LITTLE 9f^^^5??T is a fi ne thing to be a great scientist, but 

 JOURNEYS (^dt&Sy * is a y et fin er thing to be a great man. 



QThe one element in Huxley's life that 

 makes his character stand out clear, sharp 

 and well-defined, was his steadfast devo- 

 tion to truth. The only thing he feared was 

 self-deception. When he uttered his classic cry in de- 

 fense of Darwin, there was no ulterior motive in it ; no 

 thought that he was attaching himself to a popular 

 success ; no idea that he was linking his name with 

 greatness jt 



What he felt was true, he uttered; and the strongest 

 desire of his soul was, that he might never compromise 

 with error for the sake of mental ease, or accept a belief 

 simply because it was pleasant. 



Huxley once wrote this terse sentence of Gladstone : 

 "It is to me a serious thing that the destinies of this 

 great country should at present be to a great extent in 

 the hands of a man, who, whatever he may be in the 

 affairs of which I am no judge, is nothing but a copious 

 shuffler in those that I do understand." 

 Gladstone crossed swords with Huxley, Spencer and 

 Robert Ingersoll, and in each case his blundering in- 

 tellect looked like a raft of logs compared with a 

 steamboat that responds to the helm. 

 Gladstone was a man of action and silence is to such 

 most becoming. He had a belief that was enough he 

 should have hugged it close, and never stood up to ex- 

 plain it. Let us vary a simile just used : Lincoln once 

 referred to an opponent as being " like a certain steam - 

 70 



