294 MISCELLANEA [Ch. XV. 



after the publication of his greatest work, a lecture was given 

 (April 9, 1880) at the Royal Institution by Mr. Huxley* which 

 was aptly named "The Coming of Age of the Origin of 

 Species." The following characteristic letter, referring to this 

 subject, may fitly close the present chapter. 



Abinger Hall, Dorking, Sunday, April 11, 1880. 



My dear Huxley, — I wished much to attend your Lecture, 

 but I have had a bad cough, and we have come here to see 

 whether a change would do me good, as it has done. What a 

 magnificent success your lecture seems to have been, as I judge 

 from the reports in the Standard and Daily News, and more 

 especially from the accounts given me by three of my children. 

 I suppose that you have not written out your lecture, so I fear 

 there is no chance of its being printed in extenso. You appear 

 to have piled, as on so many other occasions, honours high and 

 thick on my old head. But I well know how great a part you 

 have played in establishing and spreading the belief in the 

 descent- theory, ever since that grand review in the Times and 

 the battle royal at Oxford up to the present day. 

 Ever, my dear Huxley, 



Yours sincerely and gratefully, 



Charles Darwin. 



P.S. — It was absurdly stupid in me, but I had read the 

 announcement of your Lecture, and thought that you meant 

 the maturity of the subject, until my wife one day remarked, 

 u it is almost twenty-one years since the Origin appeared," and 

 then for the first time the meaning of your words flashed on me. 



* Published in Science and Culture, p. 310. 



