Chapter XV: Charles Darwin

To this focus of close friendships Charles Darwin would assuredly have been invited to belong had he been other than an invalid living away from London; for he was the warm and revered friend not only of Huxley, but still more of Hooker, who in age stood midway between the two--eight years younger than the one and eight years older than the other--and who, for some fifteen years before the publication of the _Origin of Species_, had been Darwin's most intimate friend and aid in his work.

Huxley had made Darwin's acquaintance early in the fifties, and soon fell under the spell of his deep thought, his utter sincerity and generous warmth of heart. Darwin, for his part, was strongly attracted by his new friend's penetrating knowledge, incisive criticism, and brilliant conversation. When, in 1858, he began to write out the _Origin_, Huxley was one of the three men he fixed upon by whose judgment of the book he meant to abide. Lyell, who had read the book before it came out, was the first; Hooker, his long-time aid and critic and finally convert, the second. On the eve of publication, secure of these, he adds: "If I can convert Huxley I shall be content."

On all three the effect of the completed book, with its array of detailed argument and evidence, was far greater than that of previous discussions. With one or two reservations as to the logical completeness of the theory, Huxley accepted it as a well-founded working hypothesis, calculated to explain problems otherwise inexplicable. There were evolutionists before Darwin, from Lamarck and the author of the _Vestiges of Creation_ to Herbert Spencer; but as there was no evidence to bear out the orthodox creational view of the Book of _Genesis_, enlarged upon in detail by Milton, so before Darwin the evidence in favour of the transmutation of species was wholly insufficient, and no suggestion which had been made to the causes of the assumed transmutation was in any way adequate to explain the phenomena. Under such conditions only an agnostic attitude was possible. "So," writes Huxley--

I took refuge in that "_thaetige Skepsis_," which Goethe has so
well defined, and, reversing the apostolic precept to be all
things to all men, I usually defended the tenability of
the received doctrines when I had to do with the
transmutationists, and stood up for the possibility of
transmutation among the orthodox, thereby, no doubt,
increasing an already current, but quite undeserved,
reputation for needless combativeness.

Then came the publication of the Darwin-Wallace paper in 1858, and of the _Origin_ in 1859, the effect of which he compares to--

the flash of light which, to a man who has lost himself on a
dark night, suddenly reveals a road which, whether it takes
him straight home or not, certainly goes his way. That which
we were looking for, and could not find, was an hypothesis
respecting the origin of known organic forms which assumed
the operation of no causes but such as could be proved to be
actually at work. We wanted, not to pin our faith to that or
any other speculation, but to get hold of clear and definite
conceptions which could be brought face to face with facts and
have their validity tested. The _Origin_ provided us with the
working hypothesis we sought. Moreover, it did the immense
service of freeing us for ever from the dilemma--refuse to
accept the creation hypothesis and what have you to propose
that can be accepted by any cautious reasoner? In 1857 I had
no answer ready, and I do not think that any one else had.
A year later we reproached ourselves with dullness for being
perplexed with such an inquiry. My reflection, when I first
made myself master of the central idea of the _Origin_, was:
"How extremely stupid not to have thought of that." I suppose
that Columbus's companions said much the same when he made the
egg stand on end. The facts of variability, of the struggle
for existence, of adaptation to conditions, were notorious
enough; but none of us had suspected that the road to the
heart of the species problem lay through them until Darwin
and Wallace dispelled the darkness, and the beacon-fire of the
_Origin_ guided the benighted.

Whether the particular shape which the doctrine of Evolution,
as applied to the organic world, took in Darwin's hands would
prove to be final or not, was to me a matter of indifference.
In my earliest criticisms of the _Origin_ I ventured to
point out that its logical foundation was insecure so long as
experiments in selective breeding had not produced varieties
which were more or less infertile; and that insecurity remains
up to the present time. But, with any and every critical doubt
which my sceptical ingenuity could suggest, the Darwinian
hypothesis remained incomparably more probable than the
creation hypothesis. And if we had none of us been able to
discern the paramount significance of some of the most patent
and notorious of natural facts, until they were, so to
speak, thrust under our noses, what force remained in the
dilemma--creation or nothing? It was obvious that hereafter
the probability would be immensely greater, that the links
of natural causation were hidden from our purblind eyes, than
that natural causation should be incompetent to produce all
the phenomena of nature. The only rational course for those
who had no other object than the attainment of truth was to
accept "Darwinism" as a working hypothesis and see what could
be made of it. Either it would prove its capacity to elucidate
the facts of organic life or it would break down under the
strain. This was surely the dictate of common sense, and for
once common sense carried the day.

Mention has been made of the instant support he was able to lend the _Origin_ in the _Times_ review of the book, and the extension of its doctrines in regard to man. Even before the book appeared, however, he began to act as what Darwin laughingly called his "general agent." His address on "Persistent Types" (June, 1859) aimed at clearing up in advance one of the obvious objections raised against acceptance of the doctrine of Evolution--namely, how is it that, if evolution is ever progressive, progress is not universal? How is it that all forms do not necessarily advance, and that simple organisms still exist? As it happened, Darwin did not discuss this point when he first put the _Origin_ together, and speedily came to regard this as the most serious omission in the book.

Great, then, was the debt of all science to Darwin. And not of science only. The fight for freedom of thought and speech in science, into which Huxley especially threw himself, was the more successful because the immediate cause he upheld was so overwhelmingly strong in reason and demonstration; and, the supreme curb upon thought being once broken, a wider freedom was gained.

For Darwin, therefore, Huxley had the reverence due to one who had forged a new and mighty weapon in the war for plain truth. But, while he could not but uphold a theory so much in accord with his own knowledge and so fruitful in its promise of new knowledge, whether the author of it were his friend or not, admiration and affection for a man of such utter sincerity, such selfless respect for truth, and warm personality, led him, when those views were stupidly or maliciously attacked, to take more trouble in his defence and support, and to strike out much harder at his adversary than he would otherwise have done. Darwin's friends were well assured that the scanty time which his health allowed for work was far too precious to be wasted in controversy; for his own sake and for the sake of the calm atmosphere in which a great theory should be worked out, they thought that the battling on a lower plane should be left to them. "You ought to be like one of the blessed gods of Elysium, and let the inferior deities do battle with the infernal powers." "If I say a savage thing," Huxley told him, "it is only 'pretty Fanny's way'; but if you do, it is not likely to be forgotten." Hence a dash of personal pleasure was infused into the duty of upholding and defending the bringer of new light.

The acquaintance had begun about 1851; there was a common bond in their sea experiences and explorations, as well as in their search after a wider philosophy, to include the teachings of natural science; the older man found in the younger a source of much biological and other information, a suggestive critic and a stimulating companion. Their relations took a long step towards intimacy after 1861, when, after the loss of her eldest child, Mrs. Huxley and her other children made a long stay at Down, and entered upon a life-long friendship with Mrs. Darwin and the family. Thereafter followed many visits to Down, and, whenever Darwin was in London, the certainty of half-an-hour's keen talk--all that the doctor allowed--with his friend and fellow-worker on some critical question of the moment.

Darwin's admiration of his friend's powers was outspoken. To quote one or two expressions of it: Huxley had delivered, in 1862, six lectures to working men, which were printed off each week as delivered in "little green pamphlets," under the general title of "On Our Knowledge of the Causes of the Phenomena of Organic Nature," winding up with an account of the bearing of the _Origin_ upon the complete theory of these causes. Acknowledging Nos. IV and V, Darwin writes:--

They are simply perfect. They ought to be largely advertised;
but it is very good in me to say so, for I threw down No.
IV with this reflection: "What is the good of me writing a
thundering big book when everything is in this green little
book, so despicable for its size?" In the name of all that is
good and bad, I may as well shut up shop altogether.

After reading the article "Mr. Darwin's Critics" in 1871, he wrote yet more enthusiastically. Mr. Mivart, in an apologia for the attitude of Roman Catholicism towards Evolution, twitted the generality of men of science with their ignorance of the real doctrines of his Church, and cited the Jesuit theologian, Suarez, the latest great representative of scholasticism, as following St. Augustine in asserting derivative creation--that is, evolution from primordial matter endowed with certain powers. Huxley thereupon examined the works of the learned Jesuit, and found not only that the particular reference was not to the point, but that, in his tract on the "Six Days of Creation," Suarez expressly rejects the doctrine and reprehends Augustine for holding it. "So," write Huxley gleefully at the irony of the situation, "I have come out in the new character of a defender of Catholic orthodoxy, and upset Mivart out of the mouth of his own prophet."

In the course of a most appreciative letter Darwin exclaimed:--

What a wonderful man you are to grapple with those old
metaphysico-divinity books.... The pendulum is now swinging
against our side, but I feel positive it will soon swing the
other way; and no mortal man will do half as much as you in
giving it a start in the right direction, as you did at the
commencement.

And then, after "mounting climax on climax," he adds:

"I must tell you what Hooker said to me a few years ago. 'When
I read Huxley I feel quite infantile in intellect.'"

The most touching act of friendship, and one which assuredly gave personal point to Huxley's remark in another connection, "Darwin is in all things noble and generous--one of those people who think it a privilege to let him help," took place when Huxley's health had utterly broken down in 1873, and he was as depressed in mind as in body. Who could say No to these words from the oldest and most venerated among his devoted friends?--

Down, Beckenham, Kent.
April 23, 1873.

My dear Huxley,

I have been asked by some of your friends (eighteen in
number,) to inform you that they have placed through Robarts,
Lubbock, and Company the sum of L2,100 to your account at your
bankers. We have done this to enable you to get such complete
rest as you may require for the re-establishment of your
health; and in doing this we are convinced that we act for
the public interest, as well as in accordance with our most
earnest desires. Let me assure you that we are all your warm
personal friends, and that there is not a stranger or mere
acquaintance among us. If you could have heard what was
said, or could have read what was, as I believe, our inmost
thoughts, you would know that we all feel towards you as we
should to an honoured and much-loved brother. I am sure that
you will return this feeling, and will therefore be glad to
give us the opportunity of aiding you in some degree, as this
will be a happiness to us to the last day of our lives. Let
me add that our plan occurred to several of your friends at
nearly the same time, and quite independently of one another.
My dear Huxley, your affectionate friend,

CHARLES DARWIN.

Huxley was deeply moved. "What have I done to deserve this?" he exclaimed. Before this generosity he at last allowed himself to confess that, in the long struggle against ill health, he had been beaten; but, as he said, only enough to teach him humility.

The relief from anxieties, the ultimate restoration to health through a clear holiday, were an unforgettable gift from this "band of brothers," and the sufferer who had been healed rejoiced when not long after an opportunity arose to share in a similar gift of help and healing to another of the same good fellowship.