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report and as the author of the said "Naturalist's Journal." Short of
the gratification I felt in getting the book out, I know no greater than
your kind, hearty acceptation of the dedication; and, had the reviewers
gibbeted me, the dedication would alone have given me real pain. I have
no wish to assume a stoical indifference to public opinion, for I am
well alive to it, and the critics might have irritated me sorely, but
they could never have caused me the regret that the association of your
name with a bad book of mine would have.
You will laugh when I tell you that, my book out, I feel past the
meridian of life! But you do not know how from my earliest childhood I
nourished and cherished the desire to make a creditable journey in a new
country, and write such a respectable account of its natural features as
should give me a niche amongst the scientific explorers of the globe
I inhabit, and hand my name down as a useful contributor of original
matter. A combination of most rare advantages has enabled me to gain
as much of my object as contents me, for I never wished to be greatest
amongst you, nor did rivalry ever enter my thoughts. No ulterior object
has ever been present to me in this pursuit. My ambition is fully
gratified by the satisfactory completion of my task, and I am now happy
to go on jog-trot at Botany till the end of my days--downhill, in one
sense, all the way. I shall never have such another object to work for,
nor shall I feel the want of it...As it is, the craving of thirty
years is satisfied, and I now look back on life in a way I never could
previously. There never was a past hitherto to me. The phantom was
always in view; mayhap it is only a "ridiculus mus" after all, but it is
big enough for me...
(PLATE: T.H. HUXLEY, 1857. Maull & Polyblank photo., Walker & Cockerell
ph. sc.)
(32/1. The story of Huxley's life has been fully given in the
interesting biography edited by Mr. Leonard Huxley. (32/2. "Life and
Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley." London 1900.) Readers of this book and
of the "Life and Letters of Charles Darwin" gain an insight into the
relationship between this pair of friends to which any words of ours can
add but little. Darwin realised to the full the essential strength of
Mr. Huxley's nature; he knew, as all the world now knows, the delicate
sense of honour of his friend, and he was ever inclined to lean on his
guidance in practical matters, as on an elder brother. Of Mr. Huxley's
dialectical and literary skill he was an enthusiastic admirer, and
he never forgot what his theories owed to the fighting powers of his
"general agent." (32/3. Ibid., I., page 171.) Huxley's estimate of
Darwin is very interesting: he valued him most highly for what was so
strikingly characteristic of himself--the love of truth. He spoke of
finding in him "something bigger than ordinary humanity--an unequalled
simplicity and directness of purpose--a sublime unselfishness." (32/4.
Ibid., II., page 94. Huxley is speaking of Gordon's death, and goes on:
"Of all the people whom I have met with in my life, he and Darwin are
the two in whom I have found," etc.) The same point of view comes out in
Huxley's estimate of Darwin's mental power. (32/5. Ibid., II., page
39.) "He had a clear, rapid intelligence, a great memory, a vivid
imagination, and what made his greatness was the strict subordination of
all these to his love of truth." This, as an analysis of Darwin's mental
equipment, seems to us incomplete, though we do not pretend to mend
it. We do not think it is possible to dissect and label the complex
qualities which go to make up that which we all recognise as genius.
But, if we may venture to criticise, we would say that Mr. Huxley's
words do not seem to cover that supreme power of seeing and thinking
what the rest of the world had overlooked, which was one of Darwin's
most striking characteristics. As throwing light on the quality of their
friendship, we give below a letter which has already appeared in the
"Life and Letters of T.H. Huxley," I., page 366. Mr. L. Huxley gives an
account of the breakdown in health which convinced Huxley's friends that
rest and relief from anxiety must be found for him. Mr. L. Huxley aptly
remarks of the letter, "It is difficult to say whether it does more
honour to him who sent it or to him who received it." (32/6. Huxley's
"Life," I., page 366. Mr. Darwin left to Mr. Huxley a legacy of 1,000
pounds, "as a slight memorial of my lifelong affection and respect for
him."))
LETTER 32. TO T.H. HUXLEY. Down, April 23rd, 1873.
My dear Huxley
I have been asked by some of your friends (eighteen in number) to inform
you that they have placed, through Robarts, Lubbock & Co., the sum
of 2,100 pounds to your account at your bankers. We have done this
to enable you to get such complete rest as you may require for the
re-establishment of your health; and in doing this we are convinced that
we act for the public interest, as well as in accordance with our most
earnest desires. Let me assure you that we are all your warm personal
friends, and that there is not a stranger or mere acquaintance amongst
us. If you could have heard what was said, or could have read what
was, as I believe, our inmost thoughts, you would know that we all feel
towards you, as we should to an honoured and much loved brother. I am
sure that you will return this feeling, and will therefore be glad to
give us the opportunity of aiding you in some degree, as this will be a
happiness to us to the last day of our lives. Let me add that our plan
occurred to several of your friends at nearly the same time and quite
independently of one another.
My dear Huxley, Your affectionate friend, CHARLES DARWIN.
LETTER 33. TO T.H. HUXLEY.
(33/1. The following letter is one of the earliest of the long series
addressed to Mr. Huxley.)
Down, April 23rd [1854].
My dear Sir
I have got out all the specimens, which I have thought could by any
possibility be of any use to you; but I have not looked at them, and
know not what state they are in, but should be much pleased if they are
of the smallest use to you. I enclose a catalogue of habitats: I thought
my notes would have turned out of more use. I have copied out such few
points as perhaps would not be apparent in preserved specimens. The
bottle shall go to Mr. Gray on Thursday next by our weekly carrier.
I am very much obliged for your paper on the Mollusca (33/2. The paper
of Huxley's is "On the Morphology of the Cephalous Mollusca, etc."
("Phil. Trans. R. Soc." Volume 143, Part I., 1853, page 29.)); I have
read it all with much interest: but it would be ridiculous in me to make
any remarks on a subject on which I am so utterly ignorant; but I can
see its high importance. The discovery of the type or "idea" (33/3.
Huxley defines his use of the word "archetype" at page 50: "All that I
mean is the conception of a form embodying the most general propositions
that can be affirmed respecting the Cephalous Mollusca, standing in the
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