INTRODUCTION xv 



"Nobody, children or anyone else, can be to me what you 

 are. Ulysses preferred his old woman to immortality, and 

 this absence has led me to see that he was as wise in that 

 as in other things." Again he writes, " Against all trouble 

 (and I have had my share) I weigh a wife-comrade ' trew 

 and fest' in all emergencies." 



The letters also give one a clear idea of the breadth of 

 Huxley's interests, particularly of his appreciation of the 

 various forms of art. Huxley believed strongly 

 in the arts as a refining and helpful influence in tionof 

 education. He keenly enjoyed good music. Pro- 

 fessor Hewes writes of him that one breaking in upon him 

 in the afternoon at South Kensington would not infre- 

 quently be met "with a snatch of some melody of Bach's 

 fugue." He also liked good pictures, and always had among 

 his friends well-known artists, as Alma-Tadema, Sir Fred- 

 erick Leighton, and Burne-Jones. He read poetry widely, 

 and strongly advocated the teaching of poetry in English 

 schools. As to poetry, his own preferences are interesting. 

 Wordsworth he considered too discursive; Shelley was too 

 diffuse ; Keats, he liked for pure beauty, Browning for 

 strength, and Tennyson for his understanding of modern 

 science; but most frequently of all he read Milton and 

 Shakespeare. 



As to Huxley's appearance, and as to the impression 

 which his personality made upon others, the description 

 of a friend, Mr. G. W. Smalley, presents him 

 with striking force. " The square forehead, the * 

 square jaw, the tense lines of the mouth, the deep flashing 

 dark eyes, the impression of something more than strength 

 he gave you, an impression of sincerity, of solid force, of 

 immovability, yet with the gentleness arising from the 

 serene consciousness of his strength all this belonged to 

 Huxley and to him alone. The first glance magnetized his 

 audience. The eyes were those of one accustomed to com- 

 mand, of one having authority, and not fearing on occasion 

 to use it. The hair swept carelessly away from the broad 

 forehead and grew rather long behind, yet the length did 

 not suggest, as it often does, effeminacy. He was masculine 



