1892 DEATH OF SIR R. OWEN 361 



all troubles (and I have had my share) I weigh a wife-comrade 

 " treu und fest " in all emergencies. 



I have a great respect for the Nazarenism of Jesus very 

 little for later " Christianity." But the only religion that ap- 

 peals to me is prophetic Judaism. Add to it something from the 

 best Stoics and something from Spinoza and something from 

 Goethe, and there is a religion for men. Some of these days I 

 think I will make a cento out of the works of these people. 



I find it hard enough to write decent prose and have usually 

 stuck to that. The " Gib diesen Todten ' I am hardly respon- 

 sible for, as it did itself coming down here in the train after 

 Tennyson's funeral. The notion came into my head in the 

 Abbey. Ever yours very faithfully, T. H. HUXLEY. 



This winter also Sir R. Owen died, and was buried at 

 Ham on December 23. The grave ends all quarrels, and 

 Huxley intended to be present at the funeral. But as he 

 wrote to Dr. Foster on the 23rd : 



I had a hard morning's work at University College yester- 

 day, and what with the meeting of the previous evening and that 

 infernal fog, I felt so seedy that I made up my mind to go 

 straight home and be quiet. . . . 



There has been a bitter north-easter all day here, and if the 

 like has prevailed at Ham I am glad I kept out of it, as I am by 

 no means fit to cope with anything of that kind to-day. I do not 

 think I was bound to offer myself up to the manes of the de- 

 parted, however satisfactory that might have been to the poor 

 old man. Peace be with him ! 



But the old-standing personal differences between the 

 two made it difficult for him to decide what to do with 

 regard to a meeting to raise some memorial to the great 

 anatomist. He writes again to Sir M. Foster, January 8, 



1893 : 



What am I to do about the meeting about Owen's statue on the 

 2ist? I do not wish to pose either as a humbugging approver or 

 as a sulky disapprover. The man did honest work, enough to de- 

 serve his statue, and that is all that concerns the public. 



And on the i8th: 



I am inclined to think that I had better attend the meeting 

 at all costs. But I do not see why I should speak unless I am 

 called upon to do so. 



