Moved by these considerations of public necessity, he unwillingly consented to be nominated, but only to fill the vacancy till the general meeting, when the whole Society could make a new choice.  Yet even this limitation seemed difficult to maintain in the face of the widely expressed desire that he would then stand for the usual period of five years.] “The worst of it is,” [he wrote to Sir M. Foster on July 2,] “that I see myself gravitating towards the Presidency en permanence, that is to say, for the ordinary period.  And that is what I by no means desired. —­ has been at me (as a sort of deputation, he told me, from a lot of the younger men) to stand.  However, I suppose there is no need to come to any decision yet.”

[The following letters, in reply to congratulations on his election, illustrate his attitude of mind in the affair:—­]

To the Warden of Merton.

Hindhead, July 8, 1883.

My dear Brodrick,

I do not get so many pleasant letters that I can afford to leave the senders of such things unthanked.

I am very much obliged for your congratulations, and I may say that I accepted the office inter alia for the purpose of getting people to believe that such places may be properly held by people who have neither riches nor station—­who want nothing that statesmen can give—­and who care for nothing except upholding the dignity and the freedom of science.

Ever yours very faithfully,

T.H.  Huxley.

To Sir W.H.  Flower, F.R.S.

4 Marlborough Place, July 7, 1883.

My dear Flower,

I am overwhelmed by the kind letters I get from all sides, and I need hardly say that I particularly value yours.

A month ago I said that I ought not, could not, and would not take the Presidency under any circumstances whatever.  My wife was dead against it, and you know how hen-pecked I am.

Even when I was asked to take the Presidency to the end of the year and agreed, I stipulated for my freedom next St. Andrew’s Day.

But such strong representations were made to me by some of the younger men about the dangers of the situation, that at the last moment almost I changed my mind.

However, I wanted it to be clearly understood that the Council and the Society are, so far as I am concerned, perfectly free to put somebody else in my place next November.  All I stipulate for is that my successor shall be a man of science.

I will not, if I can help it, allow the chair of the Royal Society to become the appanage of rich men, or have the noble old Society exploited by enterprising commercial gents who make their profit out of the application of science.

Mrs. President was not pleased—­quite the contrary—­but she is mollified by the kindly expressions, public and private, which have received the election.

And there are none which we both value more than yours. (I see I said that before, but I can’t say it too often.)