From T. H. Huxley 8 January 1881
Jany 8th. 1881
My dear Darwin
I congratulate you heartily on the success of your undertaking—for yours it is totally & entirely—
Gladstone’s note is very good & much to his credit.1
It convinces me that if my first inspiration had been followed out it would have been successful— But perhaps it is as well that the actual plan was adopted—2 There would have been no restraining your ferocious spirit of domination hereafter if you had found a Prime Minister obeying your orders!
I hear that the “Butler” has been throwing the dirty water in his pantry about again—3
Of course he is quite mad at being ignored— and the best thing that can happen is that he should get madder
Do you recollect what Goethe wrote about a man who attacked him in this way?
I forget the first two lines but the last two run
“Hat doch der Wallfisch seine Laus Muss auch die meine haben”.4
Ever yours | T H H.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Butler, Samuel. 1880. Unconscious memory: a comparison between the theory of Dr. Ewald Hering, … and the ‘Philosophy of the unconscious’ of Dr. Edward von Hartmann. London: David Bogue.
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. 1845–6. Goethe’s poetische und prosaische Werke. [Edited by F. W. Riemer and J. P. Eckermann.] 2d edition. 2 vols. Stuttgart; Tübingen: J. G. Cotta.
Summary
Congratulates CD on success of Wallace memorial.
Butler has attacked again.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-12992
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Thomas Henry Huxley
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine Archives (Huxley 9: 203)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 12992,” accessed on 18 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12992.xml