Wilberforce–Huxley encounter

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There is no reliable account of the encounter (not a formal debate) between William Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford and Thomas Henry Huxley at the 1860 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in the Natural History Museum, Oxford. But we can get an idea of what Wilberforce would have said from the text of his review of Darwin's Origin, written before the meeting and published anonymously in the Quarterly Review shortly afterwards. The review raised points about Darwin's evidence and arguments in favour of his theory that Darwin would describe as "uncommonly clever ... [It] picks out with skill all the most conjectural parts, & brings forward well all difficulties," [Darwin to Hooker, July 1860].

  • A facsimile of Wilberforce's anonymous review of the The Origin of Species in the Quarterly Review.
  • John Lucas' paper, about the encounter, 'Wilberforce and Huxley: A legendary encounter'.

Edit: New evidence emerges.