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.
Ever yours very faithfully,
T.H. Huxley.
[To recover from his pleuritic "Jubilee Honour" he went for a fortnight (July 11-25) to Ilkley, which had done him so much good before, intending to proceed to Switzerland as soon as he conveniently could.]
Ilkley, July 15, 1887.