358 LIFE OF PROFESSOR HUXLEY CHAP. XVII 



or literature. With brilliancy enough to have won 

 success if he had had patience to ensure it, he was not 

 only a pleasant companion, a " clubbable man " in 

 Johnson's phrase, but a friend to trust. The two 

 households had seen much of one another ; the child- 

 less couple regarded their brother's children almost 

 as their own. Thus a real gap was made in the 

 family circle, and the trouble was not lessened by the 

 fact that George Huxley's affairs were left in great 

 confusion, and his brother not only spent a great 

 deal of time in looking after the interests of the 

 widow, but took upon himself certain obligations in 

 order to make things straight, with the result that he 

 was even compelled to part with his Royal Medal, 

 the gold of which was worth 50. 



