1885 LETTER TO MR. MIVART 423 



better than almost any other document, the nature 

 of the tie which united Darwin and his friends, 

 and incidentally touches the question of Galileo's 

 recantation : 



Nw. 12, 1885. 



MY DEAR MR. MIVART I return your proof with 

 many thanks for your courtesy in sending it. I fully 

 appreciate the good feeling shown in what you have 

 written, but as you ask my opinion, I had better say 

 frankly that my experience of Darwin is widely different 

 from yours as expressed in the passages marked with 

 pencil I have often remarked that I never knew any 

 one of his intellectual rank who showed himself so 

 tolerant to opponents, great and small, as Darwin did. 

 Sensitive he was in the sense of being too ready to be 

 depressed by adverse comment, but I never knew any one 

 less easily hurt by fair criticism, or who less needed to be 

 soothed by those who opposed him with good reason. 



I am sure I tried his patience often enough, without 

 ever eliciting more than a " Well there's a good deal in 

 what you say ; but " and then followed something which 

 nine times out of ten showed he had gone deeper into the 

 business than I had. 



I cannot agree with you, again, that the acceptance of 

 Darwin's views was in any way influenced by the strong 

 affection entertained for him by many of his friends. What 

 that affection really did was to lead those of his friends 

 who had seen good reason for his views to take much 

 more trouble in his defence and support, and to strike out 

 much harder at his adversary than they would otherwise 

 have done. This is pardonable if not justifiable that 

 which you suggest would to my mind be neither. 



I am so ignorant of what has been going on during the 

 last twelvemonth, that I know nothing of your controversy 

 with Romanes. If he is going to show the evolution of 



