90 HUXLEY 



should be its definite purpose to separate the indi- 

 vidual from his class — ^to show in what respects he 

 differs from others." i That being the case, it is 

 quite obvioas that mere length has nothing to do 

 with the essence of biography, which may be com- 

 pressed in the case of many into a few short sentences. 

 That is to say that the outstanding features which 

 make the portrait — ^the essence of the biography — 

 may be so compressed. 



That has been our object in these pages. The 

 complete details of Huxley's life are intensely in- 

 teresting, and will be found fully dealt ^vith in the 

 excellent biography of him wTitten by his son, to 

 which volumes we are much indebted for many facts 

 in these pages. Here, however, we have merely at- 

 tempted to throw into relief a picture of the man 

 himself as he will be remembered. To that end we 

 have sketched what was necessary in his environment 

 to form a background, without which a portrait 

 could not be made clear. But for our present pur- 

 pose these details are merely background. We have, 

 however, allowed others to tell us how the portrait 

 appeared to them as an aid to our o^\^l conception. 

 Moreover, we have allowed Huxley to speak for liim- 

 self in his own inimitably clear manner, so that we 

 may get something of that personal contact which 

 is so essentially necessary to realise the individual. 

 And, finally, we have ventured to add our own touch 

 of the picture by stating what seemed to us the out- 

 standing feature of the character depicted. 



Some thirty years ago, in a far-off British colony, 

 a schoolmaster, who realised the value of Huxle3''3 

 1 Letters of an Englishman. 



