64 LIFE OF PROFESSOR HUXLEY chap. IV 



Department were over, and indeed he writes to Sir M. 

 Foster : — 



Don't bother your head about the balance — now or here- 

 after. To tell you the truth I do so little in the Examiner busi- 

 ness that I am getting ashamed of taking even the retaining fee, 

 and you will do me a favour if you will ease my conscience. 



A week of fishery business in South Wales and Devon 

 had " a good deal of holiday in it." For the rest — 



I have just been put on Senate of University of London 

 [a Crown nomination]. I tried hard to get Lord Granville to let 

 me off — in fact I told him I could not attend the meetings except 

 now and then, but there was no escape. I must have a talk with 

 you about what is to be done there. 



Item. — There is a new Fishery Commission that I also 

 strongly objected to, but had to cave in so far as I agreed to 

 attend some meetings in latter half of September. 



On this occasion Lord Granville had written back : — 



11 Carlton House Terrace, July 28, 1883. 



My dear Professor Huxley — Clay, the great whist player, 

 once made a mistake and said to his partner, " My brain is 

 softening," the latter answered, " Never mind, I will give you 

 £10,000 down for it, just as it is.'' 



On that principle and backed up by Paget I shall write to 

 Harcourt on Monday. — Yours sincerely, Granville. 



The Commission of course cut short the stay at Milford, 

 and on September 12, he writes : — 



We shall leave this on Friday as my wife has some fal-lals to 

 look after before we start for the north on Monday. 



The worst of it is that it is not at all certain that the Com- 

 mission will meet and do any work. However I am pledged to 

 go and I daresay that Brechin Castle is a very pleasant place to 

 stay in. 



Lastly, he was thinking over the obituary notice of Dar- 

 win which he had undertaken to write for the Royal So- 

 ciety—though it did not appear till 1888 — that on F. Balfour 

 being written by Sir M. Foster. 



