116 LIFE OF PROFESSOR HUXLEY CHAP. VI 



A fatality seemed to dog his efforts j nevertheless 

 he writes at the end of 1851 : 



Among my scientific friends the monition I get on all 

 sides is that of Dante's great ancestor to him 



Se tu segui la tua stella. 



If this were from personal friends only, I should dis- 

 regard it ; but it comes from men to whose approbation 

 it would be foolish affectation to deny the highest value. 

 I find myself treated on a footing of equality (" my proud 

 self," as you may suppose, would not put up with any 

 other) by men whose names and works have been long 

 before the world. My opinions are treated with a respect 

 altogether unaccountable to me, and what I have done is 

 quoted as having full authority. Without canvassing a 

 soul or making use of any influence, I have been elected 

 into the Royal Society at a time when that election is 

 more difficult than it has ever been in the history of the 

 Society. Without my knowledge, I was within an. ace of 

 getting the Royal Society medal this year, and if I go on 

 I shall very probably get it next time. 



In 1852 he was not only to receive this coveted 

 honour, 1 but also to be elected upon the Eoyal 

 Society Council. In January 1852, when standing 

 for Toronto, he describes how Col. Sabine, then 

 Secretary of the Royal Society, dissuaded him from 

 the project, saying that a brilliant prospect lay 

 before him if he would only wait. 



"Make up your mind to get something fairly within 

 your reach, and you will have us all with you." Prof. 

 Owen again offers to do anything in his power for me ; 



1 See pp. 149 sqq. 



