Thomas Henry Huxley, vol 3 | Page 3

ever been committed. The latter years of the century
promise to see us embarked in an industrial war of far more serious
import than the military wars of its opening years. On the east, the most
systematically instructed and best-informed people in Europe are our
competitors; on the west, an energetic offshoot of our own stock,
grown bigger than its parent, enters upon the struggle possessed of
natural resources to which we can make no pretension, and with every
prospect of soon possessing that cheap labour by which they may be
effectually utilised. Many circumstances tend to justify the hope that
we may hold our own if we are careful to "organise victory." But to
those who reflect seriously on the prospects of the population of
Lancashire and Yorkshire--should the time ever arrive when the goods
which are produced by their labour and their skill are to be had cheaper

elsewhere--to those who remember the cotton famine and reflect how
much worse a customer famine would be, the situation appears very
grave.
[On February 19 and 22, he wrote again to the "Times" declaring
against the South Kensington site. It was too far from the heart of
commercial organisation in the city, and the city people were preparing
to found a similar institution of their own. He therefore wished to
prevent the Imperial Institute from becoming a weak and unworthy
memorial of the reign.
A final letter to the "Times" on March 21, was evoked by the fact that
Lord Hartington, in giving away the prizes at the Polytechnic Y.M.C.A.,
had adopted Huxley's position as defined in his speech, and declared
that science ought to be aided on precisely the same grounds on which
we aid the army and navy.
In this letter he asks, how do we stand prepared for the task thus
imperatively set us? We have the machinery for providing instruction
and information, and for catching capable men, but both in a disjointed
condition]--"all mere torsos--fine, but fragmentary." "The ladder from
the School Board to the Universities, about which I dreamed dreams
many years ago, has not yet acquired much more substantiality than the
ladder of Jacob's vision," [but the Science and Art Department, the
Normal School of Science, and the Central Institute only want the
means to carry out the recommendations already made by impartial and
independent authority.] "Economy does not lie in sparing money, but in
spending it wisely."
[He concluded with an appeal to Lord Hartington to take up this task of
organising industrial education and bring it to a happy issue.
A proposal was also made to the Royal Society to co-operate, and Sir
M. Foster writes on February 19: "We have appointed a Committee to
consider and draw up a draft reply with a view of the Royal Society
following up your letter."
To this Huxley replied on the 22nd:--]
...My opinion is that the Royal Society has no right to spend its money
or pledge its credit for any but scientific objects, and that we have
nothing to do with sending round the hat for other purposes.
The project of the Institute Committee as it stands connected with the
South Kensington site--is condemned by all the city people and will

receive none but the most grudging support from them. They are going
to set up what will be practically an Institute of their own in the city.
The thing is already a failure. I daresay it will go on and be varnished
into a simulacrum of success--to become eventually a ghost like the
Albert Hall or revive as a tea garden.
[The following letter also touches upon the function of the Institute
from the commercial side:--]
4 Marlborough Place, February 20, 1887.
My dear Donnelly,
Mr. Law's suggestion gives admirable definition to the notions that
were floating in my mind when I wrote in my letter to the "Times", that
I imagined the Institute would be a "place in which the fullest stores of
industrial knowledge would be made accessible to the public." A man
of business who wants to know anything about the prospects of trade
with, say, Boorioboola-Gha (vide Bleak House) ought to be able to
look into the Institute and find there somebody who will at once fish
out for him among the documents in the place all that is known about
Boorioboola.
But a Commercial Intelligence Department is not all that is wanted,
vide valuable letter aforesaid.
I hope your appetite for the breakfast was none the worse for last
night's doings--mine was rather improved, but I am dog-tired.
Ever yours very faithfully,
T.H. Huxley.
I return Miss --'s note. she evidently thinks my cage is labelled "These
animals bite."
[Later in the year, the following letters show him continuing the
campaign. But an attack of pleurisy, which began