The Friendships of Darwin 383 



could Sir C. Ly ell... for thirty years read, write, and think, on the 

 subject of species and their succession, and yet constantly look down 

 the wrong road 1 ! " Huxley attributed this hesitation of Lyell to his 

 "profound antipathy" to the doctrine of the "pithecoid origin of 

 man 2 ." Without denying that this had considerable influence (and 

 those who knew Lyell and his great devotion to his wife and her 

 memory, are aware that he and she felt much stronger convictions 

 concerning such subjects as the immortality of the soul than Darwin 

 was able to confess to) yet I think Darwin had divined the real 

 characteristics of his friend's mind, when he wrote : " He would 

 advance all possible objections... and even after these were exhausted, 

 would remain long dubious." 



Very touching indeed was the friendship maintained to the end 

 between these two leaders of thought — free as their intercourse was 

 from any smallest trace of self-seeking or jealousy. When in 1874 

 I spent some time with Lyell in his Forfarshire home, a communi- 

 cation from Darwin was always an event which made a " red-letter 

 day," as Lyell used to say ; and he gave me many indications in his 

 conversation of how strongly he relied upon the opinion of Darwin — 

 more indeed than on the judgment of any other man — this con- 

 fidence not being confined to questions of science, but extending to 

 those of morals, politics, and religion. 



I have heard those who knew Lyell only slightly, speak of his 

 manners as cold and reserved. His complete absorption in his 

 scientific work, coupled with extreme short-sightedness, almost in 

 the end amounting to blindness, may have permitted those having 

 but a casual acquaintance with him to accept such a view. But 

 those privileged to know him intimately recognised the nobleness of 

 his character and can realise the justice and force of Hooker's words 

 when he heard of his death: "My loved, my best friend, for well 

 nigh forty years of my life. The most generous sharer of my own 

 and my family's hopes, joys and sorrows, whose affection for me was 

 truly that of a father and brother combined." 



But the strongest of all testimonies to the grandeur of Lyell's 

 character is the lifelong devotion to him of such a man as Darwin. 

 Before the two met, we find Darwin constantly writing of facts and 

 observations that he thinks " will interest Mr Lyell " ; and when they 

 came together the mutual esteem rapidly ripened into the warmest 

 affection. Both having the advantage of a moderate independence, 

 permitting of an entire devotion of their lives to scientific research, 

 they had much in common, and the elder man — who had already 

 achieved both scientific and literary distinction — was able to give 

 good advice and friendly help to the younger one. The warmth of 



1 L. L. ii. p. 227. ■ L. L. n. p. 193. 



