100 REMINISCENCES. [Ch. IV. 



tliis respect the chief of the modems, should have written and 

 worked in so essentially a non-modern spirit and manner. In 

 reading his books one is reminded of the older naturalists 

 rather than of any modern school of writers. He was a 

 Naturalist in the old sense of the word, that is, a man who 

 works at many branches of science, not merely a specialist in 

 one. Thus it is, that, though he founded whole new divisions 

 of special subjects — such as the fertilisation of flowers, 

 insectivorous plants, &c. — yet even in treating these very 

 subjects he does not strike the reader as a specialist. The 

 reader feels like a friend who is being talked to by a courteous 

 gentleman, not like a pupil being lectured by a professor. 

 The tone of such a book as the Origin is charming, and almost 

 pathetic ; it is the tone of a man who, convinced of the truth 

 of his own views, hardly expects to convince others ; it is 

 just the reverse of the style of a fanatic, who tries to force 

 belief on his readers. The reader is never scorned for any 

 amount of doubt which he may be imagined to feel, and his 

 scepticism is treated with patient respect. A sceptical reader, 

 or perhaps even an unreasonable reader, seems to have been 

 generally present to his thoughts. It was in consequence of 

 this feeling, perhaps, that he took much trouble over points 

 which he imagined would strike the reader, or save him 

 trouble, and so tempt him to read. 



For the same reason he took much interest in the illus- 

 trations of his books, and I think rated rather too highly 

 their value. The illustrations for his earlier books were 

 drawn by professional artists. This was the case in Animals 

 and Plants, the Descent of Man, and the Expression of the 

 Emotions. On the other hand, Climbing Plants, Insectivorous 

 Plants, the Movements of Plants, and Forms of Flowers, were, 

 to a large extent, illustrated by some of his children — my 

 brother George having drawn by far the most. It was de- 

 lightful to draw for him, as he was enthusiastic in his praise 

 of very moderate performances. I remember well his charm- 

 ing manner of receiving the drawings of one of his daughters- 

 in-law, and how he would finish his words of praise by saying, 



" Tell A , Michael Angelo is nothing to it." Though he 



praised so generously, he always looked closely at the drawing, 

 and easily detected mistakes or carelessness. 



He had a horror of being lengthy, and seems to have been 

 really much annoyed and distressed when he found how the 

 Variations of Animals and Plants was growing under his hands. 

 I remember his cordially agreeing with * Tristram Shandy's ' 

 words, " Let no man say, ■ Come, I'll write a duodecimo.' " 



