1 64 THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY 



Nature on the 27th (Coll. Essays, ii, p. 244). The obituary 

 notice for that periodical was undertaken by Romanes, 

 who submitted the draft to Huxley for criticism. One 

 paragraph in the answering letter (dated May 9), com- 

 pares Darwin with other epoch-making naturalists : — 



" I am not likely to take a low view of Darwin's position in 

 the history of science, but I am disposed to think that BufFon and 

 Lamarck would run him hard in both genius and fertility. In 

 breadth of view and in extent of knowledge these two men were 

 giants, though we are apt to forget their services. Von Baer was 

 another man of the same stamp ; Cuvier, in a somewhat lower 

 rank, another ; and J. Miiller another" (Life, ii, p. 39). 



Later on (June 9, 1885), Huxley paid a tribute to 

 Darwin's memory when, in the capacity of President of 

 the Royal Society, he handed over a statue to H.R.H. 

 the Prince of Wales, as representing the Trustees of the 

 British Museum (Coll. Essays, ii, p. 248). And, finally, 

 he wrote the somewhat belated Obituary Notice for the 

 Royal Society (Proc. Roy. Soc, xliv, 1888. Coll. Essays, 

 ii, p. 253). These, together with other utterances and 

 writings, enable us to form a just notion of Huxley's 

 views regarding Darwin and his work. For example, 

 the peroration to the speech on the occasion of unveiling 

 Darwin's statue runs thus : — 



" We do not make this request [/>., acceptance of the statue] 

 for the mere sake of perpetuating a memory ; for so long as men 

 occupy themselves with the pursuit of truth, the name of Darwin 

 runs no more risk of oblivion than does that of Copernicus, or 

 that of Harvey. 



" Nor, most assuredly, do we ask you to preserve the statue 

 in its cynosural position in this entrance hall of our National 

 Museum of Natural History as evidence that Mr. Darwin's views 

 have received your official sanction ; for science does not recog- 

 nise such sanctions, and commits suicide when it adopts a creed. 



" No, we beg you to cherish this memorial as a symbol by 



