Editing Philip Henry Gosse (section)

==Later career==
According to Edmund Gosse, his father's career was destroyed by his "strange act of wilfulness" in publishing ''Omphalos''; Edmund claimed his father had "closed the doors upon himself forever."<ref>Edmund Gosse, ''Father and Son'' Michael Newton, ed. (Oxford University Press, 2004), 63. "My Father, although half suffocated by the emotion of being lifted, as it were, on the great biological wave, never dreamed of letting go his clutch of the ancient tradition, but hung there, strained and buffeted.  It is extraordinary that he—an 'honest hodman of science,' as Huxley once called him—should not have been content to allow others, whose horizons were wider than his could be, to pursue those purely intellectual surveys for which he had no species of aptitude.  As a collector of facts and marshaller of observations, he had not a rival in that age; his very absence of imagination aided him in this work.  But he was more an attorney than a philosopher, and he lacked that sublime humility which is the crown of genius." (71)</ref> Douglas Wertheimer argues that this claim is disconnected from the facts: Gosse published five natural history books in the four years after ''Omphalos'', three of which were incontrovertible contributions to science.<ref>Wertheimer, ''Philip Henry Gosse: A Biography,'' pages 305-7.</ref>

Just as ''Omphalos'' was appearing in 1857, Gosse, his son and their cook moved permanently from London to [[St Marychurch]], Devon.<ref>Wertheimer, ''Philip Henry Gosse: A Biography,'' pages 286.</ref> (Gosse refused to use the "St" and even gave his address as [[Torquay]] so as not to have anything to do with the "so-called [[Church of England]]".){{sfnp|Thwaite|2002|pp=221, 228}}  He soon became the pastor and overseer of the Brethren meeting. It was first held in a loft over a stable but shortly, under Gosse's preaching and peacemaking, in finer quarters—which he perhaps financed himself.{{sfnp|Thwaite|2002|pp=229-235, 249}} His son said that his father "soon lost confidence in the Plymouth Brethren also, and for the last thirty years of his life he was really unconnected with any Christian body whatsoever."{{sfn|Gosse|1890|p=330}} In fact Gosse was aligned for over 45 years with Brethren.<ref>Wertheimer, ''Philip Henry Gosse: A Biography,'' page 338-9 and 338 fn.39.</ref>

During this period, Gosse made a special study of [[sea anemone]]s ([[Actiniae]]) and in 1860 published ''Actinologia Britannica''. Reviewers especially praised the colour lithographs made from Gosse's watercolours. The ''Literary Gazette'' said that Gosse now stood "alone and unrivalled in the extremely difficult art of drawing objects of zoology so as to satisfy the requirements of science" as well as providing "vivid aesthetic impressions".<ref>Quoted in {{harvp|Thwaite|2002|pp=240-241}}</ref>

In 1860 Gosse married Eliza Brightwen (1813–1900), apparently of [[Quaker]] background but already familiar with Brethren ways,<ref>Wertheimer, ''Philip Henry Gosse: A Biography,'' pages 368-370.</ref> who shared Gosse's intense interest in both natural history and the well-being of his son.<ref name="oxforddnb.com"/>{{sfnp|Thwaite|2002|pp=248-251, 253}} Gosse's second marriage was as happy as his first. In 1881 he wrote that Eliza was "a true yoke-fellow, in love, in spirit and in service."<ref>Wertheimer, ''Philip Henry Gosse: A Biography,'' page 605.</ref>

By this time Gosse was "very comfortably off" with the earnings from his books and dividends from his investments. In 1864 Eliza received a substantial legacy that allowed Gosse to retire from his career as a professional writer and live in "congenial obscurity".{{sfnp|Thwaite|2002|pp=258-259, 262}} The Gosses lived simply, invested some of their income and gave more away to charity, especially to foreign [[missionary|missionaries]], including ones sent to the "Popish, priest-ridden Irish".{{sfnp|Thwaite|2002|pp=260-261}}

To Gosse's disappointment, his son turned his back on his Brethren upbringing—though not as early or as dramatically as Edmund portrayed the break in ''Father and Son''.<ref>Wertheimer, ''Philip Henry Gosse: A Biography,'' pages 489 fns.49-50, 600 fn.417.</ref> But Gosse sponsored the publication of Edmund's early poetry, which gave the younger man entrée to new friends of literary importance, and the two men "came out of the years of conflict with their relationship wary but intact."{{sfnp|Thwaite|2002|pp=278, 282, 287}} Henry and Eliza welcomed Edmund's wife to the family and enjoyed visits with their three grandchildren.<ref>{{harvp|Thwaite|2002|pp=304-308}} When Edmund married without introducing his fiancée to his parents, neither Henry nor Eliza asked if she were "saved". (285) One of the grandchildren was Philip Henry George Gosse (1879-1959). He became a naturalist and wrote ''Memoirs of a Camp Follower'' (1934), a memoir of his experiences in the [[Royal Army Medical Corps]] during the [[World War I|Great War]] in France and Belgium, 1915–1917, and in India, 1917–1918.</ref>

[[File:Philip Henry Gosse & Edmund Gosse (1857).jpg|thumb|Philip Henry Gosse and his son [[Edmund Gosse]], 1857. Frontispiece of ''[[Father and Son (Gosse book)|Father and Son]]''.]]
Meanwhile, the ever active Gosse had taken up the study of [[orchids]] and exchanged a number of letters on the subject with [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]], though he never published on this subject himself.{{sfnp|Thwaite|2002|p=260}}  His penultimate enthusiasm was with the [[Lepidoptera genitalia|genitalia of butterflies]], about which he published a paper in the ''Transactions of the [[Linnean Society]]''<ref>{{harvp|Thwaite|2002|p=316}} entitled, "On the clasping organs ancillary to generation in certain groups of [[Lepidoptera]]."</ref> Gosse hoped, in studying these two areas, to scientifically challenge, if not disprove, overthrown Darwin's theory.<ref>Wertheimer, ''Philip Henry Gosse: A Biography,'' pages 374-377, 546-7, 556.</ref> In the last years of his life he collaborated with the microscopist [[Charles Thomas Hudson]] on a landmark, classic three-volume monograph on Rotifera, containing illustrations by both authors. The work, however, was boycotted by Britain's community of scientific naturalists.<ref>Wertheimer, ''Philip Henry Gosse: A Biography,'' pages 578-581.</ref>

According to Eliza Gosse, her husband's final illness may have been caused by his becoming chilled while trying to adjust his telescope at an open window on a winter night.{{sfnp|Thwaite|2002|p=320}} Gosse had prayed over the years that he might not taste death but meet Christ in the air at his Second Coming, and he was allegedly bitterly disappointed when he realized that he would die like everyone else.<ref>{{harvp|Thwaite|2002|pp=320, 323}}. He was buried in Torquay, and his grave was inscribed with a quotation from [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] 22.20 "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."</ref> There are at least five other accounts of aspects of Gosse's death, which differ in detail.<ref>Wertheimer, Philip Henry Gosse: A Biography, page 600 fn.417.</ref>