272 SIB CHARLES LYELL. 



generous, and true ; her moral instincts were high 

 and pure ; she was faithful and firm in friendship. 

 . . . This woman so widely informed, so true, so 

 strong, so brave, seemed all compact of softness, 

 sweetness, and gentleness ; a very flower that had 

 done no more than drink the sunshine and the 

 dew. In her smile, her greeting, the tones of her 

 voice, there was a charm which cannot be described, 

 but which all who knew her have felt and will re- 

 call. . . . During the war there was not a woman 

 or a man in England that stood by the Union and 

 the government more ardently and fearlessly than 

 she." Lady Lyell was an efficient linguist, and a 

 woman of unusual mental power. The success of 

 her husband was in part the result of her lovely 

 character. Had she sought society while he needed 

 quiet for his work, had she been fond of dress 

 when their income was limited and necessarily 

 used in his extensive travels, his life might have 

 been a failure. They had what Tolstoi well calls 

 " the friendship of the soul ; identity of sentiment 

 and similarity of ideal." Too often in this world 

 persons marry " opposites," and walk, alas ! in 

 opposite directions all their lives. 



Lyell now worked on, for he said he must carry 

 out what he had planned with her. In 1872 the 

 eleventh edition of the " Principles " appeared. 

 Lyell, though formerly an opponent, had become 

 convinced of the truth of evolution, advocated by 

 his devoted friend Darwin, and was proud of our 

 own distinguished botanist Asa Gray, whose arti- 



