114 LIFE OF PROFESSOR HUXLEY CHAP. V 



among the everlasting hills, a fico for your controveraies ! 

 Wace's paper shall be waste paper for me. Oh ! This is 

 a "goak" which Peterborough would not understand. 



I think you are right about the wine and water 

 business — I had my doubts — but it was too tempting. 

 All the teetotallers would have been on my side. 



There is no more curious example of the influence of 

 education than the respect with which this poor bit of 

 conjuring is regarded. Your genuine pietist would find 

 a mystical sense in thimblerig. I trust you have properly 

 enjoyed the extracts from Newman. That a man of his 

 intellect should be brought down to the utterance of such 

 drivel — by Papistry, is one of the strongest of arguments 

 against that damnable perverter of mankind, I know of. 

 — Ever yours very faithfully, 



T. H. Huxley. 



Shortly afterwards, he received a long and 

 rambling letter in connection with this subject. 

 Referring to the passage in the first article, "the 

 apostolic injunction to ' suffer fools gladly ' should be 

 the rule of life of a true agnostic," the writer began 

 by begging him " to ' suffer gladly ' one fool more," 

 and after several pages wound up with a variation of 

 the same phrase. It being impossible to give any 

 valid answer to his hypothetical inquiries, Huxley 

 could not resist the temptation to take the opening 

 thus offered him, and replied : — 



Sir — I beg leave to acknowledge your letter. I have 

 complied with the request preferred in its opening 

 paragraph. — Faithfully yours, T. H. Huxley. 



The following letter also arises out of this contro- 

 versy : — 



I 



