And the trust was thoroughly reciprocated. The entire frankness
between friends is brightly illustrated by the history of the award
of the Royal Medal in 1854. As a member of the Royal Society Council,
Huxley had to vote on the names proposed for the various medals.
For the Royal Medal first Hooker was named, and received his hearty
support; then Forbes was put up, in his eyes equally deserving, and
almost more closely bound to him by ties of active friendship, so
that, whichever way he ultimately voted, his action might possibly be
ascribed to personal, not scientific, motives. Thereupon he explained
to the Council that he considered their claims equal; that, whichever
chanced to have been put forward first, he would never have proposed
the other in opposition to him. As he had spoken of Hooker's
merits, so also he spoke of Forbes's, positively, and not by way of
comparison; and this done, voted for both!

Hooker was actually elected. Huxley then wrote to both his friends,
explaining fully what he had done. Had he felt that one of the two had
strongly superior claims, and thought it right to vote for him only,
the other, he was sure, would have fully appreciated his motives, and
it would have done no injury to their friendship.

He was not mistaken. Among his most precious possessions he kept
Forbes's reply:--

I heartily concur in the course you have taken, and, had I
been placed as you have been, would have done exactly
the same.... Your way of proceeding was as true an act of
friendship as any that could be performed. As to myself, I
dream so little about medals that the notion of being on the
list never entered my brain, even when asleep. If it ever
comes, I shall be pleased and thankful; if it does not, it is
not the sort of thing to break my equanimity. Indeed, I would
always like to see it given not as a mere honour, but as a
help to a good man, and this it is assuredly in Hooker's case.
Government people are so ignorant that they require to have
people's merits drummed into their heads by all possible
means, and Hooker's getting the medal may be of real service
to him before long. I am in a snug, though not an idle, nest;
he has not got his resting-place yet. And so, my dear Huxley,
I trust that you know me too well to think that I am either
grieved or envious; and you, Hooker, and I are much of the
same way of thinking.

Frankness