i8S7 SCIENCE AND POLITICS 1 87 



During the thirty odd years we have known one another, 

 we have often had stout battles without loss of mutual kind- 

 ness. My chief object in troubling you with this letter is to 

 express the hope that, whatever happens, this state of things may 

 continue. — I am, yours very faithfully, T. H. Huxley. 



PS. — I am still of opinion that it is better that my author- 

 ship should not be officially recognised, but you are, of course, 

 free to use the information I have given you in any way you 

 may think fit. 



To this the President returned a very frank and friendly 

 reply ; saying he had never dreamed of any incompatibility 

 existing between the two offices, and urging that the Presi- 

 dency ought not to constrain a man to give up his ordinary 

 duties as a citizen. He concludes : — 



And now I have stated my case as it appears to myself; let 

 me assure you that nothing that has passed tends at all to dimin- 

 ish my friendship towards you. My wife heard last night that 

 the article was yours, and told me so. I rather thought it must 

 have been written by some hot Gladstonian. It seems, however, 

 that her informant was right. She wishes me to tell you that 

 she replied to her informant that she felt quite sure that if you 

 wrote it, it was because you thought it. 



To which Huxley replied : — 



I am much obliged for your letter, which is just such as I 

 felt sure you would write. 



Pray thank Mrs. Stokes for her kind message. I am very 

 grateful for her confidence in my uprightness of intention. 



We must agree to differ. 



It may be needful for me and those who agree with me to 

 place our opinions on record ; but you may depend upon it that 

 nothing will be done which can suggest any lack of friendship 

 or respect for our President. 



It will be seen from this correspondence and the letter 

 to Sir J. Donnelly of July 15 (p. 179), that Huxley was a 

 staunch Unionist. Not that he considered the actual course 

 of English rule there ideal ; his main point was that under 

 the circumstances the establishment of Home Rule was a 

 distinct betrayal of trust, considering that on the strength 

 of Government promises, an immense number of persons 



