A STUDENT'S REMINISCENCES OF HUXLEY. 33 



greater effect if they had been delivered from an Oxford, Cam- 

 bridge, or Edinburgh chair. In fact, Huxley's whole life would 

 have been different, in some ways more effective, in others 

 less so, if the universities had welcomed the young genius 

 who was looking for a post, and even cast his eyes toward 

 America in 1850; but in those early days of classical prestige 

 both seats of learning were dead to the science, which it was 

 Huxley's great service in support of Darwin to place beside 

 physics, in the lead of all others in England. Moreover, 

 Oxford, if not Cambridge, could not long have sheltered such 

 a wolf in the fold. 



Huxley's public addresses always gave the impression of 

 being largely impromptu ; but he once told me : "I always 

 think out carefully every word I am going to say. There is 

 no greater danger than the so-called inspiration of the moment, 

 which leads you to say something which is not exactly true, or 

 which you would regret afterward. I sometimes envy your 

 countrymen their readiness, and believe that a native Ameri- 

 can, if summoned out of bed at midnight, could step to his 

 window and speak well upon any subject." I told him I feared 

 he had been slightly misinformed. I feared that many Ameri- 

 can impromptu speeches were more distinguished by a flow of 

 language than of ideas. But Huxley was sometimes very 

 impressive when he did not speak. In 1879 ^^ was strongly 

 advocating the removal of the Royal School of Mines from 

 crowded Jermyn Street to South Kensington, — a matter which 

 is still being agitated. At a public dinner given by the alumni 

 of the school, who were naturally attached to the old buildings, 

 the chairman was indiscreet enough to make an attack upon 

 the policy of removal. He was vigorously applauded, when, to 

 every one's consternation, Huxley, who was sitting at the 

 chairman's right, slowly rose, paused a moment, and then 

 silently skirted the tables and walked out of the hall. A 

 solemn pall fell over the remainder of the dinner, and we were 

 all glad to find an excuse to leave early. 



In personal conversation Huxley was full of humor and 

 greatly enjoyed stories at his own expense. Such was the fol- 

 lowing : " In my early period as a lecturer, I had very little 



