Huxley's Vocabulary 213 



fitness to the other set. There are many who assert 

 with confidence that Huxley is one of the great mas- 

 ters of EngHsh, and although an examination of this 

 opinion involves discussion of the elusive quality 

 termed ' ' style, " it is necessary to attempt it. 



In that totality which consists of an essay or of a 

 printed address, and of which we are, most of us, 

 ready to discuss the style, there are at least three 

 separable elements, each contributing after its kind to 

 the efiect on our minds. When the general effect is 

 to throw us into a state of pleasure, it is our habit to 

 qualify the st}4e with an adjective of praise, selecting 

 the adjective according to the degree of restraint or of 

 enthusiasm with which we are accustomed to express 

 our emotions ; when the general effect is to throw us 

 into a condition of boredom or of distaste, we make a 

 corresponding choice of appropriate adjectives. When 

 we wish to be specially critical we pass a little way 

 beyond an empirical judgment by pleasure or annoy- 

 ance and take into account the degree of harmony 

 between matter and manner. In such a frame of mind 

 we discount the pleasure obtained from verbal quips, 

 if these occur in a grave exposition, or that received 

 from solemn and stately harmonies of language if these 

 be employed on insignificant trifles. In a condition of 

 unusual critical exaltation we may even admit an 

 excellence of language and phrasing though these have 

 as their contents ideas which we dislike, or press to- 

 wards conclusions from which we dissent. But if we 

 desire to make an exact appreciation of literary style, 

 it is requisite to examine separately the three elements 

 which contribute to the effect produced on us by any 

 written work. These three elements are the words or 

 raw materials employed, the building of words into 



