putting-down as the Chancellor. You know Mrs. Carlyle said that Owen's
sweetness reminded her of sugar of lead. Granville's was that plus
butter of antimony!

Ever yours very faithfully,

T.H. Huxley.

N.B.--Don't swear, but get Mrs. Tyndall, who is patient and
good-tempered, to read this long screed.

May 18, 1887.

My dear Tyndall,

I was very glad to get your letter yesterday morning, and I conveyed
your alteration at once to Rucker, who is acting as secretary. I asked
him to communicate with you directly to save time.

I hear that the proposal has been received very warmly by all sorts and
conditions of men, and that is quite apart from any action of your
closer personal friends. Personally I am rather of your mind about the
"dozen or score" of the faithful. But as that was by no means to the
mind of those who started the project, and, moreover, might have given
rise to some heartburning, I have not thought it desirable to meddle
with the process of spontaneous combustion. So look out for a big
bonfire somewhere in the middle of June! I have a hideous cold, and can
only hope that the bracing air of Cambridge, where we go on Saturday,
may set me right.