vi] OF EVOLUTION 67 



of Geology were issued, in addition to portions 

 separately published under the titles of Manual, 

 Elements, and Student's Elements of Geology, of all 

 of which a number of editions have appeared Lyell 

 was always the most painstaking and conscientious 

 of authors. He declared ' I must write what will be 

 read 59 / and he spared no labour in securing accuracy 

 of statement combined with elegance of diction. His 

 father, a good classical and Italian scholar, had done 

 much towards assisting him to attain literary ex- 

 cellence, and at Oxford, where he took a good degree 

 in classics, he was greatly impressed by the style of 

 Gibbon's writings, and practised both prose and 

 poetic compositions with great diligence. 



Both Darwin and Huxley always maintained that 

 the real charm and power of Lyell's work are only to 

 be found in the first edition 60 . As new discoveries 

 were made or more effective illustrations of his views 

 presented themselves to his mind, passage after 

 passage in the work was modified by the author 

 or replaced by others ; and the effects of these 

 constant changes however necessary and desirable 

 in themselves could not fail to be detrimental to 

 the book as a work of art. He who would form a 

 just idea of the greatness of Lyell's masterpiece, 

 must read the first edition, of course bearing in 

 mind, all the while, the state of science at the time 

 it was written. 



52 



