46 LIFE OF PROFESSOR HUXLEY CHAP. I 



In his most trenchant attacks on what he deemed 

 wrong in principles, he never descended to attack either 

 the sects which held them or the individuals who 

 supported them, even though occasionally much provoca- 

 tion was given him. He might not care for peace with 

 some of the theories represented on the Board, but he 

 had certainly and at all times great good-will to men. 



As a speaker he was delightful. Few, clear, definite, 

 and calm as stars were the words he spoke. Nobody 

 talked whilst he was speaking. There were no tricks 

 in his talk. He did not seem to be trying to persuade 

 you of something. What convinced him, that he 

 transferred to others. He made no attempt to mis- 

 represent those opposed to him. He sought only to let 

 them know himself. . . . Even the sparkle of his 

 humour, like the sparkle of a diamond, was of the 

 inevitable in him, and was as fair as it was enjoyable. 



As one who has tried to serve children, I look back 

 upon having fallen in with Mr. Huxley as one of the 

 many fortunate circumstances of my life. It taught me 

 the importance of making acquaintance with facts, and 

 of studying the laws of them. Under his influence it was 

 that I most of all came to see the practical value of a single 

 eye to those in any pursuit of life. I saw what effect 

 they had on emotions of charity and sentiments of justice, 

 and what simplicity and grandeur they gave to appeals. 



My last conversation with him was at Eastbourne 

 some time in 1887 or 1888. I was there on my society's 

 business. " Well, Waugh, you're still busy about your 

 babies," was his greeting. " Yes," I responded, " and you 

 are still busy about your pigs." One of the last dis- 

 cussions at which he was present at the School Board for 

 London had been on the proximity of a piggery to a 

 site for a school, and his attack on Mr. Gladstone on the 

 Gadarene swine had just been made in the Nineteenth 

 Century. " Do you still believe in Gladstone ? " he con- 

 tinued. " That man has the greatest intellect in Europe. 



