CHAPTER XXII 

 1894 



THE completion early in 1894 of the ninth volume of 

 Collected Essays was followed by a review of them in Nature 

 (February i), from the pen of Professor Ray Lankester, 

 emphasising the way in which the writer's personality ap- 

 pears throughout the writing : 



There is probably no lover of apt discourse, of keen criti- 

 cism, or of scientific doctrine who will not welcome the issue 

 of Professor Huxley's Essays in the present convenient shape. 

 For my own part, I know of no writing which by its mere form, 

 even apart from the supreme interest of the matters with which 

 it mostly deals, gives me so much pleasure as that of the author 

 of these essays. In his case, more than that of his contempo- 

 raries, it is strictly true that the style is the man. Some authors 

 we may admire for the consummate skill with which they trans- 

 fer to the reader their thought without allowing him, even for a 

 moment, to be conscious of their personality. In Professor 

 Huxley's work, on the other hand, we never miss his fascinat- 

 ing presence ; now he is gravely shaking his head, now com- 

 pressing the lips with emphasis, and from time to time, with 

 a quiet twinkle of the eye, making unexpected apologies or pro- 

 testing that he is of a modest and peace-loving nature. At the 

 same time,' one becomes accustomed to a rare and delightful 

 phenomenon. Everything which has entered the author's brain 

 by eye or ear, whether of recondite philosophy, biological fact, 

 or political programme, comes out again to us clarified, sifted, 

 arranged, and vivified by its passage through the logical machine 

 of his strong individuality. 



Of the artist in him it continues : 



He deals with form not only as a mechanical engineer in 

 partibus (Huxley's own description of himself), but also as an 



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