Year: 1876




Professor Huxley, the English scientist,


has been spending day or two at the


pleasant residence of Mr.. George Apple


ton, his friend and publisher in this
country at Riverdale. The writer found
oppoi tunity to engage him in c0nversa-
tiOn as he sat on the cool piazza after
dinner, looking admiringly at the abrupt
isades opposite and the succession of


tIe North River steamers just starting
various towns on the upper Hudson.


He is man not above the medium size,


with gray-tinged hair and tufts of side


whiskers. His features are well, even
sharply, defined and regular. His head
is large, and with the closely trimmed
hair gave an impression of squaIeness.
His manner was afable and sincere.
Whatever else he may be, he is evidently
an honest man, without guile or subter-
fuge. He said that since his arrival in
this country on Saturday he had not
been struck by differences from English
appearances and manners, but rather by
similarities to them. When the word
agnostic was mentioned he laughed and
said that it was a term that he had
himself invented several years ago
and now," he added, "the religionists
call us all agnostics." OF course he in
formed his visitor there was no organiza-
tion so called. He was asked about the
probable result of the recent intense
activity of the popular mind in regard
to attempted scientific solutions of
biological questions, and whether the
problems engaging the attention OF
scientific men to-day were not more i'm
portant than those of any other period.
lie said it was undoubtedly great ad-
vantage that men were led to think on
such matters, but he hesitated to express
his ideas on them in a casual converse
ton, knowing that they would be pub
lished. He gave substantially the same
answer to q question touching the
alleged conflict between science and re-
ligiOn. He, however, was OF the opinion
that the discrediting of the creed OF any
nation or race did not necessarily result
in the decline of its civilization. At
this point Professor Huxley succeeded in
getting the lead in the questions, and
began to interview the Graphic represen-
tative. He asked his opinion first as to
which of the great parties would
probably win in the present Presidential
conflict. On being told, he remarked
upon the advantage it was to a nation to
have conservative agricultural popula.
ton of small landowners. In England
the rural population was densely
ignorant, because it was not interested
in the soil which it cultivated. Then
he asked what kind of man Governor
Tilden was. His visitor told him, and
after one or two special questions about
him and general politics he shook his
head with deprecating smile and said
he was afraid that when he went home
he would still be of the opinion that
England was a better republic than
America. He supposed that the next
great question that would come up
would relate to the tariff, and would |
divide the East from the West. Wait"
said he, "until you have population of
9O,00O,0O0 You haven't had a great
test of your strength yet. Wait until
you have vast, ignorant vote to deal
WITH" Nevertheless, he thought the
slavery question was one OF very great
difficulty. He remarked upon this
several times, but did not attempt to
analyze it. He was not opposed to
strikers. He thought that it could not
be of advantage to any nation TO nave
great portion of its people oppressed by
extreme poverty. Yet he acknowledged
that the effect of striking mig,,. be the
overthrow of England's com III cial SUI
premacy. The striking of English work
men might enable America TO undersell
Manchester. His thought appeared to
be that it was better for the world that |
men should combine for self-prOtectiOn, |
though it might be bad for the mer-
chants and manufacturers of particular |
country. The nobility, he said, were
often referred to, both in this country
and in England, as an effete and worth
less class. This was not the truth. They |
were men generally of intelligence, and
as a class they never could be bought. |
They now constituted an invaluable
safeguard in the State against the mer-
chant class