysics." According to Dean Stanley, "We all meant the same thing if we only knew it." In 1877 Knowles founded The Nineteenth Century, a literary journal whose editorial style was partly inspired by the debates he had managed at the Metaphysical Society.Metcalf, Knowles, p. 225 Many of the society's members became supporters and contributors to the magazine.
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, who acted as Secretary. Membership was by invitation only, and was exclusively male.
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, philosophers, and politicians
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The society met monthly, from November to July (to mirror the sitting of Parliament). Its members were never all present at once, and most meetings never exceeded twenty attendees.Metcalf, Knowles, pp. 216-217
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In 1877 Knowles founded The Nineteenth Century, a literary journal whose editorial style was partly inspired by the debates he had managed at the Metaphysical Society.Metcalf, Knowles, p. 225 Many of the society's members became supporters and contributors to the magazine.