54 LIFE OF PROFESSOR HUXLEY CHAP, iv 



Department were over, and indeed he writes to Sir M. 

 Foster : 



Don't bother your head about the balance now or here- 

 after. To tell you the truth I do so little in the Examiner busi- 

 ness that I am getting ashamed of taking even the retaining fee, 

 , and you will do me a favour if you will ease my conscience. 



A week of fishery business in South Wales and Devon 

 had " a good deal of holiday in it." For the rest 



I have just been put on Senate of University of London 

 [a Crown nomination]. I tried hard to get Lord Granville to let 

 me off in fact I told him I could not attend the meetings except 

 now and then, but there was no escape. I must have a talk with 

 you about what is to be done there. 



Item. There is a new Fishery Commission that I also 

 strongly objected to, but had to cave in so far as I agreed to 

 attend some meetings in latter half of September. 



On this occasion Lord Granville had written back : 



ii CARLTON HOUSE TERRACE, Jtily 28, 1883. 



MY DEAR PROFESSOR HUXLEY Clay, the great whist player, 

 once made a mistake and said to his partner, ' My brain is 

 softening," the latter answered, " Never mind, I will give you 

 10,000 down for it, just as it is." 



On that principle and backed up by Paget I shall write to 

 Harcourt on Monday. Yours sincerely, GRANVILLE. 



The Commission of course cut short the stay at Milford, 

 and on September 12, he writes : 



We shall leave this on Friday as my wife has some fal-lals to 

 look after before we start for the north on Monday. 



The worst of it is that it is not at all certain that the Com- 

 mission will meet and do any work. However I am pledged to 

 go and I daresay that Brechin Castle is a very pleasant place to 

 stay in. 



Lastly, he was thinking over the obituary notice of Dar- 

 win which he had undertaken to write for the Royal So- 

 ciety though it did not appear till 1888 that on F. Balfour 

 being written by Sir M. Foster. 



