LYELL. 325 



pondered over even by wealthy men who enter 

 into the studies of nature, and which might be 

 read with benefit by those people who on this not 

 over civilized earth, hold the purse-strings of the 

 world and treat scientific teachers with gross 

 meanness. With all his advantages Lyell could 

 not undertake the research which made him 

 famous, which has tended to elevate our conception 

 of the laws of nature, and which has done so much 

 to lead geologists along the right path, without 

 caring much for pecuniary matters. 



He wrote, "I will tell you fairly that it is at 

 present of no small consequence to me to get a 

 respectable sum for my volume, not only to cover 

 expenses for present and future projected cam- 

 paigns, but because my making my hobby pay the 

 additional costs which it entails, will alone justify 

 my pursuing it with a mind sufficiently satisfied 

 with itself, and so to feel independent and free to 

 indulge in the enthusiasm necessary for success. 

 I shall never hope to make money by geology, but 

 not to lose, and tax others for my amusement; 

 and unless I can secure this, it would, in my cir- 

 cumstances, be selfish in me to devote myself as 

 much as I hope to do to it." These sentiments 

 did Lyell great honour. " My work is in part 

 written, and all planned. It will not pretend to 

 give even an abstract of all that is known in geo- 

 logy, but it will endeavour to establish the principle 

 of reasoning on the science. All my geology will 

 come in as illustrative of my views of those 



