WHAT LED TO THE SUCCESS. 177 



was read through then unless by those, the few friends 

 of science and the author, whom, in both respects, of 

 course, it immediately and specially concerned. How 

 could the public that bought the book, constituted as 

 only a public can be (i.e. something after the pattern of 

 the nine hundred guests that are nowadays invited to a 

 marriage !) how could such a public be expected to read 

 the book ? What sort of book is it ? It ought to be 

 very interesting what more interesting than anecdotes 

 and stories of Alligators, and Ants, and Apes, Asses and 

 Arab Horses, Bees and Bats, and Birds, and Bears, and 

 Whales what more interesting, in fact, than just Geo- 

 logy and Zoology on the whole ? But is it interesting ? 

 Well, his son tells us, " His (Darwin's) style has been 

 much praised : it is, above all things, direct and clear ; " 

 and I do not think it will readily occur to any one to con- 

 tradict as much. The book is plainly written ; it is as 

 plain as the plainstones beneath your feet but how are 

 they then " your poor feet " ? I know one man at 

 least who has read a good number of books, of all kinds, 

 too, some of them not absolutely easy either and he 

 somehow has always felt the book and feared the book as 

 so much lead. But that may be prejudice ! What of 

 the experts, the express personal friends who put the 

 trumpets to their mouths ? Much evidence may exist in 

 this regard, we, for our part, have only what the Lift 

 and Letters may show ; and there we see a correspondence 

 only on one side. We find few letters in the three 

 volumes hat are from the other side. Even the one or 

 two letters to which we can refer consist, as acknowledg- 

 ments on the part of the nearest personal friends, 

 only for the most part of the usual congratulatory 

 laudation. 



Sir Charles Lyell having, as he says, just finished the 

 volume, praises it much. He finds, however, " the con- 



