138 THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY 



absence). The tardiness of Cambridge in recognizing 

 one of her greatest sons was delicately hinted at, and 

 though in a letter to Darwin (dated November 21) de- 

 liberate sneering is denied, a milder form of sarcasm is 

 admitted : — 



" There was only a little touch of the whip at starting, and 

 it was so tied round with ribbons that it took them some time 

 to find out where the flick had hit " (Life, i, p. 479). 



If the following extract from Huxley's notes of the 

 speech fairly represents the utterance, the " ribbons " 

 would distinctly add to the unpleasantness of the " flick." 

 It was, however, an after-dinner speech : — 



" Mr. Darwin's work had fully earned the distinction you 

 have conferred upon him four-arid -twenty years ago ; but I 

 doubt not that he would have been found in that circumstance 

 an exemplification of the wise foresight of his revered intel- 

 lectual mother. Instead of offering her honours when they ran 

 a chance of being crushed beneath the accumulated marks of 

 approbation of the whole civilized world, the University has 

 waited until the trophy was finished, and has crowned the edifice 

 with the delicate wreath of academic appreciation " (Life, i, 

 p. 480). 



Examples have already been given to show that if 

 Huxley's unrivalled power of scathing sarcasm was often 

 manifested, generosity and kindness of heart were even 

 more characteristic. Mr. Leonard Huxley records a 

 good instance for 1877 (Life, i, p. 482) : — 



" A German scientific worker in England, whom we will 

 call H., had fallen into distress, and applied to him for help, 

 asking if some work could not be put in his way. Huxley 

 could think of nothing immediate but to suggest some lessons 

 in German literature to his children, though in fact they were 

 well provided for with a German governess. . . ." 



An unnamed donor, however, furnished the necessary 



