New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-10-27
ENGLISH TAKERS.
LORD woLsELEY-pRoFEsSoR HUxLEY-MR
w. S. GILBERT.

As |
"a match Mr.. George Russens fifteen see nave
al.oodv oxceeded his limit and have not half eX-
bausted nv ow,: catalogue 1t were easy to keep
., rorrosan,ative men, or to choose one out OF
manv who might stand for u class. 1t is easier
,,iIl to he desultory, and perhaps more profitable
Whichever method you prefer, you Will admit that
n man who is unique ought not to be forgotten
osnecially when England's Only General Is also
one of her most animated takers. Lord Noseiey
is indeed unique in at least one other tmnS IMAM
generalship: he is the most outspoi1en man III
the Kingdom. London Society, to be sure does
not err on the side of reticencc all kinds OF things
are blurted out sooner or later. Opinion Is Tree
md people speak their minds, secure in the belef
hat they will not be quoted, though what they
ay may he quoted
Lord WOlselcy. more than any other man can
think Of or ever heard Of, is the incarnation OIL
frankncss. There is no subject on which he Will
not say his say in any company no man on whom
he will not express his real opinion IN the PRESENCE
Of any number of his felOw-men. lie is soldier
Who will talk either war or politics. While a
campaign lasts he Is as secret as becomes strate-
rst responsible for success or failure; once 1t IS
over. YOU may hear from him the most astonsh-
ing disclosures of the causes Of either. lie has an
engaging manner and an ineAhaustlble huehcy
10 man is better fitted TO slime, vet you perceive
that to shine is the last thing he thinks OF, ana III
fact he does not 90 much into general society.
II is because hc has something 10 say on so many
matters. and this perfect fcaressness IN saying
I, that his conversation is irresistible. The blue
ives flash there is an alert energy in his manner
which seems fitting TO n warrior on the war-Iath'
his store of anecdote and rcmnScence is vast. his
convictions are free from any faint of uncertainty
and he agrees with Lord Beaconslelh in regarding
ant IF
lie has been known TO write a letter from the Nile
to a schoolgirl. in which the burden Of just re-
sponsibihty for the delay in sending the relief
expedition TO Gordon was laid squarey on the
shoulders where it belonged He has been known
TO repeat the same accusation on his return home
in dozen different companies, and TO all corners,
ana with every circumstance of publicity, as II
he intended il to reach the ears Of him whom he
thought guilty; no doubt it did.
Yet he can be courtier as we'll as censor and
there have been perhaps few examples of more
delicate and ready tact than Lord Woseleys at
the Queens dinner-table at Balmorl on his return
from Telel.Kebir. The Queen drank his heaith-a
compliment of the most marked and unusual kind.
What was he to do? What did etiquette permit
or require? There was 10 precedent, and the
socitude of the company painful. To pro
pose Her Maestys health in, return seemed an
assumption of equality as between subject and
sovereign. Lord Woseey his face, imagine
a shade paler than usual. beg your MaJestys
remission he sad " TO offer toast TO the
health of my gallant comrade in arms, His Royal
HighneSs the Duke of COnnaught, whose services
and whose courage have alike been conspicuous
in Egypt They say the Queen was so delighted
with this compliment TO her son that Lord Wose-
ley's place in the favor of his Commanderin-Chief
was higher than before, and has ever since been
maintained.
Men of science are commonly believed to talk
best on their own ground, and most of them do
talk but indifTerenty well on general subjects.
They are supposed to be far too much absorbed
in abstruse studies to cultivate social graces That
is true enough of some; not true of Professor
Huxley for example who docs not find the two
ebaracters-man of science and man of the world
incompatible He has been too hard worker TO
give much time to society, and in these days,
when he has a little more leisure, he lives much
out of London. But he used TO dine out, and
there are many takers of renOwn who could. If
they would, tell you the results of their encounters
with him. There used TO be Sunday evening
dinners and parties in Marlborough Place, TO which
people from many other worlds than those of
abstract science were hidden; where talk was TO
be heard of kind rare in any world. II was
scientific at times but subdued to the necessities
of the occasion; speculative, yet kept within
such bounds that Bishop Archbishop might have
listened without offence; political, eVen and still
not commonplace; literary without pretence' ana
artistic without affectatiOn
There and elsewhere Mr.. Huxley easily took the
lead if he cared to, or if challenged Nobody
was more ready on greater variety of topics,
and if they were scientific it almost always
.bo int q
his comrades of the Royal Society, he Of
opinion that man does not live by science alone.
and nothing came amiss to him. All his life long
he has been in the front of the battle that has
RACED between Science and, not Religion, but
Theology in its more dogmatic form. Even III
private the alarm of war is sometimes heard and
Mr. Huxley is not one whit less formidable as
disputnt across the table than with pen in hand
Yet an angry man must be very angry indeed
before he could be angry with this adversary
He dSarmed his enemies with an amlable grace
that made defeat endurable if not entirely de
Ightful. If he was relentless in argument he
never laid aside his conciliatOry manner and many
a confident person has been astonshed TO find
himself at the mercy of an opponent whose most
fatal thrusts were delivered with smile. lie
was, at any rate, always himself, and always the
same in all companies. The most accomplished
OF the queens daughters sara OF MIN Hi>7 W
talk with Mr.. Huxley because he talks to me eN-
aoty as he would TO any other woman This
single standard of department is rare; rarest OF
all, alas in the presence of royalty.
wish / dared tell you, with fun details. an
anecdote which might the pendant to this,
or tell it without sacrificing the point. But !
take refuge in generaties. 1t bcfel one day that
a very great man. matter how long ago, was
discoursing freely on many things. Presently
he turned the flood of his talk one of those
fields where Mr. Huxley is an acknowledged mas
fer. biology, and dogmatized on that The man
Of science listened awhile with patience, but
presently struck in with one of those remarks
81 .o,o.bo,y showed the rest that he know