LITERARY STRUGGLES. 169 



literary form is never neglected in them. The extreme 

 clearness of observation found its natural expression in 

 perfect lucidity of language. The consequence was that 

 if, in future years, the naturalist had need to transfer to a 

 manuscript his old notes on any particular species, he 

 could do it almost without revision, and thus save a great 

 deal of labour. 



All this time he had continued to act as a class-leader 

 and local preacher among the Wesleyan Methodists. 

 There still exists a manuscript book of skeleton sermons 

 preached by him in the chapels around London, from 

 1839 to 1842. He has attached to it a note, written forty 

 years later : — " This volume possesses some interest, as 

 showing how very poor and crude my theology was at that 

 time." He was, in fact, approaching a great crisis in his 

 religious life, to be marked, in the first place, by his formally 

 severing his connection, early in 1843, with the Wesleyan 

 Society. The present writer is entirely without competence 

 to deal with this particular phase of religious conviction, 

 which, however, he does not feel at liberty to ignore. To 

 misrepresent it would be even worse than to neglect it, 

 and a succinct account of it will be found printed, in 

 Philip Gosse's own words, in an appendix.* We may return 

 to the more external features of his career. The school, 

 which had for a while promised well, began to fall off ; 

 several of the elder and more interesting pupils ceased to 

 attend, and were not replaced by others ; so that, by the 

 end of 1843, the number of scholars was reduced to eight. 

 A far more lucrative and interesting source of income 

 was, however, opening up to Philip Gosse at last. In the 

 spring of 1843 the Society for Promoting Christian Know- 

 ledge wanted an Introduction to Zoology. Professor 



* Appendix II. 



