,transcribed from the #aijh ,a4 ,c4 ,fifield edition by ,david ,price1 email ccx#jgdpglaf4org ,,essays ,,on ,,life ,,art ,,and ,,science ,,by ,,samuel ,,butler ,,author ,,of ,,erewhon1 ,,erewhon ,,re-,,visited1 ,,the ,,way ,,of ,,all ,,flesh1 ,,etc4 ,,edited ,,by ,r4 ,a4 ,,streatfeild ,,london ,a4 ,c4 ,,fifield #aijh ,printed by ,,ballantyne1 ,,hanson ,,co ,at the ,ballantyne ,press1 ,edinburgh4 ,contents3 ,introduction ,quis ,desiderio8 ,ramblings in ,cheapside ,the ,aunt1 ,the ,nieces1 and the ,dog ,how to make the best of life ,the ,sanctuary of ,montrigone ,a ,medieval ,girl ,school ,art in the ,valley of ,saas ,thought and ,language ,the ,deadlock in ,darwinism ,,introduction ,it is hardly necessary to apologise for the miscellaneous character of the following collection of essays4 ,samuel ,butler was a man of such unusual versatility1 and his interests were so many and so various that his literary remains were bound to cover a wide field4 ,nevertheless it will be found that several of the subjects to which he devoted much time and labour are not represented in these pages4 ,i have not thought it necessary to reprint any of the numerous pamphlets and articles which he wrote upon the ,iliad and ,odyssey1 since these were all merged in ,the ,authoress of the ,odyssey1 which gives his matured views upon everything relating to the ,homeric poems4 ,for a similar reason ,i have not included an essay on the evidence for the ,resurrection of ,jesus ,christ1 which he printed in #ahfe for private circulation1 since he subsequently made extensive use of it in ,the ,fair ,haven4 ,two of the essays in this collection were originally delivered as lectures2 the remainder were published in ,the ,universal ,review during #ahhh1 #ahhi1 and #ahij4 ,i should perhaps explain why two other essays of his1 which also appeared in ,the ,universal ,review1 have been omitted4 ,the first of these1 entitled ,l',affaire ,holbein-,rippel1 relates to a drawing of ,holbein's ,danse des ,paysans1 in the ,basle ,museum1 which is usually described as a copy1 but which ,butler believed to be the work of ,holbein himself4 ,this essay requires to be illustrated in so elaborate a manner that it was impossible to include it in a book of this size4 ,the second essay1 which is a sketch of the career of the sculptor ,tabachetti1 was published as the first section of an article entitled ,a ,sculptor and a ,shrine1 of which the second section is here given under the title1 ,the ,sanctuary of ,montrigone4 ,the section devoted to the sculptor represents all that ,butler then knew about ,tabachetti1 but since it was written various documents have come to light1 principally owing to the investigations of ,cavaliere ,francesco ,negri1 of ,casale ,monferrato1 which negative some of ,butler's most cherished conclusions4 ,had ,butler lived he would either have rewritten his essay in accordance with ,cavaliere ,negri's discoveries1 of which he fully recognised the value1 or incorporated them into the revised edition of ,ex ,voto1 which he intended to publish4 ,as it stands1 the essay requires so much revision that ,i have decided to omit it altogether1 and to postpone giving ,english readers a full account of ,tabachetti's career until a second edition of ,ex ,voto is required4 ,meanwhile ,i have given a brief summary of the main facts of ,tabachetti's life in a note 7page #aed7 to the essay on ,art in the ,valley of ,saas4 ,any one who wishes for further details of the sculptor and his work will find them in ,cavaliere ,negri's pamphlet1 ,il ,santuario di ,crea 7,alessandria1 #aijb74 ,the three essays grouped together under the title of ,the ,deadlock in ,darwinism may be regarded as a postscript to ,butler's four books on evolution1 viz41 ,life and ,habit1 ,evolution1 ,old and ,new1 ,unconscious ,memory and ,luck or ,cunning4 ,an occasion for the publication of these essays seemed to be afforded by the appearance in #ahhi of ,mr4 ,alfred ,russel ,wallace's ,darwinism2 and although nearly fourteen years have elapsed since they were published in the ,universal ,review1 ,i have no fear that they will be found to be out of date4 ,how far1 indeed1 the problem embodied in the deadlock of which ,butler speaks is from solution was conclusively shown by the correspondence which appeared in the ,times in ,may #aijc1 occasioned by some remarks made at ,university ,college by ,lord ,kelvin in moving a vote of thanks to ,professor ,henslow after his lecture on ,present ,day ,rationalism4 ,lord ,kelvin's claim for a recognition of the fact that in organic nature scientific thought is compelled to accept the idea of some kind of directive power1 and his statement that biologists are coming once more to a firm acceptance of a vital principle1 drew from several distinguished men of science retorts heated enough to prove beyond a doubt that the gulf between the two main divisions of evolutionists is as wide to-day as it was when ,butler wrote4 ,it will be well1 perhaps1 for the benefit of readers who have not followed the history of the theory of evolution during its later developments1 to state in a few words what these two main divisions are4 ,all evolutionists agree that the differences between species are caused by the accumulation and transmission of variations1 but they do not agree as to the causes to which the variations are due4 ,the view held by the older evolutionists1 ,buffon1 ,erasmus ,darwin and ,lamarck1 who have been followed by many modern thinkers1 including ,herbert ,spencer and ,butler1 is that the variations occur mainly as the result of effort and design2 the opposite view1 which is that advocated by ,mr4 ,wallace in ,darwinism1 is that the variations occur merely as the result of chance4 ,the former is sometimes called the theological view1 because it recognises the presence in organic nature of design1 whether it be called creative power1 directive force1 directivity1 or vital principle2 the latter view1 in which the existence of design is absolutely negatived1 is now usually described as ,weismannism1 from the name of the writer who has been its principal advocate in recent years4 ,in conclusion1 ,i must thank my friend ,mr4 ,henry ,festing ,jones most warmly for the invaluable assistance which he has given me in preparing these essays for publication1 in correcting the proofs1 and in compiling the introduction and notes4 ,r4 ,a4 ,,streatfeild4 ,,quis ,,desiderio 4 4 4 8 #a ,like ,mr4 ,wilkie ,collins1 ,i1 too1 have been asked to lay some of my literary experiences before the readers of the ,universal ,review4 ,it occurred to me that the ,review must be indeed universal before it could open its pages to one so obscure as myself2 but1 nothing daunted by the distinguished company among which ,i was for the first time asked to move1 ,i resolved to do as ,i was told1 and went to the ,british ,museum to see what books ,i had written4 ,having refreshed my memory by a glance at the catalogue1 ,i was about to try and diminish the large and ever-increasing circle of my non-readers when ,i became aware of a calamity that brought me to a standstill1 and indeed bids fair1 so far as ,i can see at present1 to put an end to my literary existence altogether4 ,i should explain that ,i cannot write unless ,i have a sloping desk1 and the reading-room of the ,british ,museum1 where alone ,i can compose freely1 is unprovided with sloping desks4 ,like every other organism1 if ,i cannot get exactly what ,i want ,i make shift with the next thing to it2 true1 there are no desks in the reading-room1 but1 as ,i once heard a visitor from the country say1 it contains a large number of very interesting works4 ,i know it was not right1 and hope the ,museum authorities will not be severe upon me if any of them reads this confession2 but ,i wanted a desk1 and set myself to consider which of the many very interesting works which a grateful nation places at the disposal of its would-be authors was best suited for my purpose4 ,for mere reading ,i suppose one book is pretty much as good as another2 but the choice of a desk-book is a more serious matter4 ,it must be neither too thick nor too thin2 it must be large enough to make a substantial support2 it must be strongly bound so as not to yield or give2 it must not be too troublesome to carry backwards and forwards2 and it must live on shelf ,c1 ,d1 or ,e1 so that there need be no stooping or reaching too high4 ,these are the conditions which a really good book must fulfil2 simple1 however1 as they are1 it is surprising how few volumes comply with them satisfactorily2 moreover1 being perhaps too sensitively conscientious1 ,i allowed another consideration to influence me1 and was sincerely anxious not to take a book which would be in constant use for reference by readers1 more especially as1 if ,i did this1 ,i might find myself disturbed by the officials4 ,for weeks ,i made experiments upon sundry poetical and philosophical works1 whose names ,i have forgotten1 but could not succeed in finding my ideal desk1 until at length1 more by luck than cunning1 ,i happened to light upon ,frost's ,lives of ,eminent ,christians1 which ,i had no sooner tried than ,i discovered it to be the very perfection and ne plus ultra of everything that a book should be4 ,it lived in ,case ,no4 #bjjh1 and ,i accordingly took at once to sitting in ,row ,b1 where for the last dozen years or so ,i have sat ever since4 ,the first thing ,i have done whenever ,i went to the ,museum has been to take down ,frost's ,lives of ,eminent ,christians and carry it to my seat4 ,it is not the custom of modern writers to refer to the works to which they are most deeply indebted1 and ,i have never1 that ,i remember1 mentioned it by name before2 but it is to this book alone that ,i have looked for support during many years of literary labour1 and it is round this to me invaluable volume that all my own have page by page grown up4 ,there is none in the ,museum to which ,i have been under anything like such constant obligation1 none which ,i can so ill spare1 and none which ,i would choose so readily if ,i were allowed to select one single volume and keep it for my own4 ,on finding myself asked for a contribution to the ,universal ,review1 ,i went1 as ,i have explained1 to the ,museum1 and presently repaired to bookcase ,no4 #bjjh to get my favourite volume4 ,alas6 it was in the room no longer4 ,it was not in use1 for its place was filled up already2 besides1 no one ever used it but myself4 ,whether the ghost of the late ,mr4 ,frost has been so eminently unchristian as to interfere1 or whether the authorities have removed the book in ignorance of the steady demand which there has been for it on the part of at least one reader1 are points ,i cannot determine4 ,all ,i know is that the book is gone1 and ,i feel as ,wordsworth is generally supposed to have felt when he became aware that ,lucy was in her grave1 and exclaimed so emphatically that this would make a considerable difference to him1 or words to that effect4 ,now ,i think of it1 ,frost's ,lives of ,eminent ,christians was very like ,lucy4 ,the one resided at ,dovedale in ,derbyshire1 the other in ,great ,russell ,street1 ,bloomsbury4 ,i admit that ,i do not see the resemblance here at this moment1 but if ,i try to develop my perception ,i shall doubtless ere long find a marvellously striking one4 ,in other respects1 however1 than mere local habitat the likeness is obvious4 ,lucy was not particularly attractive either inside or out--no more was ,frost's ,lives of ,eminent ,christians2 there were few to praise her1 and of those few still fewer could bring themselves to like her2 indeed1 ,wordsworth himself seems to have been the only person who thought much about her one way or the other4 ,in like manner1 ,i believe ,i was the only reader who thought much one way or the other about ,frost's ,lives of ,eminent ,christians1 but this in itself was one of the attractions of the book2 and as for the grief we respectively felt and feel1 ,i believe my own to be as deep as ,wordsworth's1 if not more so4 ,i said above1 as ,wordsworth is generally supposed to have felt2 for any one imbued with the spirit of modern science will read ,wordsworth's poem with different eyes from those of a mere literary critic4 ,he will note that ,wordsworth is most careful not to explain the nature of the difference which the death of ,lucy will occasion to him4 ,he tells us that there will be a difference2 but there the matter ends4 ,the superficial reader takes it that he was very sorry she was dead2 it is1 of course1 possible that he may have actually been so1 but he has not said this4 ,on the contrary1 he has hinted plainly that she was ugly1 and generally disliked2 she was only like a violet when she was half-hidden from the view1 and only fair as a star when there were so few stars out that it was practically impossible to make an invidious comparison4 ,if there were as many as even two stars the likeness was felt to be at an end4 ,if ,wordsworth had imprudently promised to marry this young person during a time when he had been unusually long in keeping to good resolutions1 and had afterwards seen some one whom he liked better1 then ,lucy's death would undoubtedly have made a considerable difference to him1 and this is all that he has ever said that it would do4 ,what right have we to put glosses upon the masterly reticence of a poet1 and credit him with feelings possibly the very reverse of those he actually entertained8 ,sometimes1 indeed1 ,i have been inclined to think that a mystery is being hinted at more dark than any critic has suspected4 ,i do not happen to possess a copy of the poem1 but the writer1 if ,i am not mistaken1 says that few could know when ,lucy ceased to be4 ,ceased to be is a suspiciously euphemistic expression1 and the words few could know are not applicable to the ordinary peaceful death of a domestic servant such as ,lucy appears to have been4 ,no matter how obscure the deceased1 any number of people commonly can know the day and hour of his or her demise1 whereas in this case we are expressly told it would be impossible for them to do so4 ,wordsworth was nothing if not accurate1 and would not have said that few could know1 but that few actually did know1 unless he was aware of circumstances that precluded all but those implicated in the crime of her death from knowing the precise moment of its occurrence4 ,if ,lucy was the kind of person not obscurely pourtrayed in the poem2 if ,wordsworth had murdered her1 either by cutting her throat or smothering her1 in concert1 perhaps1 with his friends ,southey and ,coleridge2 and if he had thus found himself released from an engagement which had become irksome to him1 or possibly from the threat of an action for breach of promise1 then there is not a syllable in the poem with which he crowns his crime that is not alive with meaning4 ,on any other supposition to the general reader it is unintelligible4 ,we cannot be too guarded in the interpretations we put upon the words of great poets4 ,take the young lady who never loved the dear gazelle--and ,i don't believe she did2 we are apt to think that ,moore intended us to see in this creation of his fancy a sweet1 amiable1 but most unfortunate young woman1 whereas all he has told us about her points to an exactly opposite conclusion4 ,in reality1 he wished us to see a young lady who had been an habitual complainer from her earliest childhood2 whose plants had always died as soon as she bought them1 while those belonging to her neighbours had flourished4 ,the inference is obvious1 nor can we reasonably doubt that ,moore intended us to draw it2 if her plants were the very first to fade away1 she was evidently the very first to neglect or otherwise maltreat them4 ,she did not give them enough water1 or left the door of her fern-ease open when she was cooking her dinner at the gas stove1 or kept them too near the paraffin oil1 or other like folly2 and as for her temper1 see what the gazelles did2 as long as they did not know her well1 they could just manage to exist1 but when they got to understand her real character1 one after another felt that death was the only course open to it1 and accordingly died rather than live with such a mistress4 ,true1 the young lady herself said the gazelles loved her2 but disagreeable people are apt to think themselves amiable1 and in view of the course invariably taken by the gazelles themselves any one accustomed to weigh evidence will hold that she was probably mistaken4 ,i must1 however1 return to ,frost's ,lives of ,eminent ,christians4 ,i will leave none of the ambiguity about my words in which ,moore and ,wordsworth seem to have delighted4 ,i am very sorry the book is gone1 and know not where to turn for its successor4 ,till ,i have found a substitute ,i can write no more1 and ,i do not know how to find even a tolerable one4 ,i should try a volume of ,migne's ,complete ,course of ,patrology1 but ,i do not like books in more than one volume1 for the volumes vary in thickness1 and one never can remember which one took2 the four volumes1 however1 of ,bede in ,giles's ,anglican ,fathers are not open to this objection1 and ,i have reserved them for favourable consideration4 ,mather's ,magnalia might do1 but the binding does not please me2 ,cureton's ,corpus ,ignatianum might also do if it were not too thin4 ,i do not like taking ,norton's ,genuineness of the ,gospels1 as it is just possible some one may be wanting to know whether the ,gospels are genuine or not1 and be unable to find out because ,i have got ,mr4 ,norton's book4 ,baxter's ,church ,history of ,england1 ,lingard's ,anglo-,saxon ,church1 and ,cardwell's ,documentary ,annals1 though none of them as good as ,frost1 are works of considerable merit2 but on the whole ,i think ,arvine's ,cyclopedia of ,moral and ,religious ,anecdote is perhaps the one book in the room which comes within measurable distance of ,frost4 ,i should probably try this book first1 but it has a fatal objection in its too seductive title4 ,i am not curious1 as ,miss ,lottie ,venne says in one of her parts1 but ,i like to know1 and ,i might be tempted to pervert the book from its natural uses and open it1 so as to find out what kind of a thing a moral and religious anecdote is4 ,i know1 of course1 that there are a great many anecdotes in the ,bible1 but no one thinks of calling them either moral or religious1 though some of them certainly seem as if they might fairly find a place in ,mr4 ,arvine's work4 ,there are some things1 however1 which it is better not to know1 and take it all round ,i do not think ,i should be wise in putting myself in the way of temptation1 and adopting ,arvine as the successor to my beloved and lamented ,frost4 ,some successor ,i must find1 or ,i must give up writing altogether1 and this ,i should be sorry to do4 ,i have only as yet written about a third1 or from that--counting works written but not published--to a half1 of the books which ,i have set myself to write4 ,it would not so much matter if old age was not staring me in the face4 ,dr4 ,parr said it was a beastly shame for an old man not to have laid down a good cellar of port in his youth2 ,i1 like the greater number1 ,i suppose1 of those who write books at all1 write in order that ,i may have something to read in my old age when ,i can write no longer4 ,i know what ,i shall like better than any one can tell me1 and write accordingly2 if my career is nipped in the bud1 as seems only too likely1 ,i really do not know where else ,i can turn for present agreeable occupation1 nor yet how to make suitable provision for my later years4 ,other writers can1 of course1 make excellent provision for their own old ages1 but they cannot do so for mine1 any more than ,i should succeed if ,i were to try to cater for theirs4 ,it is one of those cases in which no man can make agreement for his brother4 ,i have no heart for continuing this article1 and if ,i had1 ,i have nothing of interest to say4 ,no one's literary career can have been smoother or more unchequered than mine4 ,i have published all my books at my own expense1 and paid for them in due course4 ,what can be conceivably more unromantic8 ,for some years ,i had a little literary grievance against the authorities of the ,british ,museum because they would insist on saying in their catalogue that ,i had published three sermons on ,infidelity in the year #ahbj4 ,i thought ,i had not1 and got them out to see4 ,they were rather funny1 but they were not mine4 ,now1 however1 this grievance has been removed4 ,i had another little quarrel with them because they would describe me as of ,st4 ,john's ,college1 ,cambridge1 an establishment for which ,i have the most profound veneration1 but with which ,i have not had the honour to be connected for some quarter of a century4 ,at last they said they would change this description if ,i would only tell them what ,i was1 for1 though they had done their best to find out1 they had themselves failed4 ,i replied with modest pride that ,i was a ,bachelor of ,arts4 ,i keep all my other letters inside my name1 not outside4 ,they mused and said it was unfortunate that ,i was not a ,master of ,arts4 ,could ,i not get myself made a ,master8 ,i said ,i understood that a ,mastership was an article the ,university could not do under about five pounds1 and that ,i was not disposed to go sixpence higher than three ten4 ,they again said it was a pity1 for it would be very inconvenient to them if ,i did not keep to something between a bishop and a poet4 ,i might be anything ,i liked in reason1 provided ,i showed proper respect for the alphabet2 but they had got me between ,samuel ,butler1 bishop1 and ,samuel ,butler1 poet4 ,it would be very troublesome to shift me1 and bachelor came before bishop4 ,this was reasonable1 so ,i replied that1 under those circumstances1 if they pleased1 ,i thought ,i would like to be a philosophical writer4 ,they embraced the solution1 and1 no matter what ,i write now1 ,i must remain a philosophical writer as long as ,i live1 for the alphabet will hardly be altered in my time1 and ,i must be something between ,bis and ,poe4 ,if ,i could get a volume of my excellent namesake's ,hudibras out of the list of my works1 ,i should be robbed of my last shred of literary grievance1 so ,i say nothing about this1 but keep it secret1 lest some worse thing should happen to me4 ,besides1 ,i have a great respect for my namesake1 and always say that if ,erewhon had been a racehorse it would have been got by ,hudibras out of ,analogy4 ,some one said this to me many years ago1 and ,i felt so much flattered that ,i have been repeating the remark as my own ever since4 ,but how small are these grievances as compared with those endured without a murmur by hundreds of writers far more deserving than myself4 ,when ,i see the scores and hundreds of workers in the reading-room who have done so much more than ,i have1 but whose work is absolutely fruitless to themselves1 and when ,i think of the prompt recognition obtained by my own work1 ,i ask myself what ,i have done to be thus rewarded4 ,on the other hand1 the feeling that ,i have succeeded far beyond my deserts hitherto1 makes it all the harder for me to acquiesce without complaint in the extinction of a career which ,i honestly believe to be a promising one2 and once more ,i repeat that1 unless the ,museum authorities give me back my ,frost1 or put a locked clasp on ,arvine1 my career must be extinguished4 ,give me back ,frost1 and1 if life and health are spared1 ,i will write another dozen of volumes yet before ,i hang up my fiddle--if so serious a confusion of metaphors may be pardoned4 ,i know from long experience how kind and considerate both the late and present superintendents of the reading-room were and are1 but ,i doubt how far either of them would be disposed to help me on this occasion2 continue1 however1 to rob me of my ,frost1 and1 whatever else ,i may do1 ,i will write no more books4 ,note by ,dr4 ,garnett1 ,british ,museum4--,the frost has broken up4 ,mr4 ,butler is restored to literature4 ,mr4 ,mudie may make himself easy4 ,england will still boast a humourist2 and the late ,mr4 ,darwin 7to whose posthumous machinations the removal of the book was owing7 will continue to be confounded4--,r4 ,,gannett4 ,,ramblings ,,in ,,cheapside #b ,walking the other day in ,cheapside ,i saw some turtles in ,mr4 ,sweeting's window1 and was tempted to stay and look at them4 ,as ,i did so ,i was struck not more by the defences with which they were hedged about1 than by the fatuousness of trying to hedge that in at all which1 if hedged thoroughly1 must die of its own defencefulness4 ,the holes for the head and feet through which the turtle leaks out1 as it were1 on to the exterior world1 and through which it again absorbs the exterior world into itself--catching on through them to things that are thus both turtle and not turtle at one and the same time--these holes stultify the armour1 and show it to have been designed by a creature with more of faithfulness to a fixed idea1 and hence one-sidedness1 than of that quick sense of relative importances and their changes1 which is the main factor of good living4 ,the turtle obviously had no sense of proportion2 it differed so widely from myself that ,i could not comprehend it2 and as this word occurred to me1 it occurred also that until my body comprehended its body in a physical material sense1 neither would my mind be able to comprehend its mind with any thoroughness4 ,for unity of mind can only be consummated by unity of body2 everything1 therefore1 must be in some respects both knave and fool to all that which has not eaten it1 or by which it has not been eaten4 ,as long as the turtle was in the window and ,i in the street outside1 there was no chance of our comprehending one another4 ,nevertheless ,i knew that ,i could get it to agree with me if ,i could so effectually button-hole and fasten on to it as to eat it4 ,most men have an easy method with turtle soup1 and ,i had no misgiving but that if ,i could bring my first premise to bear ,i should prove the better reasoner4 ,my difficulty lay in this initial process1 for ,i had not with me the argument that would alone compel ,mr4 ,sweeting think that ,i ought to be allowed to convert the turtles--,i mean ,i had no money in my pocket4 ,no missionary enterprise can be carried on without any money at all1 but even so small a sum as half-a-crown would1 ,i suppose1 have enabled me to bring the turtle partly round1 and with many half-crowns ,i could in time no doubt convert the lot1 for the turtle needs must go where the money drives4 ,if1 as is alleged1 the world stands on a turtle1 the turtle stands on money4 ,no money no turtle4 ,as for money1 that stands on opinion1 credit1 trust1 faith--things that1 though highly material in connection with money1 are still of immaterial essence4 ,the steps are perfectly plain4 ,the men who caught the turtles brought a fairly strong and definite opinion to bear upon them1 that passed into action1 and later on into money4 ,they thought the turtles would come that way1 and verified their opinion2 on this1 will and action were generated1 with the result that the men turned the turtles on their backs and carried them off4 ,mr4 ,sweeting touched these men with money1 which is the outward and visible sign of verified opinion4 ,the customer touches ,mr4 ,sweeting with money1 ,mr4 ,sweeting touches the waiter and the cook with money4 ,they touch the turtle with skill and verified opinion4 ,finally1 the customer applies the clinching argument that brushes all sophisms aside1 and bids the turtle stand protoplasm to protoplasm with himself1 to know even as it is known4 ,but it must be all touch1 touch1 touch2 skill1 opinion1 power1 and money1 passing in and out with one another in any order we like1 but still link to link and touch to touch4 ,if there is failure anywhere in respect of opinion1 skill1 power1 or money1 either as regards quantity or quality1 the chain can be no stronger than its weakest link1 and the turtle and the clinching argument will fly asunder4 ,of course1 if there is an initial failure in connection1 through defect in any member of the chain1 or of connection between the links1 it will no more be attempted to bring the turtle and the clinching argument together1 than it will to chain up a dog with two pieces of broken chain that are disconnected4 ,the contact throughout must be conceived as absolute2 and yet perfect contact is inconceivable by us1 for on becoming perfect it ceases to be contact1 and becomes essential1 once for all inseverable1 identity4 ,the most absolute contact short of this is still contact by courtesy only4 ,so here1 as everywhere else1 ,eurydice glides off as we are about to grasp her4 ,we can see nothing face to face2 our utmost seeing is but a fumbling of blind finger-ends in an overcrowded pocket4 ,presently my own blind finger-ends fished up the conclusion1 that as ,i had neither time nor money to spend on perfecting the chain that would put me in full spiritual contact with ,mr4 ,sweeting's turtles1 ,i had better leave them to complete their education at some one else's expense rather than mine1 so ,i walked on towards the ,bank4 ,as ,i did so it struck me how continually we are met by this melting of one existence into another4 ,the limits of the body seem well defined enough as definitions go1 but definitions seldom go far4 ,what1 for example1 can seem more distinct from a man than his banker or his solicitor8 ,yet these are commonly so much parts of him that he can no more cut them off and grow new ones1 than he can grow new legs or arms2 neither must he wound his solicitor2 a wound in the solicitor is a very serious thing4 ,as for his bank--failure of his bank's action may be as fatal to a man as failure of his heart4 ,i have said nothing about the medical or spiritual adviser1 but most men grow into the society that surrounds them by the help of these four main tap-roots1 and not only into the world of humanity1 but into the universe at large4 ,we can1 indeed1 grow butchers1 bakers1 and greengrocers1 almost ad libitum1 but these are low developments1 and correspond to skin1 hair1 or finger-nails4 ,those of us again who are not highly enough organised to have grown a solicitor or banker can generally repair the loss of whatever social organisation they may possess as freely as lizards are said to grow new tails2 but this with the higher social1 as well as organic1 developments is only possible to a very limited extent4 ,the doctrine of metempsychosis1 or transmigration of souls--a doctrine to which the foregoing considerations are for the most part easy corollaries--crops up no matter in what direction we allow our thoughts to wander4 ,and we meet instances of transmigration of body as well as of soul4 ,i do not mean that both body and soul have transmigrated together1 far from it2 but that1 as we can often recognise a transmigrated mind in an alien body1 so we not less often see a body that is clearly only a transmigration1 linked on to some one else's new and alien soul4 ,we meet people every day whose bodies are evidently those of men and women long dead1 but whose appearance we know through their portraits4 ,we see them going about in omnibuses1 railway carriages1 and in all public places4 ,the cards have been shuffled1 and they have drawn fresh lots in life and nationalities1 but any one fairly well up in mediaeval and last century portraiture knows them at a glance4 ,going down once towards ,italy ,i saw a young man in the train whom ,i recognised1 only he seemed to have got younger4 ,he was with a friend1 and his face was in continual play1 but for some little time ,i puzzled in vain to recollect where it was that ,i had seen him before4 ,all of a sudden ,i remembered he was ,king ,francis ,i4 of ,france4 ,i had hitherto thought the face of this king impossible1 but when ,i saw it in play ,i understood it4 ,his great contemporary ,henry ,,viii4 keeps a restaurant in ,oxford ,street4 ,falstaff drove one of the ,st4 ,gothard diligences for many years1 and only retired when the railway was opened4 ,titian once made me a pair of boots at ,vicenza1 and not very good ones4 ,at ,modena ,i had my hair cut by a young man whom ,i perceived to be ,raffaelle4 ,the model who sat to him for his celebrated ,madonnas is first lady in a confectionery establishment at ,montreal4 ,she has a little motherly pimple on the left side of her nose that is misleading at first1 but on examination she is readily recognised2 probably ,raffaelle's model had the pimple too1 but ,raffaelle left it out--as he would4 ,handel1 of course1 is ,madame ,patey4 ,give ,madame ,patey ,handel's wig and clothes1 and there would be no telling her from ,handel4 ,it is not only that the features and the shape of the head are the same1 but there is a certain imperiousness of expression and attitude about ,handel which he hardly attempts to conceal in ,madame ,patey4 ,it is a curious coincidence that he should continue to be such an incomparable renderer of his own music4 ,pope ,julius ,,ii4 was the late ,mr4 ,darwin4 ,rameses ,,ii4 is a blind woman now1 and stands in ,holborn1 holding a tin mug4 ,i never could understand why ,i always found myself humming ,they oppressed them with burthens when ,i passed her1 till one day ,i was looking in ,mr4 ,spooner's window in the ,strand1 and saw a photograph of ,rameses ,,ii4 ,mary ,queen of ,scots wears surgical boots and is subject to fits1 near the ,horse ,shoe in ,tottenham ,court ,road4 ,michael ,angelo is a commissionaire2 ,i saw him on board the ,glen ,rosa1 which used to run every day from ,london to ,clacton-on-,sea and back4 ,it gave me quite a turn when ,i saw him coming down the stairs from the upper deck1 with his bronzed face1 flattened nose1 and with the familiar bar upon his forehead4 ,i never liked ,michael ,angelo1 and never shall1 but ,i am afraid of him1 and was near trying to hide when ,i saw him coming towards me4 ,he had not got his commissionaire's uniform on1 and ,i did not know he was one till ,i met him a month or so later in the ,strand4 ,when we got to ,blackwall the music struck up and people began to dance4 ,i never saw a man dance so much in my life4 ,he did not miss a dance all the way to ,clacton1 nor all the way back again1 and when not dancing he was flirting and cracking jokes4 ,i could hardly believe my eyes when ,i reflected that this man had painted the famous ,last ,judgment1 and had made all those statues4 ,dante is1 or was a year or two ago1 a waiter at ,brissago on the ,lago ,maggiore1 only he is better-tempered-looking1 and has a more intellectual expression4 ,he gave me his ideas upon beauty3 ,tutto ch' e vero e bello1 he exclaimed1 with all his old self-confidence4 ,i am not afraid of ,dante4 ,i know people by their friends1 and he went about with ,virgil1 so ,i said with some severity1 ,no1 ,dante1 il naso della ,signora ,robinson e vero1 ma non e bello2 and he admitted ,i was right4 ,beatrice's name is ,towler2 she is waitress at a small inn in ,german ,switzerland4 ,i used to sit at my window and hear people call ,towler1 ,towler1 ,towler1 fifty times in a forenoon4 ,she was the exact antithesis to ,abra2 ,abra1 if ,i remember1 used to come before they called her name1 but no matter how often they called ,towler1 every one came before she did4 ,i suppose they spelt her name ,taula1 but to me it sounded ,towler2 ,i never1 however1 met any one else with this name4 ,she was a sweet1 artless little hussy1 who made me play the piano to her1 and she said it was lovely4 ,of course ,i only played my own compositions2 so ,i believed her1 and it all went off very nicely4 ,i thought it might save trouble if ,i did not tell her who she really was1 so ,i said nothing about it4 ,i met ,socrates once4 ,he was my muleteer on an excursion which ,i will not name1 for fear it should identify the man4 ,the moment ,i saw my guide ,i knew he was somebody1 but for the life of me ,i could not remember who4 ,all of a sudden it flashed across me that he was ,socrates4 ,he talked enough for six1 but it was all in dialetto1 so ,i could not understand him1 nor1 when ,i had discovered who he was1 did ,i much try to do so4 ,he was a good creature1 a trifle given to stealing fruit and vegetables1 but an amiable man enough4 ,he had had a long day with his mule and me1 and he only asked me five francs4 ,i gave him ten1 for ,i pitied his poor old patched boots1 and there was a meekness about him that touched me4 ,and now1 ,socrates1 said ,i at parting1 we go on our several ways1 you to steal tomatoes1 ,i to filch ideas from other people2 for the rest--which of these two roads will be the better going1 our father which is in heaven knows1 but we know not4 ,i have never seen ,mendelssohn1 but there is a fresco of him on the terrace1 or open-air dining-room1 of an inn at ,chiavenna4 ,he is not called ,mendelssohn1 but ,i knew him by his legs4 ,he is in the costume of a dandy of some five-and-forty years ago1 is smoking a cigar1 and appears to be making an offer of marriage to his cook4 ,beethoven both my friend ,mr4 ,h4 ,festing ,jones and ,i have had the good fortune to meet2 he is an engineer now1 and does not know one note from another2 he has quite lost his deafness1 is married1 and is1 of course1 a little squat man with the same refractory hair that he always had4 ,it was very interesting to watch him1 and ,jones remarked that before the end of dinner he had become positively posthumous4 ,one morning ,i was told the ,beethovens were going away1 and before long ,i met their two heavy boxes being carried down the stairs4 ,the boxes were so squab and like their owners1 that ,i half thought for a moment that they were inside1 and should hardly have been surprised to see them spring up like a couple of ,jacks-in-the-box4 ,sono indentro8 said ,i1 with a frown of wonder1 pointing to the boxes4 ,the porters knew what ,i meant1 and laughed4 ,but there is no end to the list of people whom ,i have been able to recognise1 and before ,i had got through it myself1 ,i found ,i had walked some distance1 and had involuntarily paused in front of a second-hand bookstall4 ,i do not like books4 ,i believe ,i have the smallest library of any literary man in ,london1 and ,i have no wish to increase it4 ,i keep my books at the ,british ,museum and at ,mudie's1 and it makes me very angry if any one gives me one for my private library4 ,i once heard two ladies disputing in a railway carriage as to whether one of them had or had not been wasting money4 ,i spent it in books1 said the accused1 and it's not wasting money to buy books4 ,indeed1 my dear1 ,i think it is1 was the rejoinder1 and in practice ,i agree with it4 ,webster's ,dictionary1 ,whitaker's ,almanack1 and ,bradshaw's ,railway ,guide should be sufficient for any ordinary library2 it will be time enough to go beyond these when the mass of useful and entertaining matter which they provide has been mastered4 ,nevertheless1 ,i admit that sometimes1 if not particularly busy1 ,i stop at a second-hand bookstall and turn over a book or two from mere force of habit4 ,i know not what made me pick up a copy of ,a,eschylus--of course in an ,english version--or rather ,i know not what made ,a,eschylus take up with me1 for he took me rather than ,i him2 but no sooner had he got me than he began puzzling me1 as he has done any time this forty years1 to know wherein his transcendent merit can be supposed to lie4 ,to me he is1 like the greater number of classics in all ages and countries1 a literary ,struldbrug1 rather than a true ambrosia-fed immortal4 ,there are true immortals1 but they are few and far between2 most classics are as great impostors dead as they were when living1 and while posing as gods are1 five-sevenths of them1 only ,struldbrugs4 ,it comforts me to remember that ,aristophanes liked ,a,eschylus no better than ,i do4 ,true1 he praises him by comparison with ,sophocles and ,euripides1 but he only does so that he may run down these last more effectively4 ,aristophanes is a safe man to follow1 nor do ,i see why it should not be as correct to laugh with him as to pull a long face with the ,greek ,professors2 but this is neither here nor there1 for no one really cares about ,a,eschylus2 the more interesting question is how he contrived to make so many people for so many years pretend to care about him4 ,perhaps he married somebody's daughter4 ,if a man would get hold of the public ear1 he must pay1 marry1 or fight4 ,i have never understood that ,a,eschylus was a man of means1 and the fighters do not write poetry1 so ,i suppose he must have married a theatrical manager's daughter1 and got his plays brought out that way4 ,the ear of any age or country is like its land1 air1 and water2 it seems limitless but is really limited1 and is already in the keeping of those who naturally enough will have no squatting on such valuable property4 ,it is written and talked up to as closely as the means of subsistence are bred up to by a teeming population4 ,there is not a square inch of it but is in private hands1 and he who would freehold any part of it must do so by purchase1 marriage1 or fighting1 in the usual way--and fighting gives the longest1 safest tenure4 ,the public itself has hardly more voice in the question who shall have its ear1 than the land has in choosing its owners4 ,it is farmed as those who own it think most profitable to themselves1 and small blame to them2 nevertheless1 it has a residuum of mulishness which the land has not1 and does sometimes dispossess its tenants4 ,it is in this residuum that those who fight place their hope and trust4 ,or perhaps ,a,eschylus squared the leading critics of his time4 ,when one comes to think of it1 he must have done so1 for how is it conceivable that such plays should have had such runs if he had not8 ,i met a lady one year in ,switzerland who had some parrots that always travelled with her and were the idols of her life4 ,these parrots would not let any one read aloud in their presence1 unless they heard their own names introduced from time to time4 ,if these were freely interpolated into the text they would remain as still as stones1 for they thought the reading was about themselves4 ,if it was not about them it could not be allowed4 ,the leaders of literature are like these parrots2 they do not look at what a man writes1 nor if they did would they understand it much better than the parrots do2 but they like the sound of their own names1 and if these are freely interpolated in a tone they take as friendly1 they may even give ear to an outsider4 ,otherwise they will scream him off if they can4 ,i should not advise any one with ordinary independence of mind to attempt the public ear unless he is confident that he can out-lung and out-last his own generation2 for if he has any force1 people will and ought to be on their guard against him1 inasmuch as there is no knowing where he may not take them4 ,besides1 they have staked their money on the wrong men so often without suspecting it1 that when there comes one whom they do suspect it would be madness not to bet against him4 ,true1 he may die before he has out-screamed his opponents1 but that has nothing to do with it4 ,if his scream was well pitched it will sound clearer when he is dead4 ,we do not know what death is4 ,if we know so little about life which we have experienced1 how shall we know about death which we have not--and in the nature of things never can8 ,every one1 as ,i said years ago in ,alps and ,sanctuaries1 is an immortal to himself1 for he cannot know that he is dead until he is dead1 and when dead how can he know anything about anything8 ,all we know is1 that even the humblest dead may live long after all trace of the body has disappeared2 we see them doing it in the bodies and memories of those that come after them2 and not a few live so much longer and more effectually than is desirable1 that it has been necessary to get rid of them by ,act of ,parliament4 ,it is love that alone gives life1 and the truest life is that which we live not in ourselves but vicariously in others1 and with which we have no concern4 ,our concern is so to order ourselves that we may be of the number of them that enter into life--although we know it not4 ,a,eschylus did so order himself2 but his life is not of that inspiriting kind that can be won through fighting the good fight only--or being believed to have fought it4 ,his voice is the echo of a drone1 drone-begotten and drone-sustained4 ,it is not a tone that a man must utter or die--nay1 even though he die2 and likely enough half the allusions and hard passages in ,a,eschylus of which we can make neither head nor tail are in reality only puffs of some of the literary leaders of his time4 ,the lady above referred to told me more about her parrots4 ,she was like a ,nasmyth's hammer going slow--very gentle1 but irresistible4 ,she always read the newspaper to them4 ,what was the use of having a newspaper if one did not read it to one's parrots8 ,and have you divined1 ,i asked1 to which side they incline in politics8 ,they do not like ,mr4 ,gladstone1 was the somewhat freezing answer2 this is the only point on which we disagree1 for ,i adore him4 ,don't ask more about this1 it is a great grief to me4 ,i tell them everything1 she continued1 and hide no secret from them4 ,but can any parrot be trusted to keep a secret8 ,mine can4 ,and on ,sundays do you give them the same course of reading as on a week- day1 or do you make a difference8 ,on ,sundays ,i always read them a genealogical chapter from the ,old or ,new ,testament1 for ,i can thus introduce their names without profanity4 ,i always keep tea by me in case they should ask for it in the night1 and ,i have an ,etna to warm it for them2 they take milk and sugar4 ,the old white-headed clergyman came to see them last night2 it was very painful1 for ,jocko reminded him so strongly of his late 4 4 4 ,i thought she was going to say wife1 but it proved to have been only of a parrot that he had once known and loved4 ,one evening she was in difficulties about the quarantine1 which was enforced that year on the ,italian frontier4 ,the local doctor had gone down that morning to see the ,italian doctor and arrange some details4 ,then1 perhaps1 my dear1 she said to her husband1 he is the quarantine4 ,no1 my love1 replied her husband4 ,the quarantine is not a person1 it is a place where they put people2 but she would not be comforted1 and suspected the quarantine as an enemy that might at any moment pounce out upon her and her parrots4 ,so a lady told me once that she had been in like trouble about the anthem4 ,she read in her prayer- book that in choirs and places where they sing here followeth the anthem1 yet the person with this most mysteriously sounding name never did follow4 ,they had a choir1 and no one could say the church was not a place where they sang1 for they did sing--both chants and hymns4 ,why1 then1 this persistent slackness on the part of the anthem1 who at this juncture should follow her papa1 the rector1 into the reading-desk8 ,no doubt he would come some day1 and then what would he be like8 ,fair or dark8 ,tall or short8 ,would he be bald and wear spectacles like papa1 or would he be young and good-looking8 ,anyhow1 there was something wrong1 for it was announced that he would follow1 and he never did follow2 therefore there was no knowing what he might not do next4 ,i heard of the parrots a year or two later as giving lessons in ,italian to an ,english maid4 ,i do not know what their terms were4 ,alas6 since then both they and their mistress have joined the majority4 ,when the poor lady felt her end was near she desired 7and the responsibility for this must rest with her1 not me7 that the birds might be destroyed1 as fearing that they might come to be neglected1 and knowing that they could never be loved again as she had loved them4 ,on being told that all was over1 she said1 ,thank you1 and immediately expired4 ,reflecting in such random fashion1 and strolling with no greater method1 ,i worked my way back through ,cheapside and found myself once more in front of ,sweeting's window4 ,again the turtles attracted me4 ,they were alive1 and so far at any rate they agreed with me4 ,nay1 they had eyes1 mouths1 legs1 if not arms1 and feet1 so there was much in which we were both of a mind1 but surely they must be mistaken in arming themselves so very heavily4 ,any creature on getting what the turtle aimed at would overreach itself and be landed not in safety but annihilation4 ,it should have no communion with the outside world at all1 for death could creep in wherever the creature could creep out2 and it must creep out somewhere if it was to hook on to outside things4 ,what death can be more absolute than such absolute isolation8 ,perfect death1 indeed1 if it were attainable 7which it is not71 is as near perfect security as we can reach1 but it is not the kind of security aimed at by any animal that is at the pains of defending itself4 ,for such want to have things both ways1 desiring the livingness of life without its perils1 and the safety of death without its deadness1 and some of us do actually get this for a considerable time1 but we do not get it by plating ourselves with armour as the turtle does4 ,we tried this in the ,middle ,ages1 and no longer mock ourselves with the weight of armour that our forefathers carried in battle4 ,indeed the more deadly the weapons of attack become the more we go into the fight slug-wise4 ,slugs have ridden their contempt for defensive armour as much to death as the turtles their pursuit of it4 ,they have hardly more than skin enough to hold themselves together2 they court death every time they cross the road4 ,yet death comes not to them more than to the turtle1 whose defences are so great that there is little left inside to be defended4 ,moreover1 the slugs fare best in the long run1 for turtles are dying out1 while slugs are not1 and there must be millions of slugs all the world over for every single turtle4 ,of the two vanities1 therefore1 that of the slug seems most substantial4 ,in either case the creature thinks itself safe1 but is sure to be found out sooner or later2 nor is it easy to explain this mockery save by reflecting that everything must have its meat in due season1 and that meat can only be found for such a multitude of mouths by giving everything as meat in due season to something else4 ,this is like the ,kilkenny cats1 or robbing ,peter to pay ,paul2 but it is the way of the world1 and as every animal must contribute in kind to the picnic of the universe1 one does not see what better arrangement could be made than the providing each race with a hereditary fallacy1 which shall in the end get it into a scrape1 but which shall generally stand the wear and tear of life for some time4 ,do ut des is the writing on all flesh to him that eats it2 and no creature is dearer to itself than it is to some other that would devour it4 ,nor is there any statement or proposition more invulnerable than living forms are4 ,propositions prey upon and are grounded upon one another just like living forms4 ,they support one another as plants and animals do2 they are based ultimately on credit1 or faith1 rather than the cash of irrefragable conviction4 ,the whole universe is carried on on the credit system1 and if the mutual confidence on which it is based were to collapse1 it must itself collapse immediately4 ,just or unjust1 it lives by faith2 it is based on vague and impalpable opinion that by some inscrutable process passes into will and action1 and is made manifest in matter and in flesh3 it is meteoric--suspended in midair2 it is the baseless fabric of a vision so vast1 so vivid1 and so gorgeous that no base can seem more broad than such stupendous baselessness1 and yet any man can bring it about his ears by being over-curious2 when faith fails a system based on faith fails also4 ,whether the universe is really a paying concern1 or whether it is an inflated bubble that must burst sooner or later1 this is another matter4 ,if people were to demand cash payment in irrefragable certainty for everything that they have taken hitherto as paper money on the credit of the bank of public opinion1 is there money enough behind it all to stand so great a drain even on so great a reserve8 ,probably there is not1 but happily there can be no such panic1 for even though the cultured classes may do so1 the uncultured are too dull to have brains enough to commit such stupendous folly4 ,it takes a long course of academic training to educate a man up to the standard which he must reach before he can entertain such questions seriously1 and by a merciful dispensation of ,providence1 university training is almost as costly as it is unprofitable4 ,the majority will thus be always unable to afford it1 and will base their opinions on mother wit and current opinion rather than on demonstration4 ,so ,i turned my steps homewards2 ,i saw a good many more things on my way home1 but ,i was told that ,i was not to see more this time than ,i could get into twelve pages of the ,universal ,review2 ,i must therefore reserve any remark which ,i think might perhaps entertain the reader for another occasion4 ,,the ,,aunt1 ,,the ,,nieces1 ,,and ,,the ,,dog #c ,when a thing is old1 broken1 and useless we throw it on the dust-heap1 but when it is sufficiently old1 sufficiently broken1 and sufficiently useless we give money for it1 put it into a museum1 and read papers over it which people come long distances to hear4 ,by-and-by1 when the whirligig of time has brought on another revenge1 the museum itself becomes a dust-heap1 and remains so till after long ages it is re-discovered1 and valued as belonging to a neo-rubbish age--containing1 perhaps1 traces of a still older paleo-rubbish civilisation4 ,so when people are old1 indigent1 and in all respects incapable1 we hold them in greater and greater contempt as their poverty and impotence increase1 till they reach the pitch when they are actually at the point to die1 whereon they become sublime4 ,then we place every resource our hospitals can command at their disposal1 and show no stint in our consideration for them4 ,it is the same with all our interests4 ,we care most about extremes of importance and of unimportance2 but extremes of importance are tainted with fear1 and a very imperfect fear casteth out love4 ,extremes of unimportance cannot hurt us1 therefore we are well disposed towards them2 the means may come to do so1 therefore we do not love them4 ,hence we pick a fly out of a milk-jug and watch with pleasure over its recovery1 for we are confident that under no conceivable circumstances will it want to borrow money from us2 but we feel less sure about a mouse1 so we show it no quarter4 ,the compilers of our almanacs well know this tendency of our natures1 so they tell us1 not when ,noah went into the ark1 nor when the temple of ,jerusalem was dedicated1 but that ,lindley ,murray1 grammarian1 died ,january #af1 #ahbf4 ,this is not because they could not find so many as three hundred and sixty-five events of considerable interest since the creation of the world1 but because they well know we would rather hear of something less interesting4 ,we care most about what concerns us either very closely1 or so little that practically we have nothing whatever to do with it4 ,i once asked a young ,italian1 who professed to have a considerable knowledge of ,english literature1 which of all our poems pleased him best4 ,he replied without a moment's hesitation3-- ,hey diddle diddle1 the cat and the fiddle1 ,the cow jumped over the moon2 ,the little dog laughed to see such sport1 ,and the dish ran away with the spoon4 ,he said this was better than anything in ,italian4 ,they had ,dante and ,tasso1 and ever so many more great poets1 but they had nothing comparable to ,hey diddle diddle1 nor had he been able to conceive how any one could have written it4 ,did ,i know the author's name1 and had we given him a statue8 ,on this ,i told him of the young lady of ,harrow who would go to church in a barrow1 and plied him with whatever rhyming nonsense ,i could call to mind1 but it was no use2 all of these things had an element of reality that robbed them of half their charm1 whereas ,hey diddle diddle had nothing in it that could conceivably concern him4 ,so again it is with the things that gall us most4 ,what is it that rises up against us at odd times and smites us in the face again and again for years after it has happened8 ,that we spent all the best years of our life in learning what we have found to be a swindle1 and to have been known to be a swindle by those who took money for misleading us8 ,that those on whom we most leaned most betrayed us8 ,that we have only come to feel our strength when there is little strength left of any kind to feel8 ,these things will hardly much disturb a man of ordinary good temper4 ,but that he should have said this or that little unkind and wanton saying2 that he should have gone away from this or that hotel and given a shilling too little to the waiter2 that his clothes were shabby at such or such a garden-party--these things gall us as a corn will sometimes do1 though the loss of a limb way not be seriously felt4 ,i have been reminded lately of these considerations with more than common force by reading the very voluminous correspondence left by my grandfather1 ,dr4 ,butler1 of ,shrewsbury1 whose memoirs ,i am engaged in writing4 ,i have found a large number of interesting letters on subjects of serious import1 but must confess that it is to the hardly less numerous lighter letters that ,i have been most attracted1 nor do ,i feel sure that my eminent namesake did not share my predilection4 ,among other letters in my possession ,i have one bundle that has been kept apart1 and has evidently no connection with ,dr4 ,butler's own life4 ,i cannot use these letters1 therefore1 for my book1 but over and above the charm of their inspired spelling1 ,i find them of such an extremely trivial nature that ,i incline to hope the reader may derive as much amusement from them as ,i have done myself1 and venture to give them the publicity here which ,i must refuse them in my book4 ,the dates and signatures have1 with the exception of ,mrs4 ,newton's1 been carefully erased1 but ,i have collected that they were written by the two servants of a single lady who resided at no great distance from ,london1 to two nieces of the said lady who lived in ,london itself4 ,the aunt never writes1 but always gets one of the servants to do so for her4 ,she appears either as your aunt or as ,she2 her name is not given1 but she is evidently looked upon with a good deal of awe by all who had to do with her4 ,the letters almost all of them relate to visits either of the aunt to ,london1 or of the nieces to the aunt's home1 which1 from occasional allusions to hopping1 ,i gather to have been in ,kent1 ,sussex1 or ,surrey4 ,i have arranged them to the best of my power1 and take the following to be the earliest4 ,it has no signature1 but is not in the handwriting of the servant who styles herself ,elizabeth1 or ,mrs4 ,newton4 ,it runs3-- ,,madam1--,your ,aunt ,wishes me to inform you she will be glad if you will let hir know if you think of coming ,to hir ,house thiss month or ,next as she cannot have you in ,september on a kount of the ,hoping ,if you ar coming she thinkes she had batter ,go to ,london on the ,day you com to hir ,house the says you shall have everry ,thing raddy for you at hir ,house and ,mrs4 ,newton to meet you and stay with you till ,she returnes a gann4 if you arnot ,coming thiss ,summer ,she will be in ,london before thiss ,month is out and will ,sleep on the ,sofy ,as ,she willnot be in ,london more thann two nits4 and ,she ,says she willnot truble you on anny a kount as ,she ,will returne the ,same ,day before ,she will plage you anny more4 but ,she thanks you for asking hir to ,london4 but ,she says ,she cannot leve the house at prassant ,she sayhir ,survants ar to do for you as she cannot lodge yours nor she willnot have thim in at the house anny more to brake and destroy hir thinks and beslive hir and make up ,lies by hir and ,skandel as your too did ,she says she mens to pay fore #b ,nits and one day1 ,she says the ,pepelwill let hir have it if you ask thim to let hir3 you ,will be so good as to let hir know sun3 wish ,she is to do1 as ,she says ,she dos not care anny thing a bout it4 which way tiss she is batter than ,she was and desirs hir ,love to bouth bouth4 ,your aunt wises to know how the silk ,clocks ar madup how the silk cloaks are made up with a ,cape or a wood as she is a goin to have one madeup to rideout in in hir littel shas chaise4 ,charles is a butty and so good4 ,mr ,mrs ,newton ar quite wall desires to be remembered to you4 ,i can throw no light on the meaning of the verb to beslive4 ,each letter in the ,,ms4 is so admirably formed that there can be no question about the word being as ,i have given it4 ,nor have ,i been able to discover what is referred to by the words ,charles is a butty and so good4 ,we shall presently meet with a ,charles who flies in the ,fier1 but that ,charles appears to have been in ,london1 whereas this one is evidently in ,kent1 or wherever the aunt lived4 ,the next letter is from ,mrs4 ,newton ,,der ,,miss ---1 ,i ,receve your ,letter your ,aunt is vary ,ill and ,lowspireted ,i ,donte think your ,aunt wood ,git up all ,day if ,my ,sister ,wasnot to ,persage her ,we all ,think hir lif is two monopolous4 you ,wish to know ,who ,was ,liveing ,with your ,aunt4 that is ,my ,sister and ,willian--and ,cariline--as ,cock and ,old ,poll ,pepper is ,come to ,stay ,with her a ,littel ,wile and ,i hoped hopped for ,your ,aunt1 and ,harry has ,worked for your ,aunt all the ,summer4 ,your ,aunt and ,harry ,whent to the ,wells ,races and ,spent a very ,pleasant ,day your ,aunt has ,lost ,old ,fanney ,sow ,she ,died about a ,week a ,go ,harry he ,wanted your ,aunt to have her killed and send her to ,london and ,shee ,wold ,fech her #aa pounds the ,farmers have ,lost a ,greet ,deal of ,cattel such as ,hogs and ,cows ,what theay call the ,plage ,i ,whent to your ,aunt as you ,wish ,mee to ,do ,but ,she ,told ,mee ,she ,did not wont aney ,boddy ,she ,told ,mee ,she ,should ,like to ,come up to see you ,but ,she ,cant ,come know for she is ,boddyley ill and ,harry ,donte ,work there know ,but he ,go up there ,once in ,two or ,three ,day ,harry ,offered is self to ,go up to ,live ,with your ,aunt ,but ,she ,made him know ,ancer4 ,i hay ,been up to your ,aunt at ,work for #e ,weeks ,hopping and ,ragluting ,your ,aunt ,donte ,eat nor ,drink ,but vary ,littel indeed4 ,i am ,happy to ,say ,we are ,both ,quite ,well and ,i am ,glad no hear you are ,both ,quite ,well ,,mrs ,,newton4 ,this seems to have made the nieces propose to pay a visit to their aunt1 perhaps to try and relieve the monopoly of her existence and cheer her up a little4 ,in their letter1 doubtless1 the dog motive is introduced that is so finely developed presently by ,mrs4 ,newton4 ,i should like to have been able to give the theme as enounced by the nieces themselves1 but their letters are not before me4 ,mrs4 ,newton writes3-- ,,my ,,dear ,,girls1--,your ,aunt receiv your ,letter your ,aunt will ,be vary glad to see you as it quite a greeable if it tis to you and ,shee is ,quite ,willing to ,eair the beds and the ,rooms if you ,like to ,trust to hir and the ,servantes2 if not ,i may ,go up there as you ,wish4 ,my ,sister ,sleeps in the ,best ,room as she allways ,did and the ,coock in the garret and you ,can have the ,rooms the same as you allways ,did as your ,aunt ,donte set in the ,parlour ,she ,continlery ,sets in the ,ciching4 your ,aunt says she ,cannot ,part from the dog know hows and ,she ,says he will not hurt you for he is ,like a ,child and ,i can safeley say ,my ,self he wonte hurt you as ,she ,cannot ,sleep in the ,room ,with out him as he all,way ,sleep in the ,same ,room as ,she ,dose4 your ,aunt is agreeable to ,git in ,what ,coles and ,wood you ,wish for ,i am know happy to say your ,aunt is in as ,good health as ever ,she ,was and ,she is happy to hear you are ,both ,well your ,aunt ,wishes for ,ancer ,by ,return of ,post4 ,the nieces replied that their aunt must choose between the dog and them1 and ,mrs4 ,newton sends a second letter which brings her development to a climax4 ,it runs3-- ,,dear ,,miss ---1 ,i have ,receve your ,letter and i ,whent up to your ,aunt as you ,wish me and i ,try to ,perveal ,with her about the ,dog ,but she ,wold not ,put the ,dog away nor it alow him to ,be ,tied up ,but ,she ,still ,wishes you to ,come as ,shee says the ,dog ,shall not interrup you for ,she ,donte alow the ,dog nor it the ,cats to ,go in the ,parlour never sence ,she has had it ,donup ferfere of ,spoiling the ,paint your ,aunt think it vary ,strange you ,should ,be so vary ,much afraid of a ,dog and ,she says you ,cant ,go out in ,london ,but ,what you are up a gance one and ,she says ,she ,wonte ,trust the ,dog in know one hands ,but her ,owne for ,she is afraid theay ,will not fill is ,belley as he ,lives upon ,rost ,beeff and ,rost and ,boil ,moutten ,wich he ,eats ,more then the ,servantes in the ,house there is not aney ,one ,wold ,beable to ,give ,sattefacktion upon that account ,harry offerd to ,take the ,dog ,but ,she ,wood not ,trust him in our hands so ,i ,cold not ,do aney thing ,with her your ,aunt youse to ,tell ,me ,when we was at your ,house in ,london ,she ,did not know how to make you amens and i ,told her know it was the ,time to ,do it ,but i ,considder ,she sets the ,dog ,before you your ,aunt keep know ,beer know ,sprits know ,wines in the ,house of aney ,sort ,oneley a ,little ,barl of ,wine ,i made her in the ,summer the ,workmen and servantes are a ,blige to ,drink wauter ,morning ,noon and ,night your ,aunt the ,same ,she ,donte ,low her ,self aney ,tee nor ,coffee ,but is ,loocking ,wonderful ,well ,i ,still ,remane your ,humble ,servant ,mrs ,newton ,i am vary sorry to think the ,dog ,perventes your ,comeing ,i am ,glad to hear you are ,both ,well and we are the same4 ,the nieces remained firm1 and from the following letter it is plain the aunt gave way4 ,the dog motive is repeated pianissimo1 and is not returned to--not at least by ,mrs4 ,newton4 ,,dear ,,miss ---1 ,i ,receve your ,letter on ,thursday i ,whent to your ,aunt and i see her and ,she is a ,greable to everry thing i asked her and seme so vary ,much ,please to see you ,both ,next ,tuseday and she has sent for the ,faggots to ,day and she ,will ,send for the ,coles to ,morrow and i will ,go up there to ,morrow ,morning and ,make the ,fiers and ,tend to the ,beds and sleep in it ,till you ,come ,down your ,aunt sends her ,love to you ,both and she is ,quite well your ,aunt ,wishes you wold ,write againe ,before you ,come as she ma ,expeckye and the ,dog is not to ,gointo the ,parlor a ,tall your ,aunt kind ,love to you ,both hopes you ,wonte ,fail in ,coming according to ,prommis ,,mrs ,,newton4 ,from a later letter it appears that the nieces did not pay their visit after all1 and what is worse a letter had miscarried1 and the aunt sat up expecting them from seven till twelve at night1 and ,harry had paid for ,faggots and ,coles quarter of ,hund4 ,faggots ,half tun of ,coles #al4 #as4 #c;d4 ,shortly afterwards1 however1 ,she again talks of coming up to ,london herself and writes through her servant-- ,my ,dear girls i ,receve your kind letter ,i am happy to hear you ar both ,well and ,i ,was in hopes of seeing of you ,both ,down at ,my ,house this spring to stay a ,wile ,i am ,quite well my self in ,helth ,but vary ,low ,spireted ,i am vary sorry to hear the ,misforting of ,poor charles how he cum to flie in the ,fier ,i cannot think4 ,i should like to know if he is dead or a ,live1 and ,i shall come to ,london in ,august stay three or four daies if it is agreable to you4 ,mrs4 ,newton has lost her mother in ,law #d day ,march ,i hope you send me word ,wather charles is ,dead or a ,live as soon as possible1 and will you send me word what ,little ,betty is for ,i cannot make her out4 ,the next letter is a new handwriting1 and tells the nieces of their aunt's death in the the following terms3-- ,,dear ,,miss ---1 ,it is my most painful duty to inform you that your dear aunt expired this morning comparatively easy as ,hannah informs me and in so doing restored her soul to the custody of him whom she considered to be alone worthy of its care4 ,the doctor had visited her about five minutes previously and had applied a blister4 ,you and your sister will ,i am sure excuse further details at present and believe me with kindest remembrances to remain ,yours truly1 c4 ,after a few days a lawyer's letter informs the nieces that their aunt had left them the bulk of her not very considerable property1 but had charged them with an annuity of #a pound a week to be paid to ,harry and ,mrs4 ,newton so long as the dog lived4 ,the only other letters by ,mrs4 ,newton are written on paper of a different and more modern size2 they leave an impression of having been written a good many years later4 ,i take them as they come4 ,the first is very short3-- ,,dear ,,miss ---1 i write to say i cannot possiblely come on ,wednesday as we have killed a pig4 your's truely1 ,,elizabeth ,,newton4 ,the second runs3-- ,,dear ,,miss ---1 i hope you are both quite well in health your ,leg much better i am happy to say i am getting quite well again i hope ,amandy has reached you safe by this time i sent a small parcle by ,amandy1 there was half a dozen ,pats of butter the ,cakes was very homely and not so light as i could wish i hope by this time ,sarah ,ann has promised she will stay untill next monday as i think a few daies longer will not make much diferance and as her young man has been very considerate to wait so long as he has i think he would for a few days ,longer dear ,miss --- ,i wash for ,william and i have not got his clothes yet as it has been delayed by the carrier i cannot possiblely get it done before ,sunday and i do not ,like traviling on a ,sunday but to oblige you i would come but to come sooner i cannot possiblely but i hope ,sarah ,ann will be prevailed on once more as ,she has so many times i feel sure if she tells her young man he will have patient for he is a very kind young man i remain your sincerely ,,elizabeth ,,newton4 ,the last letter in my collection seems written almost within measurable distance of the ,christmas-card era4 ,the sheet is headed by a beautifully embossed device of some holly in red and green1 wishing the recipient of the letter a merry ,xmas and a happy new year1 while the border is crimped and edged with blue4 ,i know not what it is1 but there is something in the writer's highly finished style that reminds me of ,mendelssohn4 ,it would almost do for the words of one of his celebrated ,lieder ohne ,worte3 ,,dear ,,miss ,,maria1--,i hasten to acknowledge the receipt of your kind note with the inclosure for which ,i return my best thanks4 ,i need scarcely say how glad ,i was to know that the volumes secured your approval1 and that the announcement of the improvement in the condition of your ,sister's legs afforded me infinite pleasure4 ,the gratifying news encouraged me in the hope that now the nature of the disorder is comprehended her legs will--notwithstanding the process may be gradual--ultimately get quite well4 ,the pretty ,robin ,redbreast which lay ensconced in your epistle1 conveyed to me1 in terms more eloquent than words1 how much you desired me those ,compliments which the little missive he bore in his bill expressed2 the emblem is sweetly pretty1 and now that we are again allowed to felicitate each other on another recurrence of the season of the ,christian's rejoicing1 permit me to tender to yourself1 and by you to your ,sister1 mine and my ,wife's heartfelt congratulations and warmest wishes with respect to the coming year4 ,it is a common belief that if we take a retrospective view of each departing year1 as it behoves us annually to do1 we shall find the blessings which we have received to immeasurably outnumber our causes of sorrow4 ,speaking for myself ,i can fully subscribe to that sentiment1 and doubtless neither ,miss --- nor yourself are exceptions4 ,miss ---'s illness and consequent confinement to the house has been a severe trial1 but in that trouble an opportunity was afforded you to prove a ,sister's devotion and she has been enabled to realise a larger 7if possible7 display of sisterly affection4 ,a happy ,christmas to you both1 and may the new year prove a ,cornucopia from which still greater blessings than even those we have hitherto received1 shall issue1 to benefit us all by contributing to our temporal happiness and1 what is of higher importance1 conducing to our felicity hereafter4 ,i was sorry to hear that you were so annoyed with mice and rats1 and if ,i should have an opportunity to obtain a nice cat ,i will do so and send my boy to your house with it4 ,i remain1 ,yours truly4 ,how little what is commonly called education can do after all towards the formation of a good style1 and what a delightful volume might not be entitled ,half ,hours with the ,worst ,authors4 ,why1 the finest word ,i know of in the ,english language was coined1 not by my poor old grandfather1 whose education had left little to desire1 nor by any of the admirable scholars whom he in his turn educated1 but by an old matron who presided over one of the halls1 or houses of his school4 ,this good lady1 whose name by the way was ,bromfield1 had a fine high temper of her own1 or thought it politic to affect one4 ,one night when the boys were particularly noisy she burst like a hurricane into the hall1 collared a youngster1 and told him he was the ramp-ingest-scampingest-rackety-tackety- tow-row-roaringest boy in the whole school4 ,would ,mrs4 ,newton have been able to set the aunt and the dog before us so vividly if she had been more highly educated8 ,would ,mrs4 ,bromfield have been able to forge and hurl her thunderbolt of a word if she had been taught how to do so1 or indeed been at much pains to create it at all8 ,it came4 ,it was her ,greek text4 ,she did not probably know that she had done what the greatest scholar would have had to rack his brains over for many an hour before he could even approach4 ,tradition says that having brought down her boy she looked round the hall in triumph1 and then after a moment's lull said1 ,young gentlemen1 prayers are excused1 and left them4 ,i have sometimes thought that1 after all1 the main use of a classical education consists in the check it gives to originality1 and the way in which it prevents an inconvenient number of people from using their own eyes4 ,that we will not be at the trouble of looking at things for ourselves if we can get any one to tell us what we ought to see goes without saying1 and it is the business of schools and universities to assist us in this respect4 ,the theory of evolution teaches that any power not worked at pretty high pressure will deteriorate3 originality and freedom from affectation are all very well in their way1 but we can easily have too much of them1 and it is better that none should be either original or free from cant but those who insist on being so1 no matter what hindrances obstruct1 nor what incentives are offered them to see things through the regulation medium4 ,to insist on seeing things for oneself is to be in ,greek text1 or in plain ,english1 an idiot2 nor do ,i see any safer check against general vigour and clearness of thought1 with consequent terseness of expression1 than that provided by the curricula of our universities and schools of public instruction4 ,if a young man1 in spite of every effort to fit him with blinkers1 will insist on getting rid of them1 he must do so at his own risk4 ,he will not be long in finding out his mistake4 ,our public schools and universities play the beneficent part in our social scheme that cattle do in forests3 they browse the seedlings down and prevent the growth of all but the luckiest and sturdiest4 ,of course1 if there are too many either cattle or schools1 they browse so effectually that they find no more food1 and starve till equilibrium is restored2 but it seems to be a provision of nature that there should always be these alternate periods1 during which either the cattle or the trees are getting the best of it2 and1 indeed1 without such provision we should have neither the one nor the other4 ,at this moment the cattle1 doubtless1 are in the ascendant1 and if university extension proceeds much farther1 we shall assuredly have no more ,mrs4 ,newtons and ,mrs4 ,bromfields2 but whatever is is best1 and1 on the whole1 ,i should propose to let things find pretty much their own level4 ,however this may be1 who can question that the treasures hidden in many a country house contain sleeping beauties even fairer than those that ,i have endeavoured to waken from long sleep in the foregoing article8 ,how many ,mrs4 ,quicklys are there not living in ,london at this present moment8 ,for that ,mrs4 ,quickly was an invention of ,shakespeare's ,i will not believe4 ,the old woman from whom he drew said every word that he put into ,mrs4 ,quickly's mouth1 and a great deal more which he did not and perhaps could not make use of4 ,this question1 however1 would again lead me far from my subject1 which ,i should mar were ,i to dwell upon it longer1 and therefore leave with the hope that it may give my readers absolutely no food whatever for reflection4 ,,how ,,to ,,make ,,the ,,best ,,of ,,life #d ,i have been asked to speak on the question how to make the best of life1 but may as well confess at once that ,i know nothing about it4 ,i cannot think that ,i have made the best of my own life1 nor is it likely that ,i shall make much better of what may or may not remain to me4 ,i do not even know how to make the best of the twenty minutes that your committee has placed at my disposal1 and as for life as a whole1 who ever yet made the best of such a colossal opportunity by conscious effort and deliberation8 ,in little things no doubt deliberate and conscious effort will help us1 but we are speaking of large issues1 and such kingdoms of heaven as the making the best of these come not by observation4 ,the question1 therefore1 on which ,i have undertaken to address you is1 as you must all know1 fatuous1 if it be faced seriously4 ,life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on4 ,one cannot make the best of such impossibilities1 and the question is doubly fatuous until we are told which of our two lives--the conscious or the unconscious--is held by the asker to be the truer life4 ,which does the question contemplate--the life we know1 or the life which others may know1 but which we know not8 ,death gives a life to some men and women compared with which their so- called existence here is as nothing4 ,which is the truer life of ,shakespeare1 ,handel1 that divine woman who wrote the ,odyssey1 and of ,jane ,austen--the life which palpitated with sensible warm motion within their own bodies1 or that in virtue of which they are still palpitating in ours8 ,in whose consciousness does their truest life consist--their own1 or ours8 ,can ,shakespeare be said to have begun his true life till a hundred years or so after he was dead and buried8 ,his physical life was but as an embryonic stage1 a coming up out of darkness1 a twilight and dawn before the sunrise of that life of the world to come which he was to enjoy hereafter4 ,we all live for a while after we are gone hence1 but we are for the most part stillborn1 or at any rate die in infancy1 as regards that life which every age and country has recognised as higher and truer than the one of which we are now sentient4 ,as the life of the race is larger1 longer1 and in all respects more to be considered than that of the individual1 so is the life we live in others larger and more important than the one we live in ourselves4 ,this appears nowhere perhaps more plainly than in the case of great teachers1 who often in the lives of their pupils produce an effect that reaches far beyond anything produced while their single lives were yet unsupplemented by those other lives into which they infused their own4 ,death to such people is the ending of a short life1 but it does not touch the life they are already living in those whom they have taught2 and happily1 as none can know when he shall die1 so none can make sure that he too shall not live long beyond the grave2 for the life after death is like money before it--no one can be sure that it may not fall to him or her even at the eleventh hour4 ,money and immortality come in such odd unaccountable ways that no one is cut off from hope4 ,we may not have made either of them for ourselves1 but yet another may give them to us in virtue of his or her love1 which shall illumine us for ever1 and establish us in some heavenly mansion whereof we neither dreamed nor shall ever dream4 ,look at the ,doge ,loredano ,loredani1 the old man's smile upon whose face has been reproduced so faithfully in so many lands that it can never henceforth be forgotten--would he have had one hundredth part of the life he now lives had he not been linked awhile with one of those heaven-sent men who know che cosa e amor8 ,look at ,rembrandt's old woman in our ,national ,gallery2 had she died before she was eighty-three years old she would not have been living now4 ,then1 when she was eighty-three1 immortality perched upon her as a bird on a withered bough4 ,i seem to hear some one say that this is a mockery1 a piece of special pleading1 a giving of stones to those that ask for bread4 ,life is not life unless we can feel it1 and a life limited to a knowledge of such fraction of our work as may happen to survive us is no true life in other people2 salve it as we may1 death is not life any more than black is white4 ,the objection is not so true as it sounds4 ,i do not deny that we had rather not die1 nor do ,i pretend that much even in the case of the most favoured few can survive them beyond the grave4 ,it is only because this is so that our own life is possible2 others have made room for us1 and we should make room for others in our turn without undue repining4 ,what ,i maintain is that a not inconsiderable number of people do actually attain to a life beyond the grave which we can all feel forcibly enough1 whether they can do so or not--that this life tends with increasing civilisation to become more and more potent1 and that it is better worth considering1 in spite of its being unfelt by ourselves1 than any which we have felt or can ever feel in our own persons4 ,take an extreme case4 ,a group of people are photographed by ,edison's new process--say ,titiens1 ,trebelli1 and ,jenny ,lind1 with any two of the finest men singers the age has known--let them be photographed incessantly for half an hour while they perform a scene in ,lohengrin2 let all be done stereoscopically4 ,let them be phonographed at the same time so that their minutest shades of intonation are preserved1 let the slides be coloured by a competent artist1 and then let the scene be called suddenly into sight and sound1 say a hundred years hence4 ,are those people dead or alive8 ,dead to themselves they are1 but while they live so powerfully and so livingly in us1 which is the greater paradox--to say that they are alive or that they are dead8 ,to myself it seems that their life in others would be more truly life than their death to themselves is death4 ,granted that they do not present all the phenomena of life--who ever does so even when he is held to be alive8 ,we are held to be alive because we present a sufficient number of living phenomena to let the others go without saying2 those who see us take the part for the whole here as in everything else1 and surely1 in the case supposed above1 the phenomena of life predominate so powerfully over those of death1 that the people themselves must be held to be more alive than dead4 ,our living personality is1 as the word implies1 only our mask1 and those who still own such a mask as ,i have supposed have a living personality4 ,granted again that the case just put is an extreme one2 still many a man and many a woman has so stamped him or herself on his work that1 though we would gladly have the aid of such accessories as we doubtless presently shall have to the livingness of our great dead1 we can see them very sufficiently through the master pieces they have left us4 ,as for their own unconsciousness ,i do not deny it4 ,the life of the embryo was unconscious before birth1 and so is the life--,i am speaking only of the life revealed to us by natural religion--after death4 ,but as the embryonic and infant life of which we were unconscious was the most potent factor in our after life of consciousness1 so the effect which we may unconsciously produce in others after death1 and it may be even before it on those who have never seen us1 is in all sober seriousness our truer and more abiding life1 and the one which those who would make the best of their sojourn here will take most into their consideration4 ,unconsciousness is no bar to livingness4 ,our conscious actions are a drop in the sea as compared with our unconscious ones4 ,could we know all the life that is in us by way of circulation1 nutrition1 breathing1 waste and repair1 we should learn what an infinitesimally small part consciousness plays in our present existence2 yet our unconscious life is as truly life as our conscious life1 and though it is unconscious to itself it emerges into an indirect and vicarious consciousness in our other and conscious self1 which exists but in virtue of our unconscious self4 ,so we have also a vicarious consciousness in others4 ,the unconscious life of those that have gone before us has in great part moulded us into such men and women as we are1 and our own unconscious lives will in like manner have a vicarious consciousness in others1 though we be dead enough to it in ourselves4 ,if it is again urged that it matters not to us how much we may be alive in others1 if we are to know nothing about it1 ,i reply that the common instinct of all who are worth considering gives the lie to such cynicism4 ,i see here present some who have achieved1 and others who no doubt will achieve1 success in literature4 ,will one of them hesitate to admit that it is a lively pleasure to her to feel that on the other side of the world some one may be smiling happily over her work1 and that she is thus living in that person though she knows nothing about it8 ,here it seems to me that true faith comes in4 ,faith does not consist1 as the ,sunday ,school pupil said1 in the power of believing that which we know to be untrue4 ,it consists in holding fast that which the healthiest and most kindly instincts of the best and most sensible men and women are intuitively possessed of1 without caring to require much evidence further than the fact that such people are so convinced2 and for my own part ,i find the best men and women ,i know unanimous in feeling that life in others1 even though we know nothing about it1 is nevertheless a thing to be desired and gratefully accepted if we can get it either before death or after4 ,i observe also that a large number of men and women do actually attain to such life1 and in some cases continue so to live1 if not for ever1 yet to what is practically much the same thing4 ,our life then in this world is1 to natural religion as much as to revealed1 a period of probation4 ,the use we make of it is to settle how far we are to enter into another1 and whether that other is to be a heaven of just affection or a hell of righteous condemnation4 ,who1 then1 are the most likely so to run that they may obtain this veritable prize of our high calling8 ,setting aside such lucky numbers drawn as it were in the lottery of immortality1 which ,i have referred to casually above1 and setting aside also the chances and changes from which even immortality is not exempt1 who on the whole are most likely to live anew in the affectionate thoughts of those who never so much as saw them in the flesh1 and know not even their names8 ,there is a nisus1 a straining in the dull dumb economy of things1 in virtue of which some1 whether they will it and know it or no1 are more likely to live after death than others1 and who are these8 ,those who aimed at it as by some great thing that they would do to make them famous8 ,those who have lived most in themselves and for themselves1 or those who have been most ensouled consciously1 but perhaps better unconsciously1 directly but more often indirectly1 by the most living souls past and present that have flitted near them8 ,can we think of a man or woman who grips us firmly1 at the thought of whom we kindle when we are alone in our honest daw's plumes1 with none to admire or shrug his shoulders1 can we think of one such1 the secret of whose power does not lie in the charm of his or her personality--that is to say1 in the wideness of his or her sympathy with1 and therefore life in and communion with other people8 ,in the wreckage that comes ashore from the sea of time there is much tinsel stuff that we must preserve and study if we would know our own times and people2 granted that many a dead charlatan lives long and enters largely and necessarily into our own lives2 we use them and throw them away when we have done with them4 ,i do not speak of these1 ,i do not speak of the ,virgils and ,alexander ,popes1 and who can say how many more whose names ,i dare not mention for fear of offending4 ,they are as stuffed birds or beasts in a ,museum1 serviceable no doubt from a scientific standpoint1 but with no vivid or vivifying hold upon us4 ,they seem to be alive1 but are not4 ,i am speaking of those who do actually live in us1 and move us to higher achievements though they be long dead1 whose life thrusts out our own and overrides it4 ,i speak of those who draw us ever more towards them from youth to age1 and to think of whom is to feel at once that we are in the hands of those we love1 and whom we would most wish to resemble4 ,what is the secret of the hold that these people have upon us8 ,is it not that while1 conventionally speaking1 alive1 they most merged their lives in1 and were in fullest communion with those among whom they lived8 ,they found their lives in losing them4 ,we never love the memory of any one unless we feel that he or she was himself or herself a lover4 ,i have seen it urged1 again1 in querulous accents1 that the so-called immortality even of the most immortal is not for ever4 ,i see a passage to this effect in a book that is making a stir as ,i write4 ,i will quote it4 ,the writer says3-- ,so1 it seems to me1 is the immortality we so glibly predicate of departed artists4 ,if they survive at all1 it is but a shadowy life they live1 moving on through the gradations of slow decay to distant but inevitable death4 ,they can no longer1 as heretofore1 speak directly to the hearts of their fellow-men1 evoking their tears or laughter1 and all the pleasures1 be they sad or merry1 of which imagination holds the secret4 ,driven from the marketplace they become first the companions of the student1 then the victims of the specialist4 ,he who would still hold familiar intercourse with them must train himself to penetrate the veil which in ever-thickening folds conceals them from the ordinary gaze2 he must catch the tone of a vanished society1 he must move in a circle of alien associations1 he must think in a language not his own4 #e ,this is crying for the moon1 or rather pretending to cry for it1 for the writer is obviously insincere4 ,i see the ,saturday ,review says the passage ,i have just quoted reaches almost to poetry1 and indeed ,i find many blank verses in it1 some of them very aggressive4 ,no prose is free from an occasional blank verse1 and a good writer will not go hunting over his work to rout them out1 but nine or ten in little more than as many lines is indeed reaching too near to poetry for good prose4 ,this1 however1 is a trifle1 and might pass if the tone of the writer was not so obviously that of cheap pessimism4 ,i know not which is cheapest1 pessimism or optimism4 ,one forces lights1 the other darks2 both are equally untrue to good art1 and equally sure of their effect with the groundlings4 ,the one extenuates1 the other sets down in malice4 ,the first is the more amiable lie1 but both are lies1 and are known to be so by those who utter them4 ,talk about catching the tone of a vanished society to understand ,rembrandt or ,giovanni ,bellini6 ,it's nonsense--the folds do not thicken in front of these men2 we understand them as well as those among whom they went about in the flesh1 and perhaps better4 ,homer and ,shakespeare speak to us probably far more effectually than they did to the men of their own time1 and most likely we have them at their best4 ,i cannot think that ,shakespeare talked better than we hear him now in ,hamlet or ,henry the ,fourth2 like enough he would have been found a very disappointing person in a drawing-room4 ,people stamp themselves on their work2 if they have not done so they are naught2 if they have we have them2 and for the most part they stamp themselves deeper in their work than on their talk4 ,no doubt ,shakespeare and ,handel will be one day clean forgotten1 as though they had never been born4 ,the world will in the end die2 mortality therefore itself is not immortal1 and when death dies the life of these men will die with it--but not sooner4 ,it is enough that they should live within us and move us for many ages as they have and will4 ,such immortality1 therefore1 as some men and women are born to1 achieve1 or have thrust upon them1 is a practical if not a technical immortality1 and he who would have more let him have nothing4 ,i see ,i have drifted into speaking rather of how to make the best of death than of life1 but who can speak of life without his thoughts turning instantly to that which is beyond it8 ,he or she who has made the best of the life after death has made the best of the life before it2 who cares one straw for any such chances and changes as will commonly befall him here if he is upheld by the full and certain hope of everlasting life in the affections of those that shall come after8 ,if the life after death is happy in the hearts of others1 it matters little how unhappy was the life before it4 ,and now ,i leave my subject1 not without misgiving that ,i shall have disappointed you4 ,but for the great attention which is being paid to the work from which ,i have quoted above1 ,i should not have thought it well to insist on points with which you are1 ,i doubt not1 as fully impressed as ,i am3 but that book weakens the sanctions of natural religion1 and minimises the comfort which it affords us1 while it does more to undermine than to support the foundations of what is commonly called belief4 ,therefore ,i was glad to embrace this opportunity of protesting4 ,otherwise ,i should not have been so serious on a matter that transcends all seriousness4 ,lord ,beaconsfield cut it shorter with more effect4 ,when asked to give a rule of life for the son of a friend he said1 ,do not let him try and find out who wrote the letters of ,junius4 ,pressed for further counsel he added1 ,nor yet who was the man in the iron mask--and he would say no more4 ,don't bore people4 ,and yet ,i am by no means sure that a good many people do not think themselves ill-used unless he who addresses them has thoroughly well bored them--especially if they have paid any money for hearing him4 ,my great namesake said1 ,surely the pleasure is as great of being cheated as to cheat1 and great as the pleasure both of cheating and boring undoubtedly is1 ,i believe he was right4 ,so ,i remember a poem which came out some thirty years ago in ,punch1 about a young lady who went forth in quest to ,some burden make or burden bear1 but which she did not greatly care1 oh ,miserie4 ,so1 again1 all the holy men and women who in the ,middle ,ages professed to have discovered how to make the best of life took care that being bored1 if not cheated1 should have a large place in their programme4 ,still there are limits1 and ,i close not without fear that ,i may have exceeded them4 ,,the ,,sanctuary ,,of ,,montrigone #f ,the only place in the ,valsesia1 except ,varallo1 where ,i at present suspect the presence of ,tabachetti #g is at ,montrigone1 a little-known sanctuary dedicated to ,st4 ,anne1 about three-quarters of a mile south of ,borgo-,sesia station4 ,the situation is1 of course1 lovely1 but the sanctuary does not offer any features of architectural interest4 ,the sacristan told me it was founded in #afca2 and in #afdd ,giovanni d',enrico1 while engaged in superintending and completing the work undertaken here by himself and ,giacomo ,ferro1 fell ill and died4 ,i do not know whether or no there was an earlier sanctuary on the same site1 but was told it was built on the demolition of a stronghold belonging to the ,counts of ,biandrate4 ,the incidents which it illustrates are treated with even more than the homeliness usual in works of this description when not dealing with such solemn events as the death and passion of ,christ4 ,except when these subjects were being represented1 something of the latitude1 and even humour1 allowed in the old mystery plays was permitted1 doubtless from a desire to render the work more attractive to the peasants1 who were the most numerous and most important pilgrims4 ,it is not until faith begins to be weak that it fears an occasionally lighter treatment of semi-sacred subjects1 and it is impossible to convey an accurate idea of the spirit prevailing at this hamlet of sanctuary without attuning oneself somewhat to the more pagan character of the place4 ,of irreverence1 in the sense of a desire to laugh at things that are of high and serious import1 there is not a trace1 but at the same time there is a certain unbending of the bow at ,montrigone which is not perceivable at ,varallo4 ,the first chapel to the left on entering the church is that of the ,birth of the ,virgin4 ,st4 ,anne is sitting up in bed4 ,she is not at all ill--in fact1 considering that the ,virgin has only been born about five minutes1 she is wonderful2 still the doctors think it may be perhaps better that she should keep her room for half an hour longer1 so the bed has been festooned with red and white paper roses1 and the counterpane is covered with bouquets in baskets and in vases of glass and china4 ,these cannot have been there during the actual birth of the ,virgin1 so ,i suppose they had been in readiness1 and were brought in from an adjoining room as soon as the baby had been born4 ,a lady on her left is bringing in some more flowers1 which ,st4 ,anne is receiving with a smile and most gracious gesture of the hands4 ,the first thing she asked for1 when the birth was over1 was for her three silver hearts4 ,these were immediately brought to her1 and she has got them all on1 tied round her neck with a piece of blue silk ribbon4 ,dear mamma has come4 ,we felt sure she would1 and that any little misunderstandings between her and ,joachim would ere long be forgotten and forgiven4 ,they are both so good and sensible if they would only understand one another4 ,at any rate1 here she is1 in high state at the right hand of the bed4 ,she is dressed in black1 for she has lost her husband some few years previously1 but ,i do not believe a smarter1 sprier old lady for her years could be found in ,palestine1 nor yet that either ,giovanni d',enrico or ,giacomo ,ferro could have conceived or executed such a character4 ,the sacristan wanted to have it that she was not a woman at all1 but was a portrait of ,st4 ,joachim1 the ,virgin's father4 ,sembra una donna1 he pleaded more than once1 ma non e donna4 ,surely1 however1 in works of art even more than in other things1 there is no is but seeming1 and if a figure seems female it must be taken as such4 ,besides1 ,i asked one of the leading doctors at ,varallo whether the figure was man or woman4 ,he said it was evident ,i was not married1 for that if ,i had been ,i should have seen at once that she was not only a woman but a mother-in-law of the first magnitude1 or1 as he called it1 una suocera tremenda1 and this without knowing that ,i wanted her to be a mother-in- law myself4 ,unfortunately she had no real drapery1 so ,i could not settle the question as my friend ,mr4 ,h4 ,f4 ,jones and ,i had been able to do at ,varallo with the figure of ,eve that had been turned into a ,roman soldier assisting at the capture of ,christ4 ,i am not1 however1 disposed to waste more time upon anything so obvious1 and will content myself with saying that we have here the ,virgin's grandmother4 ,i had never had the pleasure1 so far as ,i remembered1 of meeting this lady before1 and was glad to have an opportunity of making her acquaintance4 ,tradition says that it was she who chose the ,virgin's name1 and if so1 what a debt of gratitude do we not owe her for her judicious selection6 ,it makes one shudder to think what might have happened if she had named the child ,keren-,happuch1 as poor ,job's daughter was called4 ,how could we have said1 ,ave ,keren-,happuch6 ,what would the musicians have done8 ,i forget whether ,maher-,shalal-,hash-,baz was a man or a woman1 but there were plenty of names quite as unmanageable at the ,virgin's grandmother's option1 and we cannot sufficiently thank her for having chosen one that is so euphonious in every language which we need take into account4 ,for this reason alone we should not grudge her her portrait1 but we should try to draw the line here4 ,i do not think we ought to give the ,virgin's great-grandmother a statue4 ,where is it to end8 ,it is like ,mr4 ,crookes's ultimissimate atoms2 we used to draw the line at ultimate atoms1 and now it seems we are to go a step farther back and have ultimissimate atoms4 ,how long1 ,i wonder1 will it be before we feel that it will be a material help to us to have ultimissimissimate atoms8 ,quavers stopped at demi-semi-demi1 but there is no reason to suppose that either atoms or ancestresses of the ,virgin will be so complacent4 ,i have said that on ,st4 ,anne's left hand there is a lady who is bringing in some flowers4 ,st4 ,anne was always passionately fond of flowers4 ,there is a pretty story told about her in one of the ,fathers1 ,i forget which1 to the effect that when a child she was asked which she liked best--cakes or flowers8 ,she could not yet speak plainly and lisped out1 ,oh fowses1 pretty fowses2 she added1 however1 with a sigh and as a kind of wistful corollary1 but cakes are very nice4 ,she is not to have any cakes1 just now1 but as soon as she has done thanking the lady for her beautiful nosegay1 she is to have a couple of nice new-laid eggs1 that are being brought her by another lady4 ,valsesian women immediately after their confinement always have eggs beaten up with wine and sugar1 and one can tell a ,valsesian ,birth of the ,virgin from a ,venetian or a ,florentine by the presence of the eggs4 ,i learned this from an eminent ,valsesian professor of medicine1 who told me that1 though not according to received rules1 the eggs never seemed to do any harm4 ,here they are evidently to be beaten up1 for there is neither spoon nor egg-cup1 and we cannot suppose that they were hard-boiled4 ,on the other hand1 in the ,middle ,ages ,italians never used egg-cups and spoons for boiled eggs4 ,the mediaeval boiled egg was always eaten by dipping bread into the yolk4 ,behind the lady who is bringing in the eggs is the under-under-nurse who is at the fire warming a towel4 ,in the foreground we have the regulation midwife holding the regulation baby 7who1 by the way1 was an astonishingly fine child for only five minutes old74 ,then comes the under-nurse--a good buxom creature1 who1 as usual1 is feeling the water in the bath to see that it is of the right temperature4 ,next to her is the head-nurse1 who is arranging the cradle4 ,behind the head-nurse is the under-under-nurse's drudge1 who is just going out upon some errands4 ,lastly--for by this time we have got all round the chapel--we arrive at the ,virgin's grandmother's-body-guard1 a stately1 responsible-looking lady1 standing in waiting upon her mistress4 ,i put it to the reader--is it conceivable that ,st4 ,joachim should have been allowed in such a room at such a time1 or that he should have had the courage to avail himself of the permission1 even though it had been extended to him8 ,at any rate1 is it conceivable that he should have been allowed to sit on ,st4 ,anne's right hand1 laying down the law with a ,marry1 come up here1 and a ,marry1 go-down there1 and a couple of such unabashed collars as the old lady has put on for the occasion8 ,moreover 7for ,i may as well demolish this mischievous confusion between ,st4 ,joachim and his mother-in-law once and for all71 the merest tyro in hagiology knows that ,st4 ,joachim was not at home when the ,virgin was born4 ,he had been hustled out of the temple for having no children1 and had fled desolate and dismayed into the wilderness4 ,it shows how silly people are1 for all the time he was going1 if they had only waited a little1 to be the father of the most remarkable person of purely human origin who had ever been born1 and such a parent as this should surely not be hurried4 ,the story is told in the frescoes of the chapel of ,loreto1 only a quarter of an hour's walk from ,varallo1 and no one can have known it better than ,d',enrico4 ,the frescoes are explained by written passages that tell us how1 when ,joachim was in the desert1 an angel came to him in the guise of a fair1 civil young gentleman1 and told him the ,virgin was to be born4 ,then1 later on1 the same young gentleman appeared to him again1 and bade him in ,god's name be comforted1 and turn again to his content1 for the ,virgin had been actually born4 ,on which ,st4 ,joachim1 who seems to have been of opinion that marriage after all was rather a failure1 said that1 as things were going on so nicely without him1 he would stay in the desert just a little longer1 and offered up a lamb as a pretext to gain time4 ,perhaps he guessed about his mother-in-law1 or he may have asked the angel4 ,of course1 even in spite of such evidence as this ,i may be mistaken about the ,virgin's grandmother's sex1 and the sacristan may be right2 but ,i can only say that if the lady sitting by ,st4 ,anne's bedside at ,montrigone is the ,virgin's father--well1 in that case ,i must reconsider a good deal that ,i have been accustomed to believe was beyond question4 ,taken singly1 ,i suppose that none of the figures in the chapel1 except the ,virgin's grandmother1 should be rated very highly4 ,the under-nurse is the next best figure1 and might very well be ,tabachetti's1 for neither ,giovanni d',enrico nor ,giacomo ,ferro was successful with his female characters4 ,there is not a single really comfortable woman in any chapel by either of them on the ,sacro ,monte at ,varallo4 ,tabachetti1 on the other hand1 delighted in women2 if they were young he made them comely and engaging1 if they were old he gave them dignity and individual character1 and the under-nurse is much more in accordance with ,tabachetti's habitual mental attitude than with ,d',enrico's or ,giacomo ,ferro's4 ,still there are only four figures out of the eleven that are mere otiose supers1 and taking the work as a whole it leaves a pleasant impression as being throughout naive and homely1 and sometimes1 which is of less importance1 technically excellent4 ,allowance must1 of course1 be made for tawdry accessories and repeated coats of shiny oleaginous paint--very disagreeable where it has peeled off and almost more so where it has not4 ,what work could stand against such treatment as the ,valsesian terra-cotta figures have had to put up with8 ,take the ,venus of ,milo2 let her be done in terra-cotta1 and have run1 not much1 but still something1 in the baking2 paint her pink1 two oils1 all over1 and then varnish her--it will help to preserve the paint2 glue a lot of horsehair on to her pate1 half of which shall have come off1 leaving the glue still showing2 scrape her1 not too thoroughly1 get the village drawing-master to paint her again1 and the drawing-master in the next provincial town to put a forest background behind her with the brightest emerald-green leaves that he can do for the money2 let this painting and scraping and repainting be repeated several times over2 festoon her with pink and white flowers made of tissue paper2 surround her with the cheapest ,german imitations of the cheapest decorations that ,birmingham can produce2 let the night air and winter fogs get at her for three hundred years1 and how easy1 ,i wonder1 will it be to see the goddess who will be still in great part there8 ,true1 in the case of the ,birth of the ,virgin chapel at ,montrigone1 there is no real hair and no fresco background1 but time has had abundant opportunities without these4 ,i will conclude my notice of this chapel by saying that on the left1 above the door through which the under-under-nurse's drudge is about to pass1 there is a good painted terra-cotta bust1 said--but ,i believe on no authority--to be a portrait of ,giovanni d',enrico4 ,others say that the ,virgin's grandmother is ,giovanni d',enrico1 but this is even more absurd than supposing her to be ,st4 ,joachim4 ,the next chapel to the ,birth of the ,virgin is that of the ,sposalizio4 ,there is no figure here which suggests ,tabachetti1 but still there are some very good ones4 ,the best have no taint of barocco2 the man who did them1 whoever he may have been1 had evidently a good deal of life and go1 was taking reasonable pains1 and did not know too much4 ,where this is the case no work can fail to please4 ,some of the figures have real hair and some terra cotta4 ,there is no fresco background worth mentioning4 ,a man sitting on the steps of the altar with a book on his lap1 and holding up his hand to another1 who is leaning over him and talking to him1 is among the best figures2 some of the disappointed suitors who are breaking their wands are also very good4 ,the angel in the ,annunciation chapel1 which comes next in order1 is a fine1 burly1 ship's-figurehead1 commercial-hotel sort of being enough1 but the ,virgin is very ordinary4 ,there is no real hair and no fresco background1 only three dingy old blistered pictures of no interest whatever4 ,in the visit of ,mary to ,elizabeth there are three pleasing subordinate lady attendants1 two to the left and one to the right of the principal figures2 but these figures themselves are not satisfactory4 ,there is no fresco background4 ,some of the figures have real hair and some terra cotta4 ,in the ,circumcision and ,purification chapel--for both these events seem contemplated in the one that follows--there are doves1 but there is neither dog nor knife4 ,still ,simeon1 who has the infant ,saviour in his arms1 is looking at him in a way which can only mean that1 knife or no knife1 the matter is not going to end here4 ,at ,varallo they have now got a dreadful knife for the ,circumcision chapel4 ,they had none last winter4 ,what they have now got would do very well to kill a bullock with1 but could not be used professionally with safety for any animal smaller than a rhinoceros4 ,i imagine that some one was sent to ,novara to buy a knife1 and that1 thinking it was for the ,massacre of the ,innocents chapel1 he got the biggest he could see4 ,then when he brought it back people said chow several times1 and put it upon the table and went away4 ,returning to ,montrigone1 the ,simeon is an excellent figure1 and the ,virgin is fairly good1 but the prophetess ,anna1 who stands just behind her1 is by far the most interesting in the group1 and is alone enough to make me feel sure that ,tabachetti gave more or less help here1 as he had done years before at ,orta4 ,she1 too1 like the ,virgin's grandmother1 is a widow lady1 and wears collars of a cut that seems to have prevailed ever since the ,virgin was born some twenty years previously4 ,there is a largeness and simplicity of treatment about the figure to which none but an artist of the highest rank can reach1 and ,d',enrico was not more than a second or third-rate man4 ,the hood is like ,handel's ,truth sailing upon the broad wings of ,time1 a prophetic strain that nothing but the old experience of a great poet can reach4 ,the lips of the prophetess are for the moment closed1 but she has been prophesying all the morning1 and the people round the wall in the background are in ecstasies at the lucidity with which she has explained all sorts of difficulties that they had never been able to understand till now4 ,they are putting their forefingers on their thumbs and their thumbs on their forefingers1 and saying how clearly they see it all and what a wonderful woman ,anna is4 ,a prophet indeed is not generally without honour save in his own country1 but then a country is generally not without honour save with its own prophet1 and ,anna has been glorifying her country rather than reviling it4 ,besides1 the rule may not have applied to prophetesses4 ,the ,death of the ,virgin is the last of the six chapels inside the church itself4 ,the ,apostles1 who of course are present1 have all of them real hair1 but1 if ,i may say so1 they want a wash and a brush-up so very badly that ,i cannot feel any confidence in writing about them4 ,i should say that1 take them all round1 they are a good average sample of apostle as apostles generally go4 ,two or three of them are nervously anxious to find appropriate quotations in books that lie open before them1 which they are searching with eager haste2 but ,i do not see one figure about which ,i should like to say positively that it is either good or bad4 ,there is a good bust of a man1 matching the one in the ,birth of the ,virgin chapel1 which is said to be a portrait of ,giovanni d',enrico1 but it is not known whom it represents4 ,outside the church1 in three contiguous cells that form part of the foundations1 are3-- #a4 ,a dead ,christ1 the head of which is very impressive while the rest of the figure is poor4 ,i examined the treatment of the hair1 which is terra- cotta1 and compared it with all other like hair in the chapels above described2 ,i could find nothing like it1 and think it most likely that ,giacomo ,ferro did the figure1 and got ,tabachetti to do the head1 or that they brought the head from some unused figure by ,tabachetti at ,varallo1 for ,i know no other artist of the time and neighbourhood who could have done it4 #b4 ,a ,magdalene in the desert4 ,the desert is a little coal-cellar of an arch1 containing a skull and a profusion of pink and white paper bouquets1 the two largest of which the ,magdalene is hugging while she is saying her prayers4 ,she is a very self-sufficient lady1 who we may be sure will not stay in the desert a day longer than she can help1 and while there will flirt even with the skull if she can find nothing better to flirt with4 ,i cannot think that her repentance is as yet genuine1 and as for her praying there is no object in her doing so1 for she does not want anything4 #c4 ,in the next desert there is a very beautiful figure of ,st4 ,john the ,baptist kneeling and looking upwards4 ,this figure puzzles me more than any other at ,montrigone2 it appears to be of the fifteenth rather than the sixteenth century2 it hardly reminds me of ,gaudenzio1 and still less of any other ,valsesian artist4 ,it is a work of unusual beauty1 but ,i can form no idea as to its authorship4 ,i wrote the foregoing pages in the church at ,montrigone itself1 having brought my camp-stool with me4 ,it was ,sunday2 the church was open all day1 but there was no mass said1 and hardly any one came4 ,the sacristan was a kind1 gentle1 little old man1 who let me do whatever ,i wanted4 ,he sat on the doorstep of the main door1 mending vestments1 and to this end was cutting up a fine piece of figured silk from one to two hundred years old1 which1 if ,i could have got it1 for half its value1 ,i should much like to have bought4 ,i sat in the cool of the church while he sat in the doorway1 which was still in shadow1 snipping and snipping1 and then sewing1 ,i am sure with admirable neatness4 ,he made a charming picture1 with the arched portico over his head1 the green grass and low church wall behind him1 and then a lovely landscape of wood and pasture and valleys and hillside4 ,every now and then he would come and chirrup about ,joachim1 for he was pained and shocked at my having said that his ,joachim was some one else and not ,joachim at all4 ,i said ,i was very sorry1 but ,i was afraid the figure was a woman4 ,he asked me what he was to do4 ,he had known it1 man and boy1 this sixty years1 and had always shown it as ,st4 ,joachim2 he had never heard any one but myself question his ascription1 and could not suddenly change his mind about it at the bidding of a stranger4 ,at the same time he felt it was a very serious thing to continue showing it as the ,virgin's father if it was really her grandmother4 ,i told him ,i thought this was a case for his spiritual director1 and that if he felt uncomfortable about it he should consult his parish priest and do as he was told4 ,on leaving ,montrigone1 with a pleasant sense of having made acquaintance with a new and1 in many respects1 interesting work1 ,i could not get the sacristan and our difference of opinion out of my head4 ,what1 ,i asked myself1 are the differences that unhappily divide ,christendom1 and what are those that divide ,christendom from modern schools of thought1 but a seeing of ,joachims as the ,virgin's grandmothers on a larger scale8 ,true1 we cannot call figures ,joachim when we know perfectly well that they are nothing of the kind2 but ,i registered a vow that henceforward when ,i called ,joachims the ,virgin's grandmothers ,i would bear more in mind than ,i have perhaps always hitherto done1 how hard it is for those who have been taught to see them as ,joachims to think of them as something different4 ,i trust that ,i have not been unfaithful to this vow in the preceding article4 ,if the reader differs from me1 let me ask him to remember how hard it is for one who has got a figure well into his head as the ,virgin's grandmother to see it as ,joachim4 ,a ,,medieval ,,girl ,,school #h ,this last summer ,i revisited ,oropa1 near ,biella1 to see what connection ,i could find between the ,oropa chapels and those at ,varallo4 ,i will take this opportunity of describing the chapels at ,oropa1 and more especially the remarkable fossil1 or petrified girl school1 commonly known as the ,dimora1 or ,sojourn of the ,virgin ,mary in the ,temple4 ,if ,i do not take these works so seriously as the reader may expect1 let me beg him1 before he blames me1 to go to ,oropa and see the originals for himself4 ,have the good people of ,oropa themselves taken them very seriously8 ,are we in an atmosphere where we need be at much pains to speak with bated breath8 ,we1 as is well known1 love to take even our pleasures sadly2 the ,italians take even their sadness allegramente1 and combine devotion with amusement in a manner that we shall do well to study if not imitate4 ,for this best agrees with what we gather to have been the custom of ,christ himself1 who1 indeed1 never speaks of austerity but to condemn it4 ,if ,christianity is to be a living faith1 it must penetrate a man's whole life1 so that he can no more rid himself of it than he can of his flesh and bones or of his breathing4 ,the ,christianity that can be taken up and laid down as if it were a watch or a book is ,christianity in name only4 ,the true ,christian can no more part from ,christ in mirth than in sorrow4 ,and1 after all1 what is the essence of ,christianity8 ,what is the kernel of the nut8 ,surely common sense and cheerfulness1 with unflinching opposition to the charlatanisms and ,pharisaisms of a man's own times4 ,the essence of ,christianity lies neither in dogma1 nor yet in abnormally holy life1 but in faith in an unseen world1 in doing one's duty1 in speaking the truth1 in finding the true life rather in others than in oneself1 and in the certain hope that he who loses his life on these behalfs finds more than he has lost4 ,what can ,agnosticism do against such ,christianity as this8 ,i should be shocked if anything ,i had ever written or shall ever write should seem to make light of these things4 ,i should be shocked also if ,i did not know how to be amused with things that amiable people obviously intended to be amusing4 ,the reader may need to be reminded that ,oropa is among the somewhat infrequent sanctuaries at which the ,madonna and infant ,christ are not white1 but black4 ,i shall return to this peculiarity of ,oropa later on1 but will leave it for the present4 ,for the general characteristics of the place ,i must refer the reader to my book1 ,alps and ,sanctuaries4 #i ,i propose to confine myself here to the ten or a dozen chapels containing life-sized terra-cotta figures1 painted up to nature1 that form one of the main features of the place4 ,at a first glance1 perhaps1 all these chapels will seem uninteresting2 ,i venture to think1 however1 that some1 if not most of them1 though falling a good deal short of the best work at ,varallo and ,crea1 are still in their own way of considerable importance4 ,the first chapel with which we need concern ourselves is numbered #d1 and shows the ,conception of the ,virgin ,mary4 ,it represents ,st4 ,anne as kneeling before a terrific dragon or1 as the ,italians call it1 insect1 about the size of a ,crystal ,palace pleiosaur4 ,this insect is supposed to have just had its head badly crushed by ,st4 ,anne1 who seems to be begging its pardon4 ,the text ,ipsa conteret caput tuum is written outside the chapel4 ,the figures have no artistic interest4 ,as regards dragons being called insects1 the reader may perhaps remember that the island of ,s4 ,giulio1 in the ,lago d',orta1 was infested with insetti1 which ,s4 ,giulio destroyed1 and which appear1 in a fresco underneath the church on the island1 to have been monstrous and ferocious dragons2 but ,i cannot remember whether their bodies are divided into three sections1 and whether or no they have exactly six legs--without which1 ,i am told1 they cannot be true insects4 ,the fifth chapel represents the birth of the ,virgin4 ,having obtained permission to go inside it1 ,i found the date #agae cut large and deep on the back of one figure before baking1 and ,i imagine that this date covers the whole4 ,there is a ,queen ,anne feeling throughout the composition1 and if we were told that the sculptor and ,francis ,bird1 sculptor of the statue in front of ,st4 ,paul's ,cathedral1 had studied under the same master1 we could very well believe it4 ,the apartment in which the ,virgin was born is spacious1 and in striking contrast to the one in which she herself gave birth to the ,redeemer4 ,st4 ,anne occupies the centre of the composition1 in an enormous bed2 on her right there is a lady of the ,george ,cruikshank style of beauty1 and on the left an older person4 ,both are gesticulating and impressing upon ,st4 ,anne the enormous obligation she has just conferred upon mankind2 they seem also to be imploring her not to overtax her strength1 but1 strange to say1 they are giving her neither flowers nor anything to eat and drink4 ,i know no other birth of the ,virgin in which ,st4 ,anne wants so little keeping up4 ,i have explained in my book ,ex ,voto1 #aj but should perhaps repeat here1 that the distinguishing characteristic of the ,birth of the ,virgin1 as rendered by ,valsesian artists1 is that ,st4 ,anne always has eggs immediately after the infant is born1 and usually a good deal more1 whereas the ,madonna never has anything to eat or drink4 ,the eggs are in accordance with a custom that still prevails among the peasant classes in the ,valsesia1 where women on giving birth to a child generally are given a sabaglione--an egg beaten up with a little wine1 or rum1 and sugar4 ,east of ,milan the ,virgin's mother does not have eggs1 and ,i suppose1 from the absence of the eggs at ,oropa1 that the custom above referred to does not prevail in the ,biellese district4 ,the ,virgin also is invariably washed4 ,st4 ,john the ,baptist1 when he is born at all1 which is not very often1 is also washed2 but ,i have not observed that ,st4 ,elizabeth has anything like the attention paid her that is given to ,st4 ,anne4 ,what1 however1 is wanting here at ,oropa in meat and drink is made up in ,cupids2 they swarm like flies on the walls1 clouds1 cornices1 and capitals of columns4 ,against the right-hand wall are two lady-helps1 each warming a towel at a glowing fire1 to be ready against the baby should come out of its bath2 while in the right-hand foreground we have the levatrice1 who having discharged her task1 and being now so disposed1 has removed the bottle from the chimney-piece1 and put it near some bread1 fruit and a chicken1 over which she is about to discuss the confinement with two other gossips4 ,the levatrice is a very characteristic figure1 but the best in the chapel is the one of the head nurse1 near the middle of the composition2 she has now the infant in full charge1 and is showing it to ,st4 ,joachim1 with an expression as though she were telling him that her husband was a merry man4 ,i am afraid ,shakespeare was dead before the sculptor was born1 otherwise ,i should have felt certain that he had drawn ,juliet's nurse from this figure4 ,as for the little ,virgin herself1 ,i believe her to be a fine boy of about ten months old4 ,viewing the work as a whole1 if ,i only felt more sure what artistic merit really is1 ,i should say that1 though the chapel cannot be rated very highly from some standpoints1 there are others from which it may be praised warmly enough4 ,it is innocent of anatomy-worship1 free from affectation or swagger1 and not devoid of a good deal of homely naivete4 ,it can no more be compared with ,tabachetti or ,donatello than ,hogarth can with ,rembrandt or ,giovanni ,bellini2 but as it does not transcend the limitations of its age1 so neither is it wanting in whatever merits that age possessed2 and there is no age without merits of some kind4 ,there is no inscription saying who made the figures1 but tradition gives them to ,pietro ,aureggio ,termine1 of ,biella1 commonly called ,aureggio4 ,this is confirmed by their strong resemblance to those in the ,dimora ,chapel1 in which there is an inscription that names ,aureggio as the sculptor4 ,the sixth chapel deals with the ,presentation of the ,virgin in the ,temple4 ,the ,virgin is very small1 but it must be remembered that she is only seven years old1 and she is not nearly so small as she is at ,crea1 where1 though a life-sized figure is intended1 the head is hardly bigger than an apple4 ,she is rushing up the steps with open arms towards the ,high ,priest1 who is standing at the top4 ,for her it is nothing alarming2 it is the ,high ,priest who appears frightened2 but it will all come right in time4 ,the ,virgin seems to be saying1 ,why1 don't you know me8 ,i'm the ,virgin ,mary4 ,but the ,high ,priest does not feel so sure about that1 and will make further inquiries4 ,the scene1 which comprises some twenty figures1 is animated enough1 and though it hardly kindles enthusiasm1 still does not fail to please4 ,it looks as though of somewhat older date than the ,birth of the ,virgin chapel1 and ,i should say shows more signs of direct ,valsesian influence4 ,in ,marocco's book about ,oropa it is ascribed to ,aureggio1 but ,i find it difficult to accept this4 ,the seventh1 and in many respects most interesting chapel at ,oropa1 shows what is in reality a medieval ,italian girl school1 as nearly like the thing itself as the artist could make it2 we are expected1 however1 to see in this the high-class kind of ,girton ,college for young gentlewomen that was attached to the ,temple at ,jerusalem1 under the direction of the ,chief ,priest's wife1 or some one of his near female relatives4 ,here all well-to-do ,jewish young women completed their education1 and here accordingly we find the ,virgin1 whose parents desired she should shine in every accomplishment1 and enjoy all the advantages their ample means commanded4 ,i have met with no traces of the ,virgin during the years between her ,presentation in the ,temple and her becoming head girl at ,temple ,college4 ,these years1 we may be assured1 can hardly have been other than eventful2 but incidents1 or bits of life1 are like living forms--it is only here and here1 as by rare chance1 that one of them gets arrested and fossilised2 the greater number disappear like the greater number of antediluvian molluscs1 and no one can say why one of these flies1 as it were1 of life should get preserved in amber more than another4 ,talk1 indeed1 about luck and cunning2 what a grain of sand as against a hundredweight is cunning's share here as against luck's4 ,what moment could be more humdrum and unworthy of special record than the one chosen by the artist for the chapel we are considering8 ,why should this one get arrested in its flight and made immortal when so many worthier ones have perished8 ,yet preserved it assuredly is2 it is as though some fairy's wand had struck the medieval ,miss ,pinkerton1 ,amelia ,sedley1 and others who do duty instead of the ,hebrew originals4 ,it has locked them up as sleeping beauties1 whose charms all may look upon4 ,surely the hours are like the women grinding at the mill--the one is taken and the other left1 and none can give the reason more than he can say why ,gallio should have won immortality by caring for none of these things4 ,it seems to me1 moreover1 that fairies have changed their practice now in the matter of sleeping beauties1 much as shopkeepers have done in ,regent ,street4 ,formerly the shopkeeper used to shut up his goods behind strong shutters1 so that no one might see them after closing hours4 ,now he leaves everything open to the eye and turns the gas on4 ,so the fairies1 who used to lock up their sleeping beauties in impenetrable thickets1 now leave them in the most public places they can find1 as knowing that they will there most certainly escape notice4 ,look at ,de ,hooghe2 look at ,the ,pilgrim's ,progress1 or even ,shakespeare himself--how long they slept unawakened1 though they were in broad daylight and on the public thoroughfares all the time4 ,look at ,tabachetti1 and the masterpieces he left at ,varallo4 ,his figures there are exposed to the gaze of every passer-by2 yet who heeds them8 ,who1 save a very few1 even know of their existence8 ,look again at ,gaudenzio ,ferrari1 or the ,danse des ,paysans1 by ,holbein1 to which ,i ventured to call attention in the ,universal ,review4 ,no1 no2 if a thing be in ,central ,africa1 it is the glory of this age to find it out2 so the fairies think it safer to conceal their proteges under a show of openness2 for the schoolmaster is much abroad1 and there is no hedge so thick or so thorny as the dulness of culture4 ,it may be1 again1 that ever so many years hence1 when ,mr4 ,darwin's earth- worms shall have buried ,oropa hundreds of feet deep1 some one sinking a well or making a railway-cutting will unearth these chapels1 and will believe them to have been houses1 and to contain the exuviae of the living forms that tenanted them4 ,in the meantime1 however1 let us return to a consideration of the chapel as it may now be seen by any one who cares to pass that way4 ,the work consists of about forty figures in all1 not counting ,cupids1 and is divided into four main divisions4 ,first1 there is the large public sitting-room or drawing-room of the ,college1 where the elder young ladies are engaged in various elegant employments4 ,three1 at a table to the left1 are making a mitre for the ,bishop1 as may be seen from the model on the table4 ,some are merely spinning or about to spin4 ,one young lady1 sitting rather apart from the others1 is doing an elaborate piece of needlework at a tambour-frame near the window2 others are making lace or slippers1 probably for the new curate2 another is struggling with a letter1 or perhaps a theme1 which seems to be giving her a good deal of trouble1 but which1 when done1 will1 ,i am sure1 be beautiful4 ,one dear little girl is simply reading ,paul and ,virginia underneath the window1 and is so concealed that ,i hardly think she can be seen from the outside at all1 though from inside she is delightful2 it was with great regret that ,i could not get her into any photograph4 ,one most amiable young woman has got a child's head on her lap1 the child having played itself to sleep4 ,all are industriously and agreeably employed in some way or other2 all are plump2 all are nice looking2 there is not one ,becky ,sharp in the whole school2 on the contrary1 as in ,pious ,orgies1 all is pious--or sub-pious--and all1 if not great1 is at least eminently respectable4 ,one feels that ,st4 ,joachim and ,st4 ,anne could not have chosen a school more judiciously1 and that if one had daughter oneself this is exactly where one would wish to place her4 ,if there is a fault of any kind in the arrangements1 it is that they do not keep cats enough4 ,the place is overrun with mice1 though what these can find to eat ,i know not4 ,it occurs to me also that the young ladies might be kept a little more free of spiders' webs2 but in all these chapels1 bats1 mice and spiders are troublesome4 ,off the main drawing-room on the side facing the window there is a dais1 which is approached by a large raised semicircular step1 higher than the rest of the floor1 but lower than the dais itself4 ,the dais is1 of course1 reserved for the venerable ,lady ,principal and the under-mistresses1 one of whom1 by the way1 is a little more mondaine than might have been expected1 and is admiring herself in a looking-glass--unless1 indeed1 she is only looking to see if there is a spot of ink on her face4 ,the ,lady ,principal is seated near a table1 on which lie some books in expensive bindings1 which ,i imagine to have been presented to her by the parents of pupils who were leaving school4 ,one has given her a photographic album2 another a large scrap-book1 for illustrations of all kinds2 a third volume has red edges1 and is presumably of a devotional character4 ,if ,i dared venture another criticism1 ,i should say it would be better not to keep the ink-pot on the top of these books4 ,the ,lady ,principal is being read to by the monitress for the week1 whose duty it was to recite selected passages from the most approved ,hebrew writers2 she appears to be a good deal outraged1 possibly at the faulty intonation of the reader1 which she has long tried vainly to correct2 or perhaps she has been hearing of the atrocious way in which her forefathers had treated the prophets1 and is explaining to the young ladies how impossible it would be1 in their own more enlightened age1 for a prophet to fail of recognition4 ,on the half-dais1 as ,i suppose the large semicircular step between the main room and the dais should be called1 we find1 first1 the monitress for the week1 who stands up while she recites2 and secondly1 the ,virgin herself1 who is the only pupil allowed a seat so near to the august presence of the ,lady ,principal4 ,she is ostensibly doing a piece of embroidery which is stretched on a cushion on her lap1 but ,i should say that she was chiefly interested in the nearest of four pretty little ,cupids1 who are all trying to attract her attention1 though they pay no court to any other young lady4 ,i have sometimes wondered whether the obviously scandalised gesture of the ,lady ,principal might not be directed at these ,cupids1 rather than at anything the monitress may have been reading1 for she would surely find them disquieting4 ,or she may be saying1 ,why1 bless me6 ,i do declare the ,virgin has got another hamper1 and ,st4 ,anne's cakes are always so terribly rich6 ,certainly the hamper is there1 close to the ,virgin1 and the ,lady ,principal's action may be well directed at it1 but it may have been sent to some other young lady1 and be put on the sub-dais for public exhibition4 ,it looks as if it might have come from ,fortnum and ,mason's1 and ,i half expected to find a label1 addressing it to ,the ,virgin ,mary1 ,temple ,college1 ,jerusalem1 but if ever there was one the mice have long since eaten it4 ,the ,virgin herself does not seem to care much about it1 but if she has a fault it is that she is generally a little apathetic4 ,whose the hamper was1 however1 is a point we shall never now certainly determine1 for the best fossil is worse than the worst living form4 ,why1 alas6 was not ,mr4 ,edison alive when this chapel was made8 ,we might then have had a daily phonographic recital of the conversation1 and an announcement might be put outside the chapels1 telling us at what hours the figures would speak4 ,on either of side the main room there are two annexes opening out from it2 these are reserved chiefly for the younger children1 some of whom1 ,i think1 are little boys4 ,in the left-hand annex1 behind the ladies who are making a mitre1 there is a child who has got a cake1 and another has some fruit--possibly given them by the ,virgin--and a third child is begging for some of it4 ,the light failed so completely here that ,i was not able to photograph any of these figures4 ,it was a dull ,september afternoon1 and the clouds had settled thick round the chapel1 which is never very light1 and is nearly #djjj feet above the sea4 ,i waited till such twilight as made it hopeless that more detail could be got--and a queer ghostly place enough it was to wait in--but after giving the plate an exposure of fifty minutes1 ,i saw ,i could get no more1 and desisted4 ,these long photographic exposures have the advantage that one is compelled to study a work in detail through mere lack of other employment1 and that one can take one's notes in peace without being tempted to hurry over them2 but even so ,i continually find ,i have omitted to note1 and have clean forgotten1 much that ,i want later on4 ,in the other annex there are also one or two younger children1 but it seems to have been set apart for conversation and relaxation more than any other part of the establishment4 ,i have already said that the work is signed by an inscription inside the chapel1 to the effect that the sculptures are by ,pietro ,aureggio ,termine di ,biella4 ,it will be seen that the young ladies are exceedingly like one another1 and that the artist aimed at nothing more than a faithful rendering of the life of his own times4 ,let us be thankful that he aimed at nothing less4 ,perhaps his wife kept a girls' school2 or he may have had a large family of fat1 good-natured daughters1 whose little ways he had studied attentively2 at all events the work is full of spontaneous incident1 and cannot fail to become more and more interesting as the age it renders falls farther back into the past4 ,it is to be regretted that many artists1 better known men1 have not been satisfied with the humbler ambitions of this most amiable and interesting sculptor4 ,if he has left us no laboured life-studies1 he has at least done something for us which we can find nowhere else1 which we should be very sorry not to have1 and the fidelity of which to ,italian life at the beginning of the last century will not be disputed4 ,the eighth chapel is that of the ,sposalizio1 is certainly not by ,aureggio1 and ,i should say was mainly by the same sculptor who did the ,presentation in the ,temple4 ,on going inside ,i found the figures had come from more than one source2 some of them are constructed so absolutely on ,valsesian principles1 as regards technique1 that it may be assumed they came from ,varallo4 ,each of these last figures is in three pieces1 that are baked separately and cemented together afterwards1 hence they are more easily transported2 no more clay is used than is absolutely necessary2 and the off-side of the figure is neglected2 they will be found chiefly1 if not entirely1 at the top of the steps4 ,the other figures are more solidly built1 and do not remind me in their business features of anything in the ,valsesia4 ,there was a sculptor1 ,francesco ,sala1 of ,locarno 7doubtless the village a short distance below ,varallo1 and not the ,locarno on the ,lago ,maggiore71 who made designs for some of the ,oropa chapels1 and some of whose letters are still preserved1 but whether the ,valsesian figures in this present work are by him or not ,i cannot say4 ,the statues are twenty-five in number2 ,i could find no date or signature2 the work reminds me of ,montrigone2 several of the figures are not at all bad1 and several have horsehair for hair1 as at ,varallo4 ,the effect of the whole composition is better than we have a right to expect from any sculpture dating from the beginning of the last century4 ,the ninth chapel1 the ,annunciation1 presents no feature of interest2 nor yet does the tenth1 the ,visit of ,mary to ,elizabeth4 ,the eleventh1 the ,nativity1 though rather better1 is still not remarkable4 ,the twelfth1 the ,purification1 is absurdly bad1 but ,i do not know whether the expression of strong personal dislike to the ,virgin which the ,high ,priest wears is intended as prophetic1 or whether it is the result of incompetence1 or whether it is merely a smile gone wrong in the baking4 ,it is amusing to find ,marocco1 who has not been strict about archaeological accuracy hitherto1 complain here that there is an anachronism1 inasmuch as some young ecclesiastics are dressed as they would be at present1 and one of them actually carries a wax candle4 ,this is not as it should be2 in works like those at ,oropa1 where implicit reliance is justly placed on the earnest endeavours that have been so successfully made to thoroughly and carefully and patiently ensure the accuracy of the minutest details1 it is a pity that even a single error should have escaped detection2 this1 however1 has most unfortunately happened here1 and ,marocco feels it his duty to put us on our guard4 ,he explains that the mistake arose from the sculptor's having taken both his general arrangement and his details from some picture of the fourteenth or fifteenth century1 when the value of the strictest historical accuracy was not yet so fully understood4 ,it seems to me that in the matter of accuracy1 priests and men of science whether lay or regular on the one hand1 and plain people whether lay or regular on the other1 are trying to play a different game1 and fail to understand one another because they do not see that their objects are not the same4 ,the cleric and the man of science 7who is only the cleric in his latest development7 are trying to develop a throat with two distinct passages--one that shall refuse to pass even the smallest gnat1 and another that shall gracefully gulp even the largest camel2 whereas we men of the street desire but one throat1 and are content that this shall swallow nothing bigger than a pony4 ,every one knows that there is no such effectual means of developing the power to swallow camels as incessant watchfulness for opportunities of straining at gnats1 and this should explain many passages that puzzle us in the work both of our clerics and our scientists4 ,i1 not being a man of science1 still continue to do what ,i said ,i did in ,alps and ,sanctuaries1 and make it a rule to earnestly and patiently and carefully swallow a few of the smallest gnats ,i can find several times a day1 as the best astringent for the throat ,i know of4 ,the thirteenth chapel is the ,marriage ,feast at ,cana of ,galilee4 ,this is the best chapel as a work of art2 indeed1 it is the only one which can claim to be taken quite seriously4 ,not that all the figures are very good2 those to the left of the composition are commonplace enough2 nor are the ,christ and the giver of the feast at all remarkable2 but the ten or dozen figures of guests and attendants at the right-hand end of the work are as good as anything of their kind can be1 and remind me so strongly of ,tabachetti that ,i cannot doubt they were done by some one who was indirectly influenced by that great sculptor's work4 ,it is not likely that ,tabachetti was alive long after #afdj1 by which time he would have been about eighty years old2 and the foundations of this chapel were not laid till about #afij2 the statues are probably a few years later2 they can hardly1 therefore1 be by one who had even studied under ,tabachetti2 but until ,i found out the dates1 and went inside the chapel to see the way in which the figures had been constructed1 ,i was inclined to think they might be by ,tabachetti himself1 of whom1 indeed1 they are not unworthy4 ,on examining the figures ,i found them more heavily constructed than ,tabachetti's are1 with smaller holes for taking out superfluous clay1 and more finished on the off-sides4 ,marocco says the sculptor is not known4 ,i looked in vain for any date or signature4 ,possibly the right-hand figures 7for the left-hand ones can hardly be by the same hand7 may be by some sculptor from ,crea1 which is at no very great distance from ,oropa1 who was penetrated by ,tabachetti's influence2 but whether as regards action and concert with one another1 or as regards excellence in detail1 ,i do not see how anything can be more realistic1 and yet more harmoniously composed4 ,the placing of the musicians in a minstrels' gallery helps the effect2 these musicians are six in number1 and the other figures are twenty-three4 ,under the table1 between ,christ and the giver of the feast1 there is a cat4 ,the fourteenth chapel1 the ,assumption of the ,virgin ,mary1 is without interest4 ,the fifteenth1 the ,coronation of the ,virgin1 contains forty-six angels1 twenty-six cherubs1 fifty-six saints1 the ,holy ,trinity1 the ,madonna herself1 and twenty-four innocents1 making #aef statues in all4 ,of these ,i am afraid there is not one of more than ordinary merit2 the most interesting is a half-length nude life-study of ,disma--the good thief4 ,after what had been promised him it was impossible to exclude him1 but it was felt that a half-length nude figure would be as much as he could reasonably expect4 ,behind the sanctuary there is a semi-ruinous and wholly valueless work1 which shows the finding of the black image1 which is now in the church1 but is only shown on great festivals4 ,this leads us to a consideration that ,i have delayed till now4 ,the black image is the central feature of ,oropa2 it is the raison d'etre of the whole place1 and all else is a mere incrustation1 so to speak1 around it4 ,according to this image1 then1 which was carved by ,st4 ,luke himself1 and than which nothing can be better authenticated1 both the ,madonna and the infant ,christ were as black as anything can be conceived4 ,it is not likely that they were as black as they have been painted2 no one yet ever was so black as that2 yet1 even allowing for some exaggeration on ,st4 ,luke's part1 they must have been exceedingly black if the portrait is to be accepted2 and uncompromisingly black they accordingly are on most of the wayside chapels for many a mile around ,oropa4 ,yet in the chapels we have been hitherto considering--works in which1 as we know1 the most punctilious regard has been shown to accuracy--both the ,virgin and ,christ are uncompromisingly white4 ,as in the shops under the ,colonnade where devotional knick-knacks are sold1 you can buy a black china image or a white one1 whichever you like2 so with the pictures--the black and white are placed side by side--pagando il danaro si puo scegliere4 ,it rests not with history or with the ,church to say whether the ,madonna and ,child were black or white1 but you may settle it for yourself1 whichever way you please1 or rather you are required1 with the acquiescence of the ,church1 to hold that they were both black and white at one and the same time4 ,it cannot be maintained that the ,church leaves the matter undecided1 and by tolerating both types proclaims the question an open one1 for she acquiesces in the portrait by ,st4 ,luke as genuine4 ,how1 then1 justify the whiteness of the ,holy ,family in the chapels8 ,if the portrait is not known as genuine1 why set such a stumbling-block in our paths as to show us a black ,madonna and a white one1 both as historically accurate1 within a few yards of one another8 ,i ask this not in mockery1 but as knowing that the ,church must have an explanation to give1 if she would only give it1 and as myself unable to find any1 even the most farfetched1 that can bring what we see at ,oropa1 ,loreto and elsewhere into harmony with modern conscience1 either intellectual or ethical4 ,i see1 indeed1 from an interesting article in the ,atlantic ,monthly for ,september #ahhi1 entitled ,the ,black ,madonna of ,loreto1 that black ,madonnas were so frequent in ancient ,christian art that some of the early writers of the ,church felt obliged to account for it by explaining that the ,virgin was of a very dark complexion1 as might be proved by the verse of ,canticles which says1 ',i am black1 but comely1 ,o ye daughters of ,jerusalem4' ,others maintained that she became black during her sojourn in ,egypt4 4 4 4 ,priests1 of to-day1 say that extreme age and exposure to the smoke of countless altar-candles have caused that change in complexion which the more naive fathers of the ,church attributed to the power of an ,egyptian sun2 but the writer ruthlessly disposes of this supposition by pointing out that in nearly all the instances of black ,madonnas it is the flesh alone that is entirely black1 the crimson of the lips1 the white of the eyes1 and the draperies having preserved their original colour4 ,the authoress of the article 7,mrs4 ,hilliard7 goes on to tell us that ,pausanias mentions two statues of the black ,venus1 and says that the oldest statue of ,ceres among the ,phigalenses was black4 ,she adds that ,minerva ,aglaurus1 the daughter of ,cecrops1 at ,athens1 was black2 that ,corinth had a black ,venus1 as also the ,thespians2 that the oracles of ,dodona and ,delphi were founded by black doves1 the emissaries of ,venus1 and that the ,isis ,multimammia in the ,capitol at ,rome is black4 ,sometimes ,i have asked myself whether the ,church does not intend to suggest that the whole story falls outside the domain of history1 and is to be held as the one great epos1 or myth1 common to all mankind2 adaptable by each nation according to its own several needs2 translatable1 so to speak1 into the facts of each individual nation1 as the written word is translatable into its language1 but appertaining to the realm of the imagination rather than to that of the understanding1 and precious for spiritual rather than literal truths4 ,more briefly1 ,i have wondered whether she may not intend that such details as whether the ,virgin was white or black are of very little importance in comparison with the basing of ethics on a story that shall appeal to black races as well as to white ones4 ,if so1 it is time we were made to understand this more clearly4 ,if the ,church1 whether of ,rome or ,england1 would lean to some such view as this--tainted though it be with mysticism--if we could see either great branch of the ,church make a frank1 authoritative attempt to bring its teaching into greater harmony with the educated understanding and conscience of the time1 instead of trying to fetter that understanding with bonds that gall it daily more and more profoundly2 then ,i1 for one1 in view of the difficulty and graciousness of the task1 and in view of the great importance of historical continuity1 would gladly sink much of my own private opinion as to the value of the ,christian ideal1 and would gratefully help either ,church or both1 according to the best of my very feeble ability4 ,on these terms1 indeed1 ,i could swallow not a few camels myself cheerfully enough4 ,can we1 however1 see any signs as though either ,rome or ,england will stir hand or foot to meet us8 ,can any step be pointed to as though either ,church wished to make things easier for men holding the opinions held by the late ,mr4 ,darwin1 or by ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer and ,professor ,huxley8 ,how can those who accept evolution with any thoroughness accept such doctrines as the ,incarnation or the ,redemption with any but a quasi-allegorical and poetical interpretation8 ,can we conceivably accept these doctrines in the literal sense in which the ,church advances them8 ,and can the leaders of the ,church be blind to the resistlessness of the current that has set against those literal interpretations which she seems to hug more and more closely the more religious life is awakened at all8 ,the clergyman is wanted as supplementing the doctor and the lawyer in all civilised communities2 these three keep watch on one another1 and prevent one another from becoming too powerful4 ,i1 who distrust the doctrinaire in science even more than the doctrinaire in religion1 should view with dismay the abolition of the ,church of ,england1 as knowing that a blatant bastard science would instantly step into her shoes2 but if some such deplorable consummation is to be avoided in ,england1 it can only be through more evident leaning on the part of our clergy to such an interpretation of the ,sacred ,history as the presence of a black and white ,madonna almost side by side at ,oropa appears to suggest4 ,i fear that in these last paragraphs ,i may have trenched on dangerous ground1 but it is not possible to go to such places as ,oropa without asking oneself what they mean and involve4 ,as for the average ,italian pilgrims1 they do not appear to give the matter so much as a thought4 ,they love ,oropa1 and flock to it in thousands during the summer2 the ,president of the ,administration assured me that they lodged1 after a fashion1 as many as ten thousand pilgrims on the #aeth of last ,august4 ,it is astonishing how living the statues are to these people1 and how the wicked are upbraided and the good applauded4 ,at ,varallo1 since ,i took the photographs ,i published in my book ,ex ,voto1 an angry pilgrim has smashed the nose of the dwarf in ,tabachetti's ,journey to ,calvary1 for no other reason than inability to restrain his indignation against one who was helping to inflict pain on ,christ4 ,it is the real hair and the painting up to nature that does this4 ,here at ,oropa ,i found a paper on the floor of the ,sposalizio ,chapel1 which ran as follows3-- ,by the grace of ,god and the will of the administrative chapter of this sanctuary1 there have come here to work --- ---1 mason --- ---1 carpenter1 and --- --- plumber1 all of ,chiavazza1 on the twenty-first day of ,january #ahhf1 full of cold 7pieni di freddo74 ,they write these two lines to record their visit4 ,they pray the ,blessed ,virgin that she will maintain them safe and sound from everything equivocal that may befall them 7sempre sani e salvi da ogni equivoco li possa accadere74 ,oh1 farewell6 ,we reverently salute all the present statues1 and especially the ,blessed ,virgin1 and the reader4 ,through the ,universal ,review1 ,i suppose1 all its readers are to consider themselves saluted2 at any rate1 these good fellows1 in the effusiveness of their hearts1 actually wrote the above in pencil4 ,i was sorely tempted to steal it1 but1 after copying it1 left it in the ,chief ,priest's hands instead4 ,,art ,,in ,,the ,,valley ,,of ,,saas #aa ,having been told by ,mr4 ,fortescue1 of the ,british ,museum1 that there were some chapels at ,saas-,fee which bore analogy to those at ,varallo1 described in my book ,ex ,voto1 #ab ,i went to ,saas during this last summer1 and venture now to lay my conclusions before the reader4 ,the chapels are fifteen in number1 and lead up to a larger and singularly graceful one1 rather more than half-way between ,saas and ,saas-,fee4 ,this is commonly but wrongly called the chapel of ,st4 ,joseph1 for it is dedicated to the ,virgin1 and its situation is of such extreme beauty--the great ,fee glaciers showing through the open portico--that it is in itself worth a pilgrimage4 ,it is surrounded by noble larches and overhung by rock2 in front of the portico there is a small open space covered with grass1 and a huge larch1 the stem of which is girt by a rude stone seat4 ,the portico itself contains seats for worshippers1 and a pulpit from which the preacher's voice can reach the many who must stand outside4 ,the walls of the inner chapel are hung with votive pictures1 some of them very quaint and pleasing1 and not overweighted by those qualities that are usually dubbed by the name of artistic merit4 ,innumerable wooden and waxen representations of arms1 legs1 eyes1 ears and babies tell of the cures that have been effected during two centuries of devotion1 and can hardly fail to awaken a kindly sympathy with the long dead and forgotten folks who placed them where they are4 ,the main interest1 however1 despite the extreme loveliness of the ,st4 ,mary's ,chapel1 centres rather in the small and outwardly unimportant oratories 7if they should be so called7 that lead up to it4 ,these begin immediately with the ascent from the level ground on which the village of ,saas-im-,grund is placed1 and contain scenes in the history of the ,redemption1 represented by rude but spirited wooden figures1 each about two feet high1 painted1 gilt1 and rendered as life-like in all respects as circumstances would permit4 ,the figures have suffered a good deal from neglect1 and are still not a little misplaced4 ,with the assistance1 however1 of the ,rev4 ,e4 ,j4 ,selwyn1 ,english ,chaplain at ,saas-im-,grund1 ,i have been able to replace many of them in their original positions1 as indicated by the parts of the figures that are left rough-hewn and unpainted4 ,they vary a good deal in interest1 and can be easily sneered at by those who make a trade of sneering4 ,those1 on the other hand1 who remain unsophisticated by overmuch art-culture will find them full of character in spite of not a little rudeness of execution1 and will be surprised at coming across such works in a place so remote from any art- centre as ,saas must have been at the time these chapels were made4 ,it will be my business therefore to throw what light ,i can upon the questions how they came to be made at all1 and who was the artist who designed them4 ,the only documentary evidence consists in a chronicle of the valley of ,saas written in the early years of this century by the ,rev4 ,peter ,jos4 ,ruppen1 and published at ,sion in #ahea4 ,this work makes frequent reference to a manuscript by the ,rev4 ,peter ,joseph ,clemens ,lommatter1 cure of ,saas-,fee from #agch to #agea1 which has unfortunately been lost1 so that we have no means of knowing how closely it was adhered to4 ,the ,rev4 ,jos4 ,ant4 ,ruppen1 the present excellent cure of ,saas-im-,grund1 assures me that there is no reference to the ,saas-,fee oratories in the ,actes de l',eglise at ,saas1 which ,i understand go a long way back2 but ,i have not seen these myself4 ,practically1 then1 we have no more documentary evidence than is to be found in the published chronicle above referred to4 ,we there find it stated that the large chapel1 commonly1 but as above explained1 wrongly called ,st4 ,joseph's1 was built in #afhg1 and enlarged by subscription in #agdg4 ,these dates appear on the building itself1 and are no doubt accurate4 ,the writer adds that there was no actual edifice on this site before the one now existing was built1 but there was a miraculous picture of the ,virgin placed in a mural niche1 before which the pious herdsmen and devout inhabitants of the valley worshipped under the vault of heaven4 #ac ,a miraculous 7or miracle-working7 picture was always more or less rare and important2 the present site1 therefore1 seems to have been long one of peculiar sanctity4 ,possibly the name ,fee may point to still earlier ,pagan mysteries on the same site4 ,as regards the fifteen small chapels1 the writer says they illustrate the fifteen mysteries of the ,psalter1 and were built in #agji1 each householder of the ,saas-,fee contributing one chapel4 ,he adds that ,heinrich ,andenmatten1 afterwards a brother of the ,society of ,jesus1 was an especial benefactor or promoter of the undertaking4 ,one of the chapels1 the ,ascension 7,no4 #ab of the series71 has the date #agji painted on it2 but there is no date on any other chapel1 and there seems no reason why this should be taken as governing the whole series4 ,over and above this1 there exists in ,saas a tradition1 as ,i was told immediately on my arrival1 by an ,english visitor1 that the chapels were built in consequence of a flood1 but ,i have vainly endeavoured to trace this story to an indigenous source4 ,the internal evidence of the wooden figures themselves--nothing analogous to which1 it should be remembered1 can be found in the chapel of #afhg--points to a much earlier date4 ,i have met with no school of sculpture belonging to the early part of the eighteenth century to which they can be plausibly assigned2 and the supposition that they are the work of some unknown local genius who was not led up to and left no successors may be dismissed1 for the work is too scholarly to have come from any one but a trained sculptor4 ,i refer of course to those figures which the artist must be supposed to have executed with his own hand1 as1 for example1 the central figure of the ,crucifixion group and those of the ,magdalene and ,st4 ,john4 ,the greater number of the figures were probably1 as was suggested to me by ,mr4 ,ranshaw1 of ,lowth1 executed by a local woodcarver from models in clay and wax furnished by the artist himself4 ,those who examine the play of line in the hair1 mantle1 and sleeve of the ,magdalene in the ,crucifixion group1 and contrast it with the greater part of the remaining draperies1 will find little hesitation in concluding that this was the case1 and will ere long readily distinguish the two hands from which the figures have mainly come4 ,i say mainly1 because there is at least one other sculptor who may well have belonged to the year #agji1 but who fortunately has left us little4 ,examples of his work may perhaps be seen in the nearest villain with a big hat in the ,flagellation chapel1 and in two cherubs in the ,assumption of the ,virgin4 ,we may say1 then1 with some certainty1 that the designer was a cultivated and practised artist4 ,we may also not less certainly conclude that he was of ,flemish origin1 for the horses in the ,journey to ,calvary and ,crucifixion chapels1 where alone there are any horses at all1 are of ,flemish breed1 with no trace of the ,arab blood adopted by ,gaudenzio at ,varallo4 ,the character1 moreover1 of the villains is ,northern--of the ,quentin ,matsys1 ,martin ,schongauer type1 rather than ,italian2 the same sub- ,rubensesque feeling which is apparent in more than one chapel at ,varallo is not less evident here--especially in the ,journey to ,calvary and ,crucifixion chapels4 ,there can hardly1 therefore1 be a doubt that the artist was a ,fleming who had worked for several years in ,italy4 ,it is also evident that he had ,tabachetti's work at ,varallo well in his mind4 ,for not only does he adopt certain details of costume 7,i refer particularly to the treatment of soldiers' tunics7 which are peculiar to ,tabachetti at ,varallo1 but whenever he treats a subject which ,tabachetti had treated at ,varallo1 as in the ,flagellation1 ,crowning with ,thorns1 and ,journey to ,calvary chapels1 the work at ,saas is evidently nothing but a somewhat modified abridgement of that at ,varallo4 ,when1 however1 as in the ,annunciation1 the ,nativity1 the ,crucifixion1 and other chapels1 the work at ,varallo is by another than ,tabachetti1 no allusion is made to it4 ,the ,saas artist has ,tabachetti's ,varallo work at his finger-ends1 but betrays no acquaintance whatever with ,gaudenzio ,ferrari1 ,gio4 ,ant4 ,paracca1 or ,giovanni ,d',enrico4 ,even1 moreover1 when ,tabachetti's work at ,varallo is being most obviously drawn from1 as in the ,journey to ,calvary chapel1 the ,saas version differs materially from that at ,varallo1 and is in some respects an improvement on it4 ,the idea of showing other horsemen and followers coming up from behind1 whose heads can be seen over the crown of the interposing hill1 is singularly effective as suggesting a number of others that are unseen1 nor can ,i conceive that any one but the original designer would follow ,tabachetti's ,varallo design with as much closeness as it has been followed here1 and yet make such a brilliantly successful modification4 ,the stumbling1 again1 of one horse 7a detail almost hidden1 according to ,tabachetti's wont7 is a touch which ,tabachetti himself might add1 but which no ,saas woodcarver who was merely adapting from a reminiscence of ,tabachetti's ,varallo chapel would be likely to introduce4 ,these considerations have convinced me that the designer of the chapels at ,saas is none other than ,tabachetti himself1 who1 as has been now conclusively shown1 was a native of ,dinant1 in ,belgium4 ,the ,saas chronicler1 indeed1 avers that the chapels were not built till #agji--;a statement apparently corroborated by a date now visible on one chapel2 but we must remember that the chronicler did not write until a century or so later than #agji1 and though1 indeed1 his statement may have been taken from the lost earlier manuscript of #agch1 we know nothing about this either one way or the other4 ,the writer may have gone by the still existing #agji on the ,ascension chapel1 whereas this date may in fact have referred to a restoration1 and not to an original construction4 ,there is nothing1 as ,i have said1 in the choice of the chapel on which the date appears1 to suggest that it was intended to govern the others4 ,i have explained that the work is isolated and exotic4 ,it is by one in whom ,flemish and ,italian influences are alike equally predominant2 by one who was saturated with ,tabachetti's ,varallo work1 and who can improve upon it1 but over whom the other ,varallo sculptors have no power4 ,the style of the work is of the sixteenth and not of the eighteenth century--with a few obvious exceptions that suit the year #agji exceedingly well4 ,against such considerations as these1 a statement made at the beginning of this century referring to a century earlier1 and a promiscuous date upon one chapel1 can carry but little weight4 ,i shall assume1 therefore1 henceforward1 that we have here groups designed in a plastic material by ,tabachetti1 and reproduced in wood by the best local wood-sculptor available1 with the exception of a few figures cut by the artist himself4 ,we ask1 then1 at what period in his life did ,tabachetti design these chapels1 and what led to his coming to such an out-of-the-way place as ,saas at all8 ,we should remember that1 according both to ,fassola and ,torrotti 7writing in #afga and #afhf respectively71 ,tabachetti #ad became insane about the year #aehf or early in #aehg1 after having just begun the ,salutation chapel4 ,i have explained in ,ex ,voto that ,i do not believe this story4 ,i have no doubt that ,tabachetti was declared to be mad1 but ,i believe this to have been due to an intrigue1 set on foot in order to get a foreign artist out of the way1 and to secure the ,massacre of the ,innocents chapel1 at that precise time undertaken1 for ,gio4 ,ant4 ,paracca1 who was an ,italian4 ,or he may have been sacrificed in order to facilitate the return of the workers in stucco whom he had superseded on the ,sacro ,monte4 ,he may have been goaded into some imprudence which was seized upon as a pretext for shutting him up2 at any rate1 the fact that when in #aehg he inherited his father's property at ,dinant1 his trustee 7he being expressly stated to be expatrie7 was datif1 dativus1 appointed not by himself but by the court1 lends colour to the statement that he was not his own master at the time2 for in later kindred deeds1 now at ,namur1 he appoints his own trustee4 ,i suppose1 then1 that ,tabachetti was shut up in a madhouse at ,varallo for a considerable time1 during which ,i can find no trace of him1 but that eventually he escaped or was released4 ,whether he was a fugitive1 or whether he was let out from prison1 he would in either case1 in all reasonable probability1 turn his face homeward4 ,if he was escaping1 he would make immediately for the ,savoy frontier1 within which ,saas then lay4 ,he would cross the ,baranca above ,fobello1 coming down on to ,ponte ,grande in the ,val ,anzasca4 ,he would go up the ,val ,anzasca to ,macugnaga1 and over the ,monte ,moro1 which would bring him immediately to ,saas4 ,saas1 therefore1 is the nearest and most natural place for him to make for1 if he were flying from ,varallo1 and here ,i suppose him to have halted4 ,it so happened that on the #ith of ,september1 #aehi1 there was one of the three great outbreaks of the ,mattmark ,see that have from time to time devastated the valley of ,saas4 #ae ,it is probable that the chapels were decided upon in consequence of some grace shown by the miraculous picture of the ,virgin1 which had mitigated a disaster occurring so soon after the anniversary of her own ,nativity4 ,tabachetti1 arriving at this juncture1 may have offered to undertake them if the ,saas people would give him an asylum4 ,here1 at any rate1 ,i suppose him to have stayed till some time in #aeij1 probably the second half of it1 his design of eventually returning home1 if he ever entertained it1 being then interrupted by a summons to ,crea near ,casale1 where ,i believe him to have worked with a few brief interruptions thenceforward for little if at all short of half a century1 or until about the year #afdj4 ,i admit1 however1 that the evidence for assigning him so long a life rests solely on the supposed identity of the figure known as ,il ,vecchietto1 in the ,varallo ,descent from the ,cross chapel1 with the portrait of ,tabachetti himself in the ,ecce ,homo chapel1 also at ,varallo4 ,i find additional reason for thinking the chapels owe their origin to the inundation of ,september #i1 #aehi1 in the fact that the #hth of ,september is made a day of pilgrimage to the ,saas-,fee chapels throughout the whole valley of ,saas4 ,it is true the #hth of ,september is the festival of the ,nativity of the ,virgin ,mary1 so that under any circumstances this would be a great day1 but the fact that not only the people of ,saas1 but the whole valley down to ,visp1 flock to this chapel on the #hth of ,september1 points to the belief that some special act of grace on the part of the ,virgin was vouchsafed on this day in connection with this chapel4 ,a belief that it was owing to the intervention of ,st4 ,mary of ,fee that the inundation was not attended with loss of life would be very likely to lead to the foundation of a series of chapels leading up to the place where her miraculous picture was placed1 and to the more special celebration of her ,nativity in connection with this spot throughout the valley of ,saas4 ,i have discussed the subject with the ,rev4 ,jos4 ,ant4 ,ruppen1 and he told me he thought the fact that the great fete of the year in connection with the ,saas-,fee chapels was on the #hth of ,september pointed rather strongly to the supposition that there was a connection between these and the recorded flood of ,september #i1 #aehi4 ,turning to the individual chapels they are as follows3-- #a4 ,the ,annunciation4 ,the treatment here presents no more analogy to that of the same subject at ,varallo than is inevitable in the nature of the subject4 ,the ,annunciation figures at ,varallo have proved to be mere draped dummies with wooden heads2 ,tabachetti1 even though he did the heads1 which he very likely did1 would take no interest in the ,varallo work with the same subject4 ,the ,annunciation1 from its very simplicity as well as from the transcendental nature of the subject1 is singularly hard to treat1 and the work here1 whatever it may once have been1 is now no longer remarkable4 #b4 ,the ,salutation of ,mary by ,elizabeth4 ,this group1 again1 bears no analogy to the ,salutation chapel at ,varallo1 in which ,tabachetti's share was so small that it cannot be considered as in any way his4 ,it is not to be expected1 therefore1 that the ,saas chapel should follow the ,varallo one4 ,the figures1 four in number1 are pleasing and well arranged4 ,st4 ,joseph1 ,st4 ,elizabeth1 and ,st4 ,zacharias are all talking at once4 ,the ,virgin is alone silent4 #c4 ,the ,nativity is much damaged and hard to see4 ,the treatment bears no analogy to that adopted by ,gaudenzio ,ferrari at ,varallo4 ,there is one pleasing young shepherd standing against the wall1 but some figures have no doubt 7as in others of the chapels7 disappeared1 and those that remain have been so shifted from their original positions that very little idea can be formed of what the group was like when ,tabachetti left it4 #d4 ,the ,purification4 ,i can hardly say why this chapel should remind me1 as it does1 of the ,circumcision chapel at ,varallo1 for there are more figures here than space at ,varallo will allow4 ,it cannot be pretended that any single figure is of extraordinary merit1 but amongst them they tell their story with excellent effect4 ,two1 those of ,st4 ,joseph and ,st4 ,anna 7871 that doubtless were once more important factors in the drama1 are now so much in corners near the window that they can hardly be seen4 #e4 ,the ,dispute in the ,temple4 ,this subject is not treated at ,varallo4 ,here at ,saas there are only six doctors now2 whether or no there were originally more cannot be determined4 #f4 ,the ,agony in the ,garden4 ,tabachetti had no chapel with this subject at ,varallo1 and there is no resemblance between the ,saas chapel and that by ,d',enrico4 ,the figures are no doubt approximately in their original positions1 but ,i have no confidence that ,i have rearranged them correctly4 ,they were in such confusion when ,i first saw them that the ,rev4 ,e4 ,j4 ,selwyn and myself determined to rearrange them4 ,they have doubtless been shifted more than once since ,tabachetti left them4 ,the sleeping figures are all good4 ,st4 ,james is perhaps a little prosaic4 ,one ,roman soldier who is coming into the garden with a lantern1 and motioning silence with his hand1 does duty for the others that are to follow him4 ,i should think more than one of these figures is actually carved in wood by ,tabachetti1 allowance being made for the fact that he was working in a material with which he was not familiar1 and which no sculptor of the highest rank has ever found congenial4 #g4 ,the ,flagellation4 ,tabachetti has a chapel with this subject at ,varallo1 and the ,saas group is obviously a descent with modification from his work there4 ,the figure of ,christ is so like the one at ,varallo that ,i think it must have been carved by ,tabachetti himself4 ,the man with the hooked nose1 who at ,varallo is stooping to bind his rods1 is here upright3 it was probably the intention to emphasise him in the succeeding scenes as well as this1 in the same way as he has been emphasised at ,varallo1 but his nose got pared down in the cutting of later scenes1 and could not easily be added to4 ,the man binding ,christ to the column at ,varallo is repeated 7longo intervallo7 here1 and the whole work is one inspired by that at ,varallo1 though no single figure except that of the ,christ is adhered to with any very great closeness4 ,i think the nearer malefactor1 with a goitre1 and wearing a large black hat1 is either an addition of the year #agji1 or was done by the journeyman of the local sculptor who carved the greater number of the figures4 ,the man stooping down to bind his rods can hardly be by the same hand as either of the two black-hatted malefactors1 but it is impossible to speak with certainty4 ,the general effect of the chapel is excellent1 if we consider the material in which it is executed1 and the rudeness of the audience to whom it addresses itself4 #h4 ,the ,crowning with ,thorns4 ,here again the inspiration is derived from ,tabachetti's ,crowning with ,thorns at ,varallo4 ,the ,christs in the two chapels are strikingly alike1 and the general effect is that of a residuary impression left in the mind of one who had known the ,varallo ,flagellation exceedingly well4 #i4 ,sta4 ,veronica4 ,this and the next succeeding chapels are the most important of the series4 ,tabachetti's ,journey to ,calvary at ,varallo is again the source from which the present work was taken1 but1 as ,i have already said1 it has been modified in reproduction4 ,mount ,calvary is still shown1 as at ,varallo1 towards the left-hand corner of the work1 but at ,saas it is more towards the middle than at ,varallo1 so that horsemen and soldiers may be seen coming up behind it--a stroke that deserves the name of genius none the less for the manifest imperfection with which it has been carried into execution4 ,there are only three horses fully shown1 and one partly shown4 ,they are all of the heavy ,flemish type adopted by ,tabachetti at ,varallo4 ,the man kicking the fallen ,christ and the goitred man 7with the same teeth missing71 who are so conspicuous in the ,varallo ,journey to ,calvary1 reappear here1 only the kicking man has much less nose than at ,varallo1 probably because 7as explained7 the nose got whittled away and could not be whittled back again4 ,i observe that the kind of lapelled tunic which ,tabachetti1 and only ,tabachetti1 adopts at ,varallo1 is adopted for the centurion in this chapel1 and indeed throughout the ,saas chapels this particular form of tunic is the most usual for a ,roman soldier4 ,the work is still a very striking one1 notwithstanding its translation into wood and the decay into which it has been allowed to fall2 nor can it fail to impress the visitor who is familiar with this class of art as coming from a man of extraordinary dramatic power and command over the almost impossible art of composing many figures together effectively in all-round sculpture4 ,whether all the figures are even now as ,tabachetti left them ,i cannot determine1 but ,mr4 ,selwyn has restored ,simon the ,cyrenian to the position in which he obviously ought to stand1 and between us we have got the chapel into something more like order4 #aj4 ,the ,crucifixion4 ,this subject was treated at ,varallo not by ,tabachetti but by ,gaudenzio ,ferrari4 ,it confirms therefore my opinion as to the designer of the ,saas chapels to find in them no trace of the ,varallo ,crucifixion1 while the kind of tunic which at ,varallo is only found in chapels wherein ,tabachetti worked again appears here4 ,the work is in a deplorable state of decay4 ,mr4 ,selwyn has greatly improved the arrangement of the figures1 but even now they are not1 ,i imagine1 quite as ,tabachetti left them4 ,the figure of ,christ is greatly better in technical execution than that of either of the two thieves2 the folds of the drapery alone will show this even to an unpractised eye4 ,i do not think there can be a doubt but that ,tabachetti cut this figure himself1 as also those of the ,magdalene and ,st4 ,john1 who stand at the foot of the cross4 ,the thieves are coarsely executed1 with no very obvious distinction between the penitent and the impenitent one1 except that there is a fiend painted on the ceiling over the impenitent thief4 ,the one horse introduced into the composition is again of the heavy ,flemish type adopted by ,tabachetti at ,varallo4 ,there is great difference in the care with which the folds on the several draperies have been cut1 some being stiff and poor enough1 while others are done very sufficiently4 ,in spite of smallness of scale1 ignoble material1 disarrangement and decay1 the work is still striking4 #aa4 ,the ,resurrection4 ,there being no chapel at ,varallo with any of the remaining subjects treated at ,saas1 the sculptor has struck out a line for himself4 ,the ,christ in the ,resurrection ,chapel is a carefully modelled figure1 and if better painted might not be ineffective4 ,three soldiers1 one sleeping1 alone remain4 ,there were probably other figures that have been lost4 ,the sleeping soldier is very pleasing4 #ab4 ,the ,ascension is not remarkably interesting2 the ,christ appears to be1 but perhaps is not1 a much more modern figure than the rest4 #ah4 ,the ,descent of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,some of the figures along the end wall are very good1 and were1 ,i should imagine1 cut by ,tabachetti himself4 ,those against the two side walls are not so well cut4 #ad4 ,the ,assumption of the ,virgin ,mary4 ,the two large cherubs here are obviously by a later hand1 and the small ones are not good4 ,the figure of the ,virgin herself is unexceptionable4 ,there were doubtless once other figures of the ,apostles which have disappeared2 of these a single ,st4 ,peter 7871 so hidden away in a corner near the window that it can only be seen with difficulty1 is the sole survivor4 #ae4 ,the ,coronation of the ,virgin is of later date1 and has probably superseded an earlier work4 ,it can hardly be by the designer of the other chapels of the series4 ,perhaps ,tabachetti had to leave for ,crea before all the chapels at ,saas were finished4 ,lastly1 we have the larger chapel dedicated to ,st4 ,mary1 which crowns the series4 ,here there is nothing of more than common artistic interest1 unless we except the stone altar mentioned in ,ruppen's chronicle4 ,this is of course classical in style1 and is1 ,i should think1 very good4 ,once more ,i must caution the reader against expecting to find highly-finished gems of art in the chapels ,i have been describing4 ,a wooden figure not more than two feet high clogged with many coats of paint can hardly claim to be taken very seriously1 and even those few that were cut by ,tabachetti himself were not meant to have attention concentrated on themselves alone4 ,as mere wood-carving the ,saas-,fee chapels will not stand comparison1 for example1 with the triptych of unknown authorship in the ,church of ,st4 ,anne at ,gliss1 close to ,brieg4 ,but1 in the first place1 the work at ,gliss is worthy of ,holbein himself3 ,i know no wood-carving that can so rivet the attention2 moreover it is coloured with water-colour and not oil1 so that it is tinted1 not painted2 and1 in the second place1 the ,gliss triptych belongs to a date 7#aeai7 when artists held neither time nor impressionism as objects1 and hence1 though greatly better than the ,saas-,fee chapels as regards a certain ,japanese curiousness of finish and naivete of literal transcription1 it cannot even enter the lists with the ,saas work as regards elan and dramatic effectiveness4 ,the difference between the two classes of work is much that between1 say1 ,john ,van ,eyck or ,memling and ,rubens or ,rembrandt1 or1 again1 between ,giovanni ,bellini and ,tintoretto2 the aims of the one class of work are incompatible with those of the other4 ,moreover1 in the ,gliss triptych the intention of the designer is carried out 7whether by himself or no7 with admirable skill2 whereas at ,saas the wisdom of the workman is rather of ,ober-,ammergau than of the ,egyptians1 and the voice of the poet is not a little drowned in that of his mouthpiece4 ,if1 however1 the reader will bear in mind these somewhat obvious considerations1 and will also remember the pathetic circumstances under which the chapels were designed--for ,tabachetti when he reached ,saas was no doubt shattered in body and mind by his four years' imprisonment--he will probably be not less attracted to them than ,i observed were many of the visitors both at ,saas-,grund and ,saas-,fee with whom ,i had the pleasure of examining them4 ,i will now run briefly through the other principal works in the neighbourhood to which ,i think the reader would be glad to have his attention directed4 ,at ,saas-,fee itself the main altar-piece is without interest1 as also one with a figure of ,st4 ,sebastian4 ,the ,virgin and ,child above the remaining altar are1 so far as ,i remember them1 very good1 and greatly superior to the smaller figures of the same altar-piece4 ,at ,almagel1 an hour's walk or so above ,saas-,grund--a village1 the name of which1 like those of the ,alphubel1 the ,monte ,moro1 and more than one other neighbouring site1 is supposed to be of ,saracenic origin--the main altar-piece represents a female saint with folded arms being beheaded by a vigorous man to the left4 ,these two figures are very good4 ,there are two somewhat inferior elders to the right1 and the composition is crowned by the ,assumption of the ,virgin4 ,i like the work1 but have no idea who did it4 ,two bishops flanking the composition are not so good4 ,there are two other altars in the church3 the right-hand one has some pleasing figures1 not so the left-hand4 ,in ,st4 ,joseph's ,chapel1 on the mule-road between ,saas-,grund and ,saas-,fee1 the ,st4 ,joseph and the two children are rather nice4 ,in the churches and chapels which ,i looked into between ,saas and ,stalden1 ,i saw many florid extravagant altar-pieces1 but nothing that impressed me favourably4 ,in the parish church at ,saas-,grund there are two altar-pieces which deserve attention4 ,in the one over the main altar the arrangement of the ,last ,supper in a deep recess half-way up the composition is very pleasing and effective2 in that above the right-hand altar of the two that stand in the body of the church there are a number of round lunettes1 about eight inches in diameter1 each containing a small but spirited group of wooden figures4 ,i have lost my notes on these altar-pieces and can only remember that the main one has been restored1 and now belongs to two different dates1 the earlier date being1 ,i should imagine1 about #afgj4 ,a similar treatment of the ,last ,supper may be found near ,brieg in the church of ,naters1 and no doubt the two altar-pieces are by the same man4 ,there are1 by the way1 two very ambitious altars on either side the main arch leading to the chance in the church at ,naters1 of which the one on the south side contains obvious reminiscences of ,gaudenzio ,ferrari's ,sta4 ,maria frescoes at ,varallo2 but none of the four altar-pieces in the two transepts tempted me to give them much attention4 ,as regards the smaller altar-piece at ,saas-,grund1 analogous work may be found at ,cravagliana1 half-way between ,varallo and ,fobello1 but this last has suffered through the inveterate habit which ,italians have of showing their hatred towards the enemies of ,christ by mutilating the figures that represent them4 ,whether the ,saas work is by a ,valsesian artist who came over to ,switzerland1 or whether the ,cravagliana work is by a ,swiss who had come to ,italy1 ,i cannot say without further consideration and closer examination than ,i have been able to give4 ,the altar-pieces of ,mairengo1 ,chiggiogna1 and1 ,i am told1 ,lavertezzo1 all in the ,canton ,ticino1 are by a ,swiss or ,german artist who has migrated southward2 but the reverse migration was equally common4 ,being in the neighbourhood1 and wishing to assure myself whether the sculptor of the ,saas-,fee chapels had or had not come lower down the valley1 ,i examined every church and village which ,i could hear of as containing anything that might throw light on this point4 ,i was thus led to ,vispertimenen1 a village some three hours above either ,visp or ,stalden4 ,it stands very high1 and is an almost untouched example of a medieval village4 ,the altar-piece of the main church is even more floridly ambitious in its abundance of carving and gilding than the many other ambitious altar-pieces with which the ,canton ,valais abounds4 ,the ,apostles are receiving the ,holy ,ghost on the first storey of the composition1 and they certainly are receiving it with an overjoyed alacrity and hilarious ecstasy of allegria spirituale which it would not be easy to surpass4 ,above the village1 reaching almost to the limits beyond which there is no cultivation1 there stands a series of chapels like those ,i have been describing at ,saas-,fee1 only much larger and more ambitious4 ,they are twelve in number1 including the church that crowns the series4 ,the figures they contain are of wood 7so ,i was assured1 but ,i did not go inside the chapels73 they are life-size1 and in some chapels there are as many as a dozen figures4 ,i should think they belonged to the later half of the last century1 and here1 one would say1 sculpture touches the ground2 at least1 it is not easy to see how cheap exaggeration can sink an art more deeply4 ,the only things that at all pleased me were a smiling donkey and an ecstatic cow in the ,nativity chapel4 ,those who are not allured by the prospect of seeing perhaps the very worst that can be done in its own line1 need not be at the pains of climbing up to ,vispertimenen4 ,those1 on the other hand1 who may find this sufficient inducement will not be disappointed1 and they will enjoy magnificent views of the ,weisshorn and the mountains near the ,dom4 ,i have already referred to the triptych at ,gliss4 ,this is figured in ,wolf's work on ,chamonix and the ,canton ,valais1 but a larger and clearer reproduction of such an extraordinary work is greatly to be desired4 ,the small wooden statues above the triptych1 as also those above its modern companion in the south transept1 are not less admirable than the triptych itself4 ,i know of no other like work in wood1 and have no clue whatever as to who the author can have been beyond the fact that the work is purely ,german and eminently ,holbeinesque in character4 ,i was told of some chapels at ,rarogne1 five or six miles lower down the valley than ,visp4 ,i examined them1 and found they had been stripped of their figures4 ,the few that remained satisfied me that we have had no loss4 ,above ,brieg there are two other like series of chapels4 ,i examined the higher and more promising of the two1 but found not one single figure left4 ,i was told by my driver that the other series1 close to the ,pont ,napoleon on the ,simplon road1 had been also stripped of its figures1 and1 there being a heavy storm at the time1 have taken his word for it that this was so4 ,,thought ,,and ,,language #af ,three well-known writers1 ,professor ,max ,muller1 ,professor ,mivart1 and ,mr4 ,alfred ,russel ,wallace have lately maintained that though the theory of descent with modification accounts for the development of all vegetable life1 and of all animals lower than man1 yet that man cannot--not at least in respect of the whole of his nature--be held to have descended from any animal lower than himself1 inasmuch as none lower than man possesses even the germs of language4 ,reason1 it is contended--more especially by ,professor ,max ,muller in his ,science of ,thought1 to which ,i propose confining our attention this evening--is so inseparably connected with language1 that the two are in point of fact identical2 hence it is argued that1 as the lower animals have no germs of language1 they can have no germs of reason1 and the inference is drawn that man cannot be conceived as having derived his own reasoning powers and command of language through descent from beings in which no germ of either can be found4 ,the relations therefore between thought and language1 interesting in themselves1 acquire additional importance from the fact of their having become the battle-ground between those who say that the theory of descent breaks down with man1 and those who maintain that we are descended from some ape-like ancestor long since extinct4 ,the contention of those who refuse to admit man unreservedly into the scheme of evolution is comparatively recent4 ,the great propounders of evolution1 ,buffon1 ,erasmus ,darwin and ,lamarck--not to mention a score of others who wrote at the close of the last and early part of this present century--had no qualms about admitting man into their system4 ,they have been followed in this respect by the late ,mr4 ,charles ,darwin1 and by the greatly more influential part of our modern biologists1 who hold that whatever loss of dignity we may incur through being proved to be of humble origin1 is compensated by the credit we may claim for having advanced ourselves to such a high pitch of civilisation2 this bids us expect still further progress1 and glorifies our descendants more than it abases our ancestors4 ,but to whichever view we may incline on sentimental grounds the fact remains that1 while ,charles ,darwin declared language to form no impassable barrier between man and the lower animals1 ,professor ,max ,muller calls it the ,rubicon which no brute dare cross1 and deduces hence the conclusion that man cannot have descended from an unknown but certainly speechless ape4 ,it may perhaps be expected that ,i should begin a lecture on the relations between thought and language with some definition of both these things2 but thought1 as ,sir ,william ,grove said of motion1 is a phenomenon so obvious to simple apprehension1 that to define it would make it more obscure4 #ag ,definitions are useful where things are new to us1 but they are superfluous about those that are already familiar1 and mischievous1 so far as they are possible at all1 in respect of all those things that enter so profoundly and intimately into our being that in them we must either live or bear no life4 ,to vivisect the more vital processes of thought is to suspend1 if not to destroy them2 for thought can think about everything more healthily and easily than about itself4 ,it is like its instrument the brain1 which knows nothing of any injuries inflicted upon itself4 ,as regards what is new to us1 a definition will sometimes dilute a difficulty1 and help us to swallow that which might choke us undiluted2 but to define when we have once well swallowed is to unsettle1 rather than settle1 our digestion4 ,definitions1 again1 are like steps cut in a steep slope of ice1 or shells thrown on to a greasy pavement2 they give us foothold1 and enable us to advance1 but when we are at our journey's end we want them no longer4 ,again1 they are useful as mental fluxes1 and as helping us to fuse new ideas with our older ones4 ,they present us with some tags and ends of ideas that we have already mastered1 on to which we can hitch our new ones2 but to multiply them in respect of such a matter as thought1 is like scratching the bite of a gnat2 the more we scratch the more we want to scratch2 the more we define the more we shall have to go on defining the words we have used in our definitions1 and shall end by setting up a serious mental raw in the place of a small uneasiness that was after all quite endurable4 ,we know too well what thought is1 to be able to know that we know it1 and ,i am persuaded there is no one in this room but understands what is meant by thought and thinking well enough for all the purposes of this discussion4 ,whoever does not know this without words will not learn it for all the words and definitions that are laid before him4 ,the more1 indeed1 he hears1 the more confused he will become4 ,i shall1 therefore1 merely premise that ,i use the word thought in the same sense as that in which it is generally used by people who say that they think this or that4 ,at any rate1 it will be enough if ,i take ,professor ,max ,muller's own definition1 and say that its essence consists in a bringing together of mental images and ideas with deductions therefrom1 and with a corresponding power of detaching them from one another4 ,hobbes1 the ,professor tells us1 maintained this long ago1 when he said that all our thinking consists of addition and subtraction--that is to say1 in bringing ideas together1 and in detaching them from one another4 ,turning from thought to language1 we observe that the word is derived from the ,french langue1 or tongue4 ,strictly1 therefore1 it means tonguage4 ,this1 however1 takes account of but a very small part of the ideas that underlie the word4 ,it does1 indeed1 seize a familiar and important detail of everyday speech1 though it may be doubted whether the tongue has more to do with speaking than lips1 teeth and throat have1 but it makes no attempt at grasping and expressing the essential characteristic of speech4 ,anything done with the tongue1 even though it involve no speaking at all1 is tonguage2 eating oranges is as much tonguage as speech is4 ,the word1 therefore1 though it tells us in part how speech is effected1 reveals nothing of that ulterior meaning which is nevertheless inseparable from any right use of the words either speech or language4 ,it presents us with what is indeed a very frequent adjunct of conversation1 but the use of written characters1 or the finger- speech of deaf mutes1 is enough to show that the word language omits all reference to the most essential characteristics of the idea1 which in practice it nevertheless very sufficiently presents to us4 ,i hope presently to make it clear to you how and why it should do so4 ,the word is incomplete in the first place1 because it omits all reference to the ideas which words1 speech or language are intended to convey1 and there can be no true word without its actually or potentially conveying an idea4 ,secondly1 it makes no allusion to the person or persons to whom the ideas are to be conveyed4 ,language is not language unless it not only expresses fairly definite and coherent ideas1 but unless it also conveys these ideas to some other living intelligent being1 either man or brute1 that can understand them4 ,we may speak to a dog or horse1 but not to a stone4 ,if we make pretence of doing so we are in reality only talking to ourselves4 ,the person or animal spoken to is half the battle--a half1 moreover1 which is essential to there being any battle at all4 ,it takes two people to say a thing--a sayee as well as a sayer4 ,the one is as essential to any true saying as the other4 ,a4 may have spoken1 but if ,b4 has not heard1 there has been nothing said1 and he must speak again4 ,true1 the belief on ,a4's part that he had a bona fide sayee in ,b41 saves his speech qua him1 but it has been barren and left no fertile issue4 ,it has failed to fulfil the conditions of true speech1 which involve not only that ,a4 should speak1 but also that ,b4 should hear4 ,true1 again1 we often speak of loose1 incoherent1 indefinite language2 but by doing so we imply1 and rightly1 that we are calling that language which is not true language at all4 ,people1 again1 sometimes talk to themselves without intending that any other person should hear them1 but this is not well done1 and does harm to those who practise it4 ,it is abnormal1 whereas our concern is with normal and essential characteristics2 we may1 therefore1 neglect both delirious babblings1 and the cases in which a person is regarding him or herself1 as it were1 from outside1 and treating himself as though he were some one else4 ,inquiring1 then1 what are the essentials1 the presence of which constitutes language1 while their absence negatives it altogether1 we find that ,professor ,max ,muller restricts them to the use of grammatical articulate words that we can write or speak1 and denies that anything can be called language unless it can be written or spoken in articulate words and sentences4 ,he also denies that we can think at all unless we do so in words2 that is to say1 in sentences with verbs and nouns4 ,indeed he goes so far as to say upon his title-page that there can be no reason--which ,i imagine comes to much the same thing as thought--without language1 and no language without reason4 ,against the assertion that there can be no true language without reason ,i have nothing to say4 ,but when the ,professor says that there can be no reason1 or thought1 without language1 his opponents contend1 as it seems to me1 with greater force1 that thought1 though infinitely aided1 extended and rendered definite through the invention of words1 nevertheless existed so fully as to deserve no other name thousands1 if not millions of years before words had entered into it at all4 ,words1 they say1 are a comparatively recent invention1 for the fuller expression of something that was already in existence4 ,children1 they urge1 are often evidently thinking and reasoning1 though they can neither think nor speak in words4 ,if you ask me to define reason1 ,i answer as before that this can no more be done than thought1 truth or motion can be defined4 ,who has answered the question1 ,what is truth8 ,man cannot see ,god and live4 ,we cannot go so far back upon ourselves as to undermine our own foundations2 if we try to do we topple over1 and lose that very reason about which we vainly try to reason4 ,if we let the foundations be1 we know well enough that they are there1 and we can build upon them in all security4 ,we cannot1 then1 define reason nor crib1 cabin and confine it within a thus-far-shalt-thou-go-and-no- further4 ,who can define heat or cold1 or night or day8 ,yet1 so long as we hold fast by current consent1 our chances of error for want of better definition are so small that no sensible person will consider them4 ,in like manner1 if we hold by current consent or common sense1 which is the same thing1 about reason1 we shall not find the want of an academic definition hinder us from a reasonable conclusion4 ,what nurse or mother will doubt that her infant child can reason within the limits of its own experience1 long before it can formulate its reason in articulately worded thought8 ,if the development of any given animal is1 as our opponents themselves admit1 an epitome of the history of its whole anterior development1 surely the fact that speech is an accomplishment acquired after birth so artificially that children who have gone wild in the woods lose it if they have ever learned it1 points to the conclusion that man's ancestors only learned to express themselves in articulate language at a comparatively recent period4 ,granted that they learn to think and reason continually the more and more fully for having done so1 will common sense permit us to suppose that they could neither think nor reason at all till they could convey their ideas in words8 ,i will return later to the reason of the lower animals1 but will now deal with the question what it is that constitutes language in the most comprehensive sense that can be properly attached to it4 ,i have said already that language to be language at all must not only convey fairly definite coherent ideas1 but must also convey them to another living being4 ,whenever two living beings have conveyed and received ideas1 there has been language1 whether looks or gestures or words spoken or written have been the vehicle by means of which the ideas have travelled4 ,some ideas crawl1 some run1 some fly2 and in this case words are the wings they fly with1 but they are only the wings of thought or of ideas1 they are not the thought or ideas themselves1 nor yet1 as ,professor ,max ,muller would have it1 inseparably connected with them4 ,last summer ,i was at an inn in ,sicily1 where there was a deaf and dumb waiter2 he had been born so1 and could neither write nor read4 ,what had he to do with words or words with him8 ,are we to say1 then1 that this most active1 amiable and intelligent fellow could neither think nor reason8 ,one day ,i had had my dinner and had left the hotel4 ,a friend came in1 and the waiter saw him look for me in the place ,i generally occupied4 ,he instantly came up to my friend1 and moved his two forefingers in a way that suggested two people going about together1 this meant your friend2 he then moved his forefingers horizontally across his eyes1 this meant1 who wears divided spectacles2 he made two fierce marks over the sockets of his eyes1 this meant1 with the heavy eyebrows2 he pulled his chin1 and then touched his white shirt1 to say that my beard was white4 ,having thus identified me as a friend of the person he was speaking to1 and as having a white beard1 heavy eyebrows1 and wearing divided spectacles1 he made a munching movement with his jaws to say that ,i had had my dinner2 and finally1 by making two fingers imitate walking on the table1 he explained that ,i had gone away4 ,my friend1 however1 wanted to know how long ,i had been gone1 so he pulled out his watch and looked inquiringly4 ,the man at once slapped himself on the back1 and held up the five fingers of one hand1 to say it was five minutes ago4 ,all this was done as rapidly as though it had been said in words2 and my friend1 who knew the man well1 understood without a moment's hesitation4 ,are we to say that this man had no thought1 nor reason1 nor language1 merely because he had not a single word of any kind in his head1 which ,i am assured he had not2 for1 as ,i have said1 he could not speak with his fingers8 ,is it possible to deny that a dialogue--an intelligent conversation--had passed between the two men8 ,and if conversation1 then surely it is technical and pedantic to deny that all the essential elements of language were present4 ,the signs and tokens used by this poor fellow were as rude an instrument of expression1 in comparison with ordinary language1 as going on one's hands and knees is in comparison with walking1 or as walking compared with going by train2 but it is as great an abuse of words to limit the word language to mere words written or spoken1 as it would be to limit the idea of a locomotive to a railway engine4 ,this may indeed pass in ordinary conversation1 where so much must be suppressed if talk is to be got through at all1 but it is intolerable when we are inquiring about the relations between thought and words4 ,to do so is to let words become as it were the masters of thought1 on the ground that the fact of their being only its servants and appendages is so obvious that it is generally allowed to go without saying4 ,if all that ,professor ,max ,muller means to say is1 that no animal but man commands an articulate language1 with verbs and nouns1 or is ever likely to command one 7and ,i question whether in reality he means much more than this71 no one will differ from him4 ,no dog or elephant has one word for bread1 another for meat1 and another for water4 ,yet1 when we watch a cat or dog dreaming1 as they often evidently do1 can we doubt that the dream is accompanied by a mental image of the thing that is dreamed of1 much like what we experience in dreams ourselves1 and much doubtless like the mental images which must have passed through the mind of my deaf and dumb waiter8 ,if they have mental images in sleep1 can we doubt that waking1 also1 they picture things before their mind's eyes1 and see them much as we do--too vaguely indeed to admit of our thinking that we actually see the objects themselves1 but definitely enough for us to be able to recognise the idea or object of which we are thinking1 and to connect it with any other idea1 object1 or sign that we may think appropriate8 ,here we have touched on the second essential element of language4 ,we laid it down1 that its essence lay in the communication of an idea from one intelligent being to another2 but no ideas can be communicated at all except by the aid of conventions to which both parties have agreed to attach an identical meaning4 ,the agreement may be very informal1 and may pass so unconsciously from one generation to another that its existence can only be recognised by the aid of much introspection1 but it will be always there4 ,a sayer1 a sayee1 and a convention1 no matter what1 agreed upon between them as inseparably attached to the idea which it is intended to convey--these comprise all the essentials of language4 ,where these are present there is language2 where any of them are wanting there is no language4 ,it is not necessary for the sayee to be able to speak and become a sayer4 ,if he comprehends the sayer--that is to say1 if he attaches the same meaning to a certain symbol as the sayer does--if he is a party to the bargain whereby it is agreed upon by both that any given symbol shall be attached invariably to a certain idea1 so that in virtue of the principle of associated ideas the symbol shall never be present without immediately carrying the idea along with it1 then all the essentials of language are complied with1 and there has been true speech though never a word was spoken4 ,the lower animals1 therefore1 many of them1 possess a part of our own language1 though they cannot speak it1 and hence do not possess it so fully as we do4 ,they cannot say bread1 meat1 or water1 but there are many that readily learn what ideas they ought to attach to these symbols when they are presented to them4 ,it is idle to say that a cat does not know what the cat's-meat man means when he says meat4 ,the cat knows just as well1 neither better nor worse than the cat's-meat man does1 and a great deal better than ,i myself understand much that is said by some very clever people at ,oxford or ,cambridge4 ,there is more true employment of language1 more bona fide currency of speech1 between a sayer and a sayee who understand each other1 though neither of them can speak a word1 than between a sayer who can speak with the tongues of men and of angels without being clear about his own meaning1 and a sayee who can himself utter the same words1 but who is only in imperfect agreement with the sayer as to the ideas which the words or symbols that he utters are intended to convey4 ,the nature of the symbols counts for nothing2 the gist of the matter is in the perfect harmony between sayer and sayee as to the significance that is to be associated with them4 ,professor ,max ,muller admits that we share with the lower animals what he calls an emotional language1 and continues that we may call their interjections and imitations language if we like1 as we speak of the language of the eyes or the eloquence of mute nature1 but he warns us against mistaking metaphor for fact4 ,it is indeed mere metaphor to talk of the eloquence of mute nature1 or the language of winds and waves4 ,there is no intercommunion of mind with mind by means of a covenanted symbol2 but it is only an apparent1 not a real1 metaphor to say that two pairs of eyes have spoken when they have signalled to one another something which they both understand4 ,a schoolboy at home for the holidays wants another plate of pudding1 and does not like to apply officially for more4 ,he catches the servant's eye and looks at the pudding2 the servant understands1 takes his plate without a word1 and gets him some4 ,is it metaphor to say that the boy asked the servant to do this1 or is it not rather pedantry to insist on the letter of a bond and deny its spirit1 by denying that language passed1 on the ground that the symbols covenanted upon and assented to by both were uttered and received by eyes and not by mouth and ears8 ,when the lady drank to the gentleman only with her eyes1 and he pledged with his1 was there no conversation because there was neither noun nor verb8 ,eyes are verbs1 and glasses of wine are good nouns enough as between those who understand one another4 ,whether the ideas underlying them are expressed and conveyed by eyeage or by tonguage is a detail that matters nothing4 ,but everything we say is metaphorical if we choose to be captious4 ,scratch the simplest expressions1 and you will find the metaphor4 ,written words are handage1 inkage and paperage2 it is only by metaphor1 or substitution and transposition of ideas1 that we can call them language4 ,they are indeed potential language1 and the symbols employed presuppose nouns1 verbs1 and the other parts of speech2 but for the most part it is in what we read between the lines that the profounder meaning of any letter is conveyed4 ,there are words unwritten and untranslatable into any nouns that are nevertheless felt as above1 about and underneath the gross material symbols that lie scrawled upon the paper2 and the deeper the feeling with which anything is written the more pregnant will it be of meaning which can be conveyed securely enough1 but which loses rather than gains if it is squeezed into a sentence1 and limited by the parts of speech4 ,the language is not in the words but in the heart-to-heartness of the thing1 which is helped by words1 but is nearer and farther than they4 ,a correspondent wrote to me once1 many years ago1 ,if ,i could think to you without words you would understand me better4 ,but surely in this he was thinking to me1 and without words1 and ,i did understand him better 4 4 4 ,so it is not by the words that ,i am too presumptuously venturing to speak to-night that your opinions will be formed or modified4 ,they will be formed or modified1 if either1 by something that you will feel1 but which ,i have not spoken1 to the full as much as by anything that ,i have actually uttered4 ,you may say that this borders on mysticism4 ,perhaps it does1 but their really is some mysticism in nature4 ,to return1 however1 to terra firma4 ,i believe ,i am right in saying that the essence of language lies in the intentional conveyance of ideas from one living being to another through the instrumentality of arbitrary tokens or symbols agreed upon1 and understood by both as being associated with the particular ideas in question4 ,the nature of the symbol chosen is a matter of indifference2 it may be anything that appeals to human senses1 and is not too hot or too heavy2 the essence of the matter lies in a mutual covenant that whatever it is it shall stand invariably for the same thing1 or nearly so4 ,we shall see this more easily if we observe the differences between written and spoken language4 ,the written word stone1 and the spoken word1 are each of them symbols arrived at in the first instance arbitrarily4 ,they are neither of them more like the other than they are to the idea of a stone which rises before our minds1 when we either see or hear the word1 or than this idea again is like the actual stone itself1 but nevertheless the spoken symbol and the written one each alike convey with certainty the combination of ideas to which we have agreed to attach them4 ,the written symbol is formed with the hand1 appeals to the eye1 leaves a material trace as long as paper and ink last1 can travel as far as paper and ink can travel1 and can be imprinted on eye after eye practically ad infinitum both as regards time and space4 ,the spoken symbol is formed by means of various organs in or about the mouth1 appeals to the ear1 not the eye1 perishes instantly without material trace1 and if it lives at all does so only in the minds of those who heard it4 ,the range of its action is no wider than that within which a voice can be heard2 and every time a fresh impression is wanted the type must be set up anew4 ,the written symbol extends infinitely1 as regards time and space1 the range within which one mind can communicate with another2 it gives the writer's mind a life limited by the duration of ink1 paper1 and readers1 as against that of his flesh and blood body4 ,on the other hand1 it takes longer to learn the rules so as to be able to apply them with ease and security1 and even then they cannot be applied so quickly and easily as those attaching to spoken symbols4 ,moreover1 the spoken symbol admits of a hundred quick and subtle adjuncts by way of action1 tone and expression1 so that no one will use written symbols unless either for the special advantages of permanence and travelling power1 or because he is incapacitated from using spoken ones4 ,this1 however1 is hardly to the point2 the point is that these two conventional combinations of symbols1 that are as unlike one another as the ,hallelujah ,chorus is to ,st4 ,paul's ,cathedral1 are the one as much language as the other2 and we therefore inquire what this very patent fact reveals to us about the more essential characteristics of language itself4 ,what is the common bond that unites these two classes of symbols that seem at first sight to have nothing in common1 and makes the one raise the idea of language in our minds as readily as the other8 ,the bond lies in the fact that both are a set of conventional tokens or symbols1 agreed upon between the parties to whom they appeal as being attached invariably to the same ideas1 and because they are being made as a means of communion between one mind and another1--for a memorandum made for a person's own later use is nothing but a communication from an earlier mind to a later and modified one2 it is therefore in reality a communication from one mind to another as much as though it had been addressed to another person4 ,we see1 therefore1 that the nature of the outward and visible sign to which the inward and spiritual idea of language is attached does not matter4 ,it may be the firing of a gun2 it may be an old semaphore telegraph2 it may be the movements of a needle2 a look1 a gesture1 the breaking of a twig by an ,indian to tell some one that he has passed that way3 a twig broken designedly with this end in view is a letter addressed to whomsoever it may concern1 as much as though it had been written out in full on bark or paper4 ,it does not matter one straw what it is1 provided it is agreed upon in concert1 and stuck to4 ,just as the lowest forms of life nevertheless present us with all the essential characteristics of livingness1 and are as much alive in their own humble way as the most highly developed organisms1 so the rudest intentional and effectual communication between two minds through the instrumentality of a concerted symbol is as much language as the most finished oratory of ,mr4 ,gladstone4 ,i demur therefore to the assertion that the lower animals have no language1 inasmuch as they cannot themselves articulate a grammatical sentence4 ,i do not indeed pretend that when the cat calls upon the tiles it uses what it consciously and introspectively recognises as language2 it says what it has to say without introspection1 and in the ordinary course of business1 as one of the common forms of courtship4 ,it no more knows that it has been using language than ,m4 ,jourdain knew he had been speaking prose1 but ,m4 ,jourdain's knowing or not knowing was neither here nor there4 ,anything which can be made to hitch on invariably to a definite idea that can carry some distance--say an inch at the least1 and which can be repeated at pleasure1 can be pressed into the service of language4 ,mrs4 ,bentley1 wife of the famous ,dr4 ,bentley of ,trinity ,college1 ,cambridge1 used to send her snuff-box to the college buttery when she wanted beer1 instead of a written order4 ,if the snuff-box came the beer was sent1 but if there was no snuff-box there was no beer4 ,wherein did the snuff-box differ more from a written order1 than a written order differs from a spoken one8 ,the snuff-box was for the time being language4 ,it sounds strange to say that one might take a pinch of snuff out of a sentence1 but if the servant had helped him or herself to a pinch while carrying it to the buttery this is what would have been done2 for if a snuff-box can say ,send me a quart of beer1 so efficiently that the beer is sent1 it is impossible to say that it is not a bona fide sentence4 ,as for the recipient of the message1 the butler did not probably translate the snuff- box into articulate nouns and verbs2 as soon as he saw it he just went down into the cellar and drew the beer1 and if he thought at all1 it was probably about something else4 ,yet he must have been thinking without words1 or he would have drawn too much beer or too little1 or have spilt it in the bringing it up1 and we may be sure that he did none of these things4 ,you will1 of course1 observe that if ,mrs4 ,bentley had sent the snuff-box to the buttery of ,st4 ,john's ,college instead of ,trinity1 it would not have been language1 for there would have been no covenant between sayer and sayee as to what the symbol should represent1 there would have been no previously established association of ideas in the mind of the butler of ,st4 ,john's between beer and snuff-box2 the connection was artificial1 arbitrary1 and by no means one of those in respect of which an impromptu bargain might be proposed by the very symbol itself1 and assented to without previous formality by the person to whom it was presented4 ,more briefly1 the butler of ,st4 ,john's would not have been able to understand and read it aright4 ,it would have been a dead letter to him--a snuff-box and not a letter2 whereas to the butler of ,trinity it was a letter and not a snuff-box4 ,you will also note that it was only at the moment when he was looking at it and accepting it as a message that it flashed forth from snuff-box- hood into the light and life of living utterance4 ,as soon as it had kindled the butler into sending a single quart of beer1 its force was spent until ,mrs4 ,bentley threw her soul into it again and charged it anew by wanting more beer1 and sending it down accordingly4 ,again1 take the ring which the ,earl of ,essex sent to ,queen ,elizabeth1 but which the queen did not receive4 ,this was intended as a sentence1 but failed to become effectual language because the sensible material symbol never reached those sentient organs which it was intended to affect4 ,a book1 again1 however full of excellent words it may be1 is not language when it is merely standing on a bookshelf4 ,it speaks to no one1 unless when being actually read1 or quoted from by an act of memory4 ,it is potential language as a lucifer-match is potential fire1 but it is no more language till it is in contact with a recipient mind1 than a match is fire till it is struck1 and is being consumed4 ,a piece of music1 again1 without any words at all1 or a song with words that have nothing in the world to do with the ideas which it is nevertheless made to convey1 is often very effectual language4 ,much lying1 and all irony depends on tampering with covenanted symbols1 and making those that are usually associated with one set of ideas convey by a sleight of mind others of a different nature4 ,that is why irony is intolerably fatiguing unless very sparingly used4 ,take the song which ,blondel sang under the window of ,king ,richard's prison4 ,there was not one syllable in it to say that ,blondel was there1 and was going to help the king to get out of prison4 ,it was about some silly love affair1 but it was a letter all the same1 and the king made language of what would otherwise have been no language1 by guessing the meaning1 that is to say by perceiving that he was expected to enter then and there into a new covenant as to the meaning of the symbols that were presented to him1 understanding what this covenant was to be1 and acquiescing in it4 ,on the other hand1 no ingenuity can torture language into being a fit word to use in connection with either sounds or any other symbols that have not been intended to convey a meaning1 or again in connection with either sounds or symbols in respect of which there has been no covenant between sayer and sayee4 ,when we hear people speaking a foreign language--we will say ,welsh--we feel that though they are no doubt using what is very good language as between themselves1 there is no language whatever as far as we are concerned4 ,we call it lingo1 not language4 ,the ,chinese letters on a tea-chest might as well not be there1 for all that they say to us1 though the ,chinese find them very much to the purpose4 ,they are a covenant to which we have been no parties--to which our intelligence has affixed no signature4 ,we have already seen that it is in virtue of such an understood covenant that symbols so unlike one another as the written word stone and the spoken word alike at once raise the idea of a stone in our minds4 ,see how the same holds good as regards the different languages that pass current in different nations4 ,the letters p1 i1 e1 r1 r1 e convey the idea of a stone to a ,frenchman as readily as s1 t1 o1 n1 e do to ourselves4 ,and why8 because that is the covenant that has been struck between those who speak and those who are spoken to4 ,our stone conveys no idea to a ,frenchman1 nor his pierre to us1 unless we have done what is commonly called acquiring one another's language4 ,to acquire a foreign language is only to learn and adhere to the covenants in respect of symbols which the nation in question has adopted and adheres to4 ,till we have done this we neither of us know the rules1 so to speak1 of the game that the other is playing1 and cannot1 therefore1 play together2 but the convention being once known and assented to1 it does not matter whether we raise the idea of a stone by the word lapis1 or by lithos1 pietra1 pierre1 stein1 stane or stone2 we may choose what symbols written or spoken we choose1 and one set1 unless they are of unwieldy length will do as well as another1 if we can get other people to choose the same and stick to them2 it is the accepting and sticking to them that matters1 not the symbols4 ,the whole power of spoken language is vested in the invariableness with which certain symbols are associated with certain ideas4 ,if we are strict in always connecting the same symbols with the same ideas1 we speak well1 keep our meaning clear to ourselves1 and convey it readily and accurately to any one who is also fairly strict4 ,if1 on the other hand1 we use the same combination of symbols for one thing one day and for another the next1 we abuse our symbols instead of using them1 and those who indulge in slovenly habits in this respect ere long lose the power alike of thinking and of expressing themselves correctly4 ,the symbols1 however1 in the first instance1 may be anything in the wide world that we have a fancy for4 ,they have no more to do with the ideas they serve to convey than money has with the things that it serves to buy4 ,the principle of association1 as every one knows1 involves that whenever two things have been associated sufficiently together1 the suggestion of one of them to the mind shall immediately raise a suggestion of the other4 ,it is in virtue of this principle that language1 as we so call it1 exists at all1 for the essence of language consists1 as ,i have said perhaps already too often1 in the fixity with which certain ideas are invariably connected with certain symbols4 ,but this being so1 it is hard to see how we can deny that the lower animals possess the germs of a highly rude and unspecialised1 but still true language1 unless we also deny that they have any ideas at all2 and this ,i gather is what ,professor ,max ,muller in a quiet way rather wishes to do4 ,thus he says1 ,it is easy enough to show that animals communicate1 but this is a fact which has never been doubted4 ,dogs who growl and bark leave no doubt in the minds of other dogs or cats1 or even of man1 of what they mean1 but growling and barking are not language1 nor do they even contain the elements of language4 #ah ,i observe the ,professor says that animals communicate without saying what it is that they communicate4 ,i believe this to have been because if he said that the lower animals communicate their ideas1 this would be to admit that they have ideas2 if so1 and if1 as they present every appearance of doing1 they can remember1 reflect upon1 modify these ideas according to modified surroundings1 and interchange them with one another1 how is it possible to deny them the germs of thought1 language1 and reason--not to say a good deal more than the germs8 ,it seems to me that not knowing what else to say that animals communicated if it was not ideas1 and not knowing what mess he might not get into if he admitted that they had ideas at all1 he thought it safer to omit his accusative case altogether4 ,that growling and barking cannot be called a very highly specialised language goes without saying2 they are1 however1 so much diversified in character1 according to circumstances1 that they place a considerable number of symbols at an animal's command1 and he invariably attaches the same symbol to the same idea4 ,a cat never purrs when she is angry1 nor spits when she is pleased4 ,when she rubs her head against any one affectionately it is her symbol for saying that she is very fond of him1 and she expects1 and usually finds that it will be understood4 ,if she sees her mistress raise her hand as though to pretend to strike her1 she knows that it is the symbol her mistress invariably attaches to the idea of sending her away1 and as such she accepts it4 ,granted that the symbols in use among the lower animals are fewer and less highly differentiated than in the case of any known human language1 and therefore that animal language is incomparably less subtle and less capable of expressing delicate shades of meaning than our own1 these differences are nevertheless only those that exist between highly developed and inchoate language2 they do not involve those that distinguish language from no language4 ,they are the differences between the undifferentiated protoplasm of the amoeba and our own complex organisation2 they are not the differences between life and no life4 ,in animal language as much as in human there is a mind intentionally making use of a symbol accepted by another mind as invariably attached to a certain idea1 in order to produce that idea in the mind which it is desired to affect--more briefly1 there is a sayer1 a sayee1 and a covenanted symbol designedly applied4 ,our own speech is vertebrated and articulated by means of nouns1 verbs1 and the rules of grammar4 ,a dog's speech is invertebrate1 but ,i do not see how it is possible to deny that it possesses all the essential elements of language4 ,i have said nothing about ,professor ,r4 ,l4 ,garner's researches into the language of apes1 because they have not yet been so far verified and accepted as to make it safe to rely upon them2 but when he lays it down that all voluntary sounds are the products of thought1 and that1 if they convey a meaning to another1 they perform the functions of human speech1 he says what ,i believe will commend itself to any unsophisticated mind4 ,i could have wished1 however1 that he had not limited himself to sounds1 and should have preferred his saying what ,i doubt not he would readily accept--,i mean1 that all symbols or tokens of whatever kind1 if voluntarily adopted as such1 are the products of thought1 and perform the functions of human speech2 but ,i cannot too often remind you that nothing can be considered as fulfilling the conditions of language1 except a voluntary application of a recognised token in order to convey a more or less definite meaning1 with the intention doubtless of thus purchasing as it were some other desired meaning and consequent sensation4 ,it is astonishing how closely in this respect money and words resemble one another4 ,money indeed may be considered as the most universal and expressive of all languages4 ,for gold and silver coins are no more money when not in the actual process of being voluntarily used in purchase1 than words not so in use are language4 ,pounds1 shillings and pence are recognised covenanted tokens1 the outward and visible signs of an inward and spiritual purchasing power1 but till in actual use they are only potential money1 as the symbols of language1 whatever they may be1 are only potential language till they are passing between two minds4 ,it is the power and will to apply the symbols that alone gives life to money1 and as long as these are in abeyance the money is in abeyance also2 the coins may be safe in one's pocket1 but they are as dead as a log till they begin to burn in it1 and so are our words till they begin to burn within us4 ,the real question1 however1 as to the substantial underlying identity between the language of the lower animals and our own1 turns upon that other question whether or no1 in spite of an immeasurable difference of degree1 the thought and reason of man and of the lower animals is essentially the same4 ,no one will expect a dog to master and express the varied ideas that are incessantly arising in connection with human affairs4 ,he is a pauper as against a millionaire4 ,to ask him to do so would be like giving a street-boy sixpence and telling him to go and buy himself a founder's share in the ,new ,river ,company4 ,he would not even know what was meant1 and even if he did it would take several millions of sixpences to buy one4 ,it is astonishing what a clever workman will do with very modest tools1 or again how far a thrifty housewife will make a very small sum of money go1 or again in like manner how many ideas an intelligent brute can receive and convey with its very limited vocabulary2 but no one will pretend that a dog's intelligence can ever reach the level of a man's4 ,what we do maintain is that1 within its own limited range1 it is of the same essential character as our own1 and that though a dog's ideas in respect of human affairs are both vague and narrow1 yet in respect of canine affairs they are precise enough and extensive enough to deserve no other name than thought or reason4 ,we hold moreover that they communicate their ideas in essentially the same manner as we do--that is to say1 by the instrumentality of a code of symbols attached to certain states of mind and material objects1 in the first instance arbitrarily1 but so persistently1 that the presentation of the symbol immediately carries with it the idea which it is intended to convey4 ,animals can thus receive and impart ideas on all that most concerns them4 ,as my great namesake said some two hundred years ago1 they know what's what1 and that's as high as metaphysic wit can fly4 ,and they not only know what's what themselves1 but can impart to one another any new what's-whatness that they may have acquired1 for they are notoriously able to instruct and correct one another4 ,against this ,professor ,max ,muller contends that we can know nothing of what goes on in the mind of any lower animal1 inasmuch as we are not lower animals ourselves4 ,we can imagine anything we like about what passes in the mind of an animal1 he writes1 we can know absolutely nothing4 #ai ,it is something to have it in evidence that he conceives animals as having a mind at all1 but it is not easy to see how they can be supposed to have a mind1 without being able to acquire ideas1 and having acquired1 to read1 mark1 learn1 and inwardly digest them4 ,surely the mistake of requiring too much evidence is hardly less great than that of being contented with too little4 ,we1 too1 are animals1 and can no more refuse to infer reason from certain visible actions in their case than we can in our own4 ,if ,professor ,max ,muller's plea were allowed1 we should have to deny our right to infer confidently what passes in the mind of any one not ourselves1 inasmuch as we are not that person4 ,we never1 indeed1 can obtain irrefragable certainty about this or any other matter1 but we can be sure enough in many cases to warrant our staking all that is most precious to us on the soundness of our opinion4 ,moreover1 if the ,professor denies our right to infer that animals reason1 on the ground that we are not animals enough ourselves to be able to form an opinion1 with what right does he infer so confidently himself that they do not reason8 ,and how1 if they present every one of those appearances which we are accustomed to connect with the communication of an idea from one mind to another1 can we deny that they have a language of their own1 though it is one which in most cases we can neither speak nor understand8 ,how can we say that a sentinel rook1 when it sees a man with a gun and warns the other rooks by a concerted note which they all show that they understand by immediately taking flight1 should not be credited both with reason and the germs of language8 ,after all1 a professor1 whether of philology1 psychology1 biology1 or any other ology1 is hardly the kind of person to whom we should appeal on such an elementary question as that of animal intelligence and language4 ,we might as well ask a botanist to tell us whether grass grows1 or a meteorologist to tell us if it has left off raining4 ,if it is necessary to appeal to any one1 ,i should prefer the opinion of an intelligent gamekeeper to that of any professor1 however learned4 ,the keepers1 again1 at the ,zoological ,gardens1 have exceptional opportunities for studying the minds of animals--modified1 indeed1 by captivity1 but still minds of animals4 ,grooms1 again1 and dog-fanciers1 are to the full as able to form an intelligent opinion on the reason and language of animals as any ,university ,professor1 and so are cats'-meat men4 ,i have repeatedly asked gamekeepers and keepers at the ,zoological ,gardens whether animals could reason and converse with one another1 and have always found myself regarded somewhat contemptuously for having even asked the question4 ,i once said to a friend1 in the hearing of a keeper at the ,zoological ,gardens1 that the penguin was very stupid4 ,the man was furious1 and jumped upon me at once4 ,he's not stupid at all1 said he2 he's very intelligent4 ,who has not seen a cat1 when it wishes to go out1 raise its fore paws on to the handle of the door1 or as near as it can get1 and look round1 evidently asking some one to turn it for her8 ,is it reasonable to deny that a reasoning process is going on in the cat's mind1 whereby she connects her wish with the steps necessary for its fulfilment1 and also with certain invariable symbols which she knows her master or mistress will interpret8 ,once1 in company with a friend1 ,i watched a cat playing with a house-fly in the window of a ground-floor room4 ,we were in the street1 while the cat was inside4 ,when we came up to the window she gave us one searching look1 and1 having satisfied herself that we had nothing for her1 went on with her game4 ,she knew all about the glass in the window1 and was sure we could do nothing to molest her1 so she treated us with absolute contempt1 never even looking at us again4 ,the game was this4 ,she was to catch the fly and roll it round and round under her paw along the window-sill1 but so gently as not to injure it nor prevent it from being able to fly again when she had done rolling it4 ,it was very early spring1 and flies were scarce1 in fact there was not another in the whole window4 ,she knew that if she crippled this one1 it would not be able to amuse her further1 and that she would not readily get another instead1 and she liked the feel of it under her paw4 ,it was soft and living1 and the quivering of its wings tickled the ball of her foot in a manner that she found particularly grateful2 so she rolled it gently along the whole length of the window-sill4 ,it then became the fly's turn4 ,he was to get up and fly about in the window1 so as to recover himself a little2 then she was to catch him again1 and roll him softly all along the window-sill1 as she had done before4 ,it was plain that the cat knew the rules of her game perfectly well1 and enjoyed it keenly4 ,it was equally plain that the fly could not make head or tail of what it was all about4 ,if it had been able to do so it would have gone to play in the upper part of the window1 where the cat could not reach it4 ,perhaps it was always hoping to get through the glass1 and escape that way2 anyhow1 it kept pretty much to the same pane1 no matter how often it was rolled4 ,at last1 however1 the fly1 for some reason or another1 did not reappear on the pane1 and the cat began looking everywhere to find it4 ,her annoyance when she failed to do so was extreme4 ,it was not only that she had lost her fly1 but that she could not conceive how she should have ever come to do so4 ,presently she noted a small knot in the woodwork of the sill1 and it flashed upon her that she had accidentally killed the fly1 and that this was its dead body4 ,she tried to move it gently with her paw1 but it was no use1 and for the time she satisfied herself that the knot and the fly had nothing to do with one another4 ,every now and then1 however1 she returned to it as though it were the only thing she could think of1 and she would try it again4 ,she seemed to say she was certain there had been no knot there before--she must have seen it if there had been2 and yet1 the fly could hardly have got jammed so firmly into the wood4 ,she was puzzled and irritated beyond measure1 and kept looking in the same place again and again1 just as we do when we have mislaid something4 ,she was rapidly losing temper and dignity when suddenly we saw the fly reappear from under the cat's stomach and make for the window-pane1 at the very moment when the cat herself was exclaiming for the fiftieth time that she wondered where that stupid fly ever could have got to4 ,no man who has been hunting twenty minutes for his spectacles could be more delighted when he suddenly finds them on his own forehead4 ,so that's where you were1 we seemed to hear her say1 as she proceeded to catch it1 and again began rolling it very softly without hurting it1 under her paw4 ,my friend and ,i both noticed that the cat1 in spite of her perplexity1 never so much as hinted that we were the culprits4 ,the question whether anything outside the window could do her good or harm had long since been settled by her in the negative1 and she was not going to reopen it2 she simply cut us dead1 and though her annoyance was so great that she was manifestly ready to lay the blame on anybody or anything with or without reason1 and though she must have perfectly well known that we were watching the whole affair with amusement1 she never either asked us if we had happened to see such a thing as a fly go down our way lately1 or accused us of having taken it from her--both of which ideas she would1 ,i am confident1 have been very well able to convey to us if she had been so minded4 ,now what are thought and reason if the processes that were going through this cat's mind were not both one and the other8 ,it would be childish to suppose that the cat thought in words of its own1 or in anything like words4 ,its thinking was probably conducted through the instrumentality of a series of mental images4 ,we so habitually think in words ourselves that we find it difficult to realise thought without words at all2 our difficulty1 however1 in imagining the particular manner in which the cat thinks has nothing to do with the matter4 ,we must answer the question whether she thinks or no1 not according to our own ease or difficulty in understanding the particular manner of her thinking1 but according as her action does or does not appear to be of the same character as other action that we commonly call thoughtful4 ,to say that the cat is not intelligent1 merely on the ground that we cannot ourselves fathom her intelligence--this1 as ,i have elsewhere said1 is to make intelligence mean the power of being understood1 rather than the power of understanding4 ,this nevertheless is what1 for all our boasted intelligence1 we generally do4 ,the more we can understand an animal's ways1 the more intelligent we call it1 and the less we can understand these1 the more stupid do we declare it to be4 ,as for plants--whose punctuality and attention to all the details and routine of their somewhat restricted lines of business is as obvious as it is beyond all praise--we understand the working of their minds so little that by common consent we declare them to have no intelligence at all4 ,before concluding ,i should wish to deal a little more fully with ,professor ,max ,muller's contention that there can be no reason without language1 and no language without reason4 ,surely when two practised pugilists are fighting1 parrying each other's blows1 and watching keenly for an unguarded point1 they are thinking and reasoning very subtly the whole time1 without doing so in words4 ,the machination of their thoughts1 as well as its expression1 is actual--,i mean1 effectuated and expressed by action and deed1 not words4 ,they are unaware of any logical sequence of thought that they could follow in words as passing through their minds at all4 ,they may perhaps think consciously in words now and again1 but such thought will be intermittent1 and the main part of the fighting will be done without any internal concomitance of articulated phrases4 ,yet we cannot doubt that their action1 however much we may disapprove of it1 is guided by intelligence and reason2 nor should we doubt that a reasoning process of the same character goes on in the minds of two dogs or fighting-cocks when they are striving to master their opponents4 ,do we think in words1 again1 when we wind up our watches1 put on our clothes1 or eat our breakfasts8 ,if we do1 it is generally about something else4 ,we do these things almost as much without the help of words as we wink or yawn1 or perform any of those other actions that we call reflex1 as it would almost seem because they are done without reflection4 ,they are not1 however1 the less reasonable because wordless4 ,even when we think we are thinking in words1 we do so only in half measure4 ,a running accompaniment of words no doubt frequently attends our thoughts2 but1 unless we are writing or speaking1 this accompaniment is of the vaguest and most fitful kind1 as we often find out when we try to write down or say what we are thinking about1 though we have a fairly definite notion of it1 or fancy that we have one1 all the time4 ,the thought is not steadily and coherently governed by and moulded in words1 nor does it steadily govern them4 ,words and thought interact upon and help one another1 as any other mechanical appliances interact on and help the invention that first hit upon them2 but reason or thought1 for the most part1 flies along over the heads of words1 working its own mysterious way in paths that are beyond our ken1 though whether some of our departmental personalities are as unconscious of what is passing1 as that central government is which we alone dub with the name of we or us1 is a point on which ,i will not now touch4 ,i cannot think1 then1 that ,professor ,max ,muller's contention that thought and language are identical--and he has repeatedly affirmed this--will ever be generally accepted4 ,thought is no more identical with language than feeling is identical with the nervous system4 ,true1 we can no more feel without a nervous system than we can discern certain minute organisms without a microscope4 ,destroy the nervous system1 and we destroy feeling4 ,destroy the microscope1 and we can no longer see the animalcules2 but our sight of the animalcules is not the microscope1 though it is effectuated by means of the microscope1 and our feeling is not the nervous system1 though the nervous system is the instrument that enables us to feel4 ,the nervous system is a device which living beings have gradually perfected--,i believe ,i may say quite truly--through the will and power which they have derived from a fountain-head1 the existence of which we can infer1 but which we can never apprehend4 ,by the help of this device1 and in proportion as they have perfected it1 living beings feel ever with greater definiteness1 and hence formulate their feelings in thought with more and more precision4 ,the higher evolution of thought has reacted on the nervous system1 and the consequent higher evolution of the nervous system has again reacted upon thought4 ,these things are as power and desire1 or supply and demand1 each one of which is continually outstripping1 and being in turn outstripped by the other2 but1 in spite of their close connection and interaction1 power is not desire1 nor demand supply4 ,language is a device evolved sometimes by leaps and bounds1 and sometimes exceedingly slowly1 whereby we help ourselves alike to greater ease1 precision1 and complexity of thought1 and also to more convenient interchange of thought among ourselves4 ,thought found rude expression1 which gradually among other forms assumed that of words4 ,these reacted upon thought1 and thought again on them1 but thought is no more identical with words than words are with the separate letters of which they are composed4 ,to sum up1 then1 and to conclude4 ,i would ask you to see the connection between words and ideas1 as in the first instance arbitrary4 ,no doubt in some cases an imitation of the cry of some bird or wild beast would suggest the name that should be attached to it2 occasionally the sound of an operation such as grinding may have influenced the choice of the letters g1 r1 as the root of many words that denote a grinding1 grating1 grasping1 crushing1 action2 but ,i understand that the number of words due to direct imitation is comparatively few in number1 and that they have been mainly coined as the result of connections so far-fetched and fanciful as to amount practically to no connection at all4 ,once chosen1 however1 they were adhered to for a considerable time among the dwellers in any given place1 so as to become acknowledged as the vulgar tongue1 and raise readily in the mind of the inhabitants of that place the ideas with which they had been artificially associated4 ,as regards our being able to think and reason without words1 the ,duke of ,argyll has put the matter as soundly as ,i have yet seen it stated4 ,it seems to me1 he wrote1 quite certain that we can and do constantly think of things without thinking of any sound or word as designating them4 ,language seems to me to be necessary for the progress of thought1 but not at all for the mere act of thinking4 ,it is a product of thought1 an expression of it1 a vehicle for the communication of it1 and an embodiment which is essential to its growth and continuity2 but it seems to me altogether erroneous to regard it as an inseparable part of cogitation4 ,the following passages1 again1 are quoted from ,sir ,william ,hamilton in ,professor ,max ,muller's own book1 with so much approval as to lead one to suppose that the differences between himself and his opponents are in reality less than he believes them to be3-- ,language1 says ,sir ,w4 ,hamilton1 is the attribution of signs to our cognitions of things4 ,but as a cognition must have already been there before it could receive a sign1 consequently that knowledge which is denoted by the formation and application of a word must have preceded the symbol that denotes it4 ,a sign1 however1 is necessary to give stability to our intellectual progress--to establish each step in our advance as a new starting-point for our advance to another beyond4 ,a country may be overrun by an armed host1 but it is only conquered by the establishment of fortresses4 ,words are the fortresses of thought4 ,they enable us to realise our dominion over what we have already overrun in thought2 to make every intellectual conquest the base of operations for others still beyond4 ,this1 says ,professor ,max ,muller1 is a most happy illustration1 and he proceeds to quote the following1 also from ,sir ,william ,hamilton1 which he declares to be even happier still4 ,you have all heard1 says ,sir ,william ,hamilton1 of the process of tunnelling through a sandbank4 ,in this operation it is impossible to succeed unless every foot1 nay1 almost every inch of our progress be secured by an arch of masonry before we attempt the excavation of another4 ,now language is to the mind precisely what the arch is to the tunnel4 ,the power of thinking and the power of excavation are not dependent on the words in the one case or on the mason-work in the other2 but without these subsidiaries neither could be carried on beyond its rudimentary commencement4 ,though1 therefore1 we allow that every movement forward in language must be determined by an antecedent movement forward in thought1 still1 unless thought be accompanied at each point of its evolutions by a corresponding evolution of language1 its further development is arrested4 ,man has evolved an articulate language1 whereas the lower animals seem to be without one4 ,man1 therefore1 has far outstripped them in reasoning faculty as well as in power of expression4 ,this1 however1 does not bar the communications which the lower animals make to one another from possessing all the essential characteristics of language1 and as a matter of fact1 wherever we can follow them we find such communications effectuated by the aid of arbitrary symbols covenanted upon by the living beings that wish to communicate1 and persistently associated with certain corresponding feelings1 states of mind1 or material objects4 ,human language is nothing more than this in principle1 however much further the principle has been carried in our own case than in that of the lower animals4 ,this being admitted1 we should infer that the thought or reason on which the language of men and animals is alike founded differs as between men and brutes in degree but not in kind4 ,more than this cannot be claimed on behalf of the lower animals1 even by their most enthusiastic admirer4 ,,the ,,deadlock ,,in ,,darwinism #bj--,,part ,i ,it will be readily admitted that of all living writers ,mr4 ,alfred ,russel ,wallace is the one the peculiar turn of whose mind best fits him to write on the subject of natural selection1 or the accumulation of fortunate but accidental variations through descent and the struggle for existence4 ,his mind in all its more essential characteristics closely resembles that of the late ,mr4 ,charles ,darwin himself1 and it is no doubt due to this fact that he and ,mr4 ,darwin elaborated their famous theory at the same time1 and independently of one another4 ,i shall have occasion in the course of the following article to show how misled and misleading both these distinguished men have been1 in spite of their unquestionable familiarity with the whole range of animal and vegetable phenomena4 ,i believe it will be more respectful to both of them to do this in the most out-spoken way4 ,i believe their work to have been as mischievous as it has been valuable1 and as valuable as it has been mischievous2 and higher1 whether praise or blame1 ,i know not how to give4 ,nevertheless ,i would in the outset1 and with the utmost sincerity1 admit concerning ,messrs4 ,wallace and ,darwin that neither can be held as the more profound and conscientious thinker2 neither can be put forward as the more ready to acknowledge obligation to the great writers on evolution who had preceded him1 or to place his own developments in closer and more conspicuous historical connection with earlier thought upon the subject2 neither is the more ready to welcome criticism and to state his opponent's case in the most pointed and telling way in which it can be put2 neither is the more quick to encourage new truth2 neither is the more genial1 generous adversary1 or has the profounder horror of anything even approaching literary or scientific want of candour2 both display the same inimitable power of putting their opinions forward in the way that shall best ensure their acceptance2 both are equally unrivalled in the tact that tells them when silence will be golden1 and when on the other hand a whole volume of facts may be advantageously brought forward4 ,less than the foregoing tribute both to ,messrs4 ,darwin and ,wallace ,i will not1 and more ,i cannot pay4 ,let us now turn to the most authoritative exponent of latter-day evolution--,i mean to ,mr4 ,wallace1 whose work1 entitled ,darwinism1 though it should have been entitled ,wallaceism1 is still so far ,darwinistic that it develops the teaching of ,mr4 ,darwin in the direction given to it by ,mr4 ,darwin himself--so far1 indeed1 as this can be ascertained at all--and not in that of ,lamarck4 ,mr4 ,wallace tells us1 on the first page of his preface1 that he has no intention of dealing even in outline with the vast subject of evolution in general1 and has only tried to give such an account of the theory of natural selection as may facilitate a clear conception of ,darwin's work4 ,how far he has succeeded is a point on which opinion will probably be divided4 ,those who find ,mr4 ,darwin's works clear will also find no difficulty in understanding ,mr4 ,wallace2 those1 on the other hand1 who find ,mr4 ,darwin puzzling are little likely to be less puzzled by ,mr4 ,wallace4 ,he continues3-- ,the objections now made to ,darwin's theory apply solely to the particular means by which the change of species has been brought about1 not to the fact of that change4 ,but ,darwin's theory--as ,mr4 ,wallace has elsewhere proved that he understands--has no reference to the fact of that change--that is to say1 to the fact that species have been modified in course of descent from other species4 ,this is no more ,mr4 ,darwin's theory than it is the reader's or my own4 ,darwin's theory is concerned only with the particular means by which the change of species has been brought about2 his contention being that this is mainly due to the natural survival of those individuals that have happened by some accident to be born most favourably adapted to their surroundings1 or1 in other words1 through accumulation in the common course of nature of the more lucky variations that chance occasionally purveys4 ,mr4 ,wallace's words1 then1 in reality amount to this1 that the objections now made to ,darwin's theory apply solely to ,darwin's theory1 which is all very well as far as it goes1 but might have been more easily apprehended if he had simply said1 ,there are several objections now made to ,mr4 ,darwin's theory4 ,it must be remembered that the passage quoted above occurs on the first page of a preface dated ,march #ahhi1 when the writer had completed his task1 and was most fully conversant with his subject4 ,nevertheless1 it seems indisputable either that he is still confusing evolution with ,mr4 ,darwin's theory1 or that he does not know when his sentences have point and when they have none4 ,i should perhaps explain to some readers that ,mr4 ,darwin did not modify the main theory put forward1 first by ,buffon1 to whom it indisputably belongs1 and adopted from him by ,erasmus ,darwin1 ,lamarck1 and many other writers in the latter half of the last century and the earlier years of the present4 ,the early evolutionists maintained that all existing forms of animal and vegetable life1 including man1 were derived in course of descent with modification from forms resembling the lowest now known4 ,mr4 ,darwin went as far as this1 and farther no one can go4 ,the point at issue between him and his predecessors involves neither the main fact of evolution1 nor yet the geometrical ratio of increase1 and the struggle for existence consequent thereon4 ,messrs4 ,darwin and ,wallace have each thrown invaluable light upon these last two points1 but ,buffon1 as early as #agef1 had made them the keystone of his system4 ,the movement of nature1 he then wrote1 turns on two immovable pivots3 one1 the illimitable fecundity which she has given to all species3 the other1 the innumerable difficulties which reduce the results of that fecundity4 ,erasmus ,darwin and ,lamarck followed in the same sense4 ,they thus admit the survival of the fittest as fully as ,mr4 ,darwin himself1 though they do not make use of this particular expression4 ,the dispute turns not upon natural selection1 which is common to all writers on evolution1 but upon the nature and causes of the variations that are supposed to be selected from and thus accumulated4 ,are these mainly attributable to the inherited effects of use and disuse1 supplemented by occasional sports and happy accidents8 ,or are they mainly due to sports and happy accidents1 supplemented by occasional inherited effects of use and disuse8 ,the ,lamarckian system has all along been maintained by ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer1 who1 in his ,principles of ,biology1 published in #ahfe1 showed how impossible it was that accidental variations should accumulate at all4 ,i am not sure how far ,mr4 ,spencer would consent to being called a ,lamarckian pure and simple1 nor yet how far it is strictly accurate to call him one2 nevertheless1 ,i can see no important difference in the main positions taken by him and by ,lamarck4 ,the question at issue between the ,lamarckians1 supported by ,mr4 ,spencer and a growing band of those who have risen in rebellion against the ,charles-,darwinian system on the one hand1 and ,messrs4 ,darwin and ,wallace with the greater number of our more prominent biologists on the other1 involves the very existence of evolution as a workable theory4 ,for it is plain that what ,nature can be supposed able to do by way of choice must depend on the supply of the variations from which she is supposed to choose4 ,she cannot take what is not offered to her2 and so again she cannot be supposed able to accumulate unless what is gained in one direction in one generation1 or series of generations1 is little likely to be lost in those that presently succeed4 ,now variations ascribed mainly to use and disuse can be supposed capable of being accumulated1 for use and disuse are fairly constant for long periods among the individuals of the same species1 and often over large areas2 moreover1 conditions of existence involving changes of habit1 and thus of organisation1 come for the most part gradually2 so that time is given during which the organism can endeavour to adapt itself in the requisite respects1 instead of being shocked out of existence by too sudden change4 ,variations1 on the other hand1 that are ascribed to mere chance cannot be supposed as likely to be accumulated1 for chance is notoriously inconstant1 and would not purvey the variations in sufficiently unbroken succession1 or in a sufficient number of individuals1 modified similarly in all the necessary correlations at the same time and place to admit of their being accumulated4 ,it is vital therefore to the theory of evolution1 as was early pointed out by the late ,professor ,fleeming ,jenkin and by ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer1 that variations should be supposed to have a definite and persistent principle underlying them1 which shall tend to engender similar and simultaneous modification1 however small1 in the vast majority of individuals composing any species4 ,the existence of such a principle and its permanence is the only thing that can be supposed capable of acting as rudder and compass to the accumulation of variations1 and of making it hold steadily on one course for each species1 till eventually many havens1 far remote from one another1 are safely reached4 ,it is obvious that the having fatally impaired the theory of his predecessors could not warrant ,mr4 ,darwin in claiming1 as he most fatuously did1 the theory of evolution4 ,that he is still generally believed to have been the originator of this theory is due to the fact that he claimed it1 and that a powerful literary backing at once came forward to support him4 ,it seems at first sight improbable that those who too zealously urged his claims were unaware that so much had been written on the subject1 but when we find even ,mr4 ,wallace himself as profoundly ignorant on this subject as he still either is1 or affects to be1 there is no limit assignable to the ignorance or affected ignorance of the kind of biologists who would write reviews in leading journals thirty years ago4 ,mr4 ,wallace writes3-- ,a few great naturalists1 struck by the very slight difference between many of these species1 and the numerous links that exist between the most different forms of animals and plants1 and also observing that a great many species do vary considerably in their forms1 colours and habits1 conceived the idea that they might be all produced one from the other4 ,the most eminent of these writers was a great ,french naturalist1 ,lamarck1 who published an elaborate work1 the ,philosophie ,zoologique1 in which he endeavoured to prove that all animals whatever are descended from other species of animals4 ,he attributed the change of species chiefly to the effect of changes in the conditions of life--such as climate1 food1 c42 and especially to the desires and efforts of the animals themselves to improve their condition1 leading to a modification of form or size in certain parts1 owing to the well-known physiological law that all organs are strengthened by constant use1 while they are weakened or even completely lost by disuse 4 4 4 ,the only other important work dealing with the question was the celebrated ',vestiges of ,creation1' published anonymously1 but now acknowledged to have been written by the late ,robert ,chambers4 ,none are so blind as those who will not see1 and it would be waste of time to argue with the invincible ignorance of one who thinks ,lamarck and ,buffon conceived that all species were produced from one another1 more especially as ,i have already dealt at some length with the early evolutionists in my work1 ,evolution1 ,old and ,new1 first published ten years ago1 and not1 so far as ,i am aware1 detected in serious error or omission4 ,if1 however1 ,mr4 ,wallace still thinks it safe to presume so far on the ignorance of his readers as to say that the only two important works on evolution before ,mr4 ,darwin's were ,lamarck's ,philosophie ,zoologique and the ,vestiges of ,creation1 how fathomable is the ignorance of the average reviewer likely to have been thirty years ago1 when the ,origin of ,species was first published8 ,mr4 ,darwin claimed evolution as his own theory4 ,of course1 he would not claim it if he had no right to it4 ,then by all means give him the credit of it4 ,this was the most natural view to take1 and it was generally taken4 ,it was not1 moreover1 surprising that people failed to appreciate all the niceties of ,mr4 ,darwin's distinctive feature which1 whether distinctive or no1 was assuredly not distinct1 and was never frankly contrasted with the older view1 as it would have been by one who wished it to be understood and judge upon its merits4 ,it was in consequence of this omission that people failed to note how fast and loose ,mr4 ,darwin played with his distinctive feature1 and how readily he dropped it on occasion4 ,it may be said that the question of what was thought by the predecessors of ,mr4 ,darwin is1 after all1 personal1 and of no interest to the general public1 comparable to that of the main issue--whether we are to accept evolution or not4 ,granted that ,buffon1 ,erasmus ,darwin1 and ,lamarck bore the burden and heat of the day before ,mr4 ,charles ,darwin was born1 they did not bring people round to their opinion1 whereas ,mr4 ,darwin and ,mr4 ,wallace did1 and the public cannot be expected to look beyond this broad and indisputable fact4 ,the answer to this is1 that the theory which ,messrs4 ,darwin and ,wallace have persuaded the public to accept is demonstrably false1 and that the opponents of evolution are certain in the end to triumph over it4 ,paley1 in his ,natural ,theology1 long since brought forward far too much evidence of design in animal organisation to allow of our setting down its marvels to the accumulations of fortunate accident1 undirected by will1 effort and intelligence4 ,those who examine the main facts of animal and vegetable organisation without bias will1 no doubt1 ere long conclude that all animals and vegetables are derived ultimately from unicellular organisms1 but they will not less readily perceive that the evolution of species without the concomitance and direction of mind and effort is as inconceivable as is the independent creation of every individual species4 ,the two facts1 evolution and design1 are equally patent to plain people4 ,there is no escaping from either4 ,according to ,messrs4 ,darwin and ,wallace1 we may have evolution1 but are on no account to have it as mainly due to intelligent effort1 guided by ever higher and higher range of sensations1 perceptions1 and ideas4 ,we are to set it down to the shuffling of cards1 or the throwing of dice without the play1 and this will never stand4 ,according to the older men1 cards did indeed count for much1 but play counted for more4 ,they denied the teleology of the time--that is to say1 the teleology that saw all adaptation to surroundings as part of a plan devised long ages since by a quasi-anthropomorphic being who schemed everything out much as a man would do1 but on an infinitely vaster scale4 ,this conception they found repugnant alike to intelligence and conscience1 but1 though they do not seem to have perceived it1 they left the door open for a design more true and more demonstrable than that which they excluded4 ,by making their variations mainly due to effort and intelligence1 they made organic development run on all-fours with human progress1 and with inventions which we have watched growing up from small beginnings4 ,they made the development of man from the amoeba part and parcel of the story that may be read1 though on an infinitely smaller scale1 in the development of our most powerful marine engines from the common kettle1 or of our finest microscopes from the dew-drop4 ,the development of the steam-engine and the microscope is due to intelligence and design1 which did indeed utilise chance suggestions1 but which improved on these1 and directed each step of their accumulation1 though never foreseeing more than a step or two ahead1 and often not so much as this4 ,the fact1 as ,i have elsewhere urged1 that the man who made the first kettle did not foresee the engines of the ,great ,eastern1 or that he who first noted the magnifying power of the dew-drop had no conception of our present microscopes--the very limited amount1 in fact1 of design and intelligence that was called into play at any one point--this does not make us deny that the steam-engine and microscope owe their development to design4 ,if each step of the road was designed1 the whole journey was designed1 though the particular end was not designed when the journey was begun4 ,and so is it1 according to the older view of evolution1 with the development of those living organs1 or machines1 that are born with us1 as part of the perambulating carpenter's chest we call our bodies4 ,the older view gives us our design1 and gives us our evolution too4 ,if it refuses to see a quasi-anthropomorphic ,god modelling each species from without as a potter models clay1 it gives us ,god as vivifying and indwelling in all ,his creatures--,he in them1 and they in ,him4 ,if it refuses to see ,god outside the universe1 it equally refuses to see any part of the universe as outside ,god4 ,if it makes the universe the body of ,god1 it also makes ,god the soul of the universe4 ,the question at issue1 then1 between the ,darwinism of ,erasmus ,darwin and the neo-,darwinism of his grandson1 is not a personal one1 nor anything like a personal one4 ,it not only involves the existence of evolution1 but it affects the view we take of life and things in an endless variety of most interesting and important ways4 ,it is imperative1 therefore1 on those who take any interest in these matters1 to place side by side in the clearest contrast the views of those who refer the evolution of species mainly to accumulation of variations that have no other inception than chance1 and of that older school which makes design perceive and develop still further the goods that chance provides4 ,but over and above this1 which would be in itself sufficient1 the historical mode of studying any question is the only one which will enable us to comprehend it effectually4 ,the personal element cannot be eliminated from the consideration of works written by living persons for living persons4 ,we want to know who is who--whom we can depend upon to have no other end than the making things clear to himself and his readers1 and whom we should mistrust as having an ulterior aim on which he is more intent than on the furthering of our better understanding4 ,we want to know who is doing his best to help us1 and who is only trying to make us help him1 or to bolster up the system in which his interests are vested4 ,there is nothing that will throw more light upon these points than the way in which a man behaves towards those who have worked in the same field with himself1 and1 again1 than his style4 ,a man's style1 as ,buffon long since said1 is the man himself4 ,by style1 ,i do not1 of course1 mean grammar or rhetoric1 but that style of which ,buffon again said that it is like happiness1 and vient de la douceur de l'ame4 ,when we find a man concealing worse than nullity of meaning under sentences that sound plausibly enough1 we should distrust him much as we should a fellow-traveller whom we caught trying to steal our watch4 ,we often cannot judge of the truth or falsehood of facts for ourselves1 but we most of us know enough of human nature to be able to tell a good witness from a bad one4 ,however this may be1 and whatever we may think of judging systems by the directness or indirectness of those who advance them1 biologists1 having committed themselves too rashly1 would have been more than human if they had not shown some pique towards those who dared to say1 first1 that the theory of ,messrs4 ,darwin and ,wallace was unworkable2 and secondly1 that even though it were workable it would not justify either of them in claiming evolution4 ,when biologists show pique at all they generally show a good deal of pique1 but pique or no pique1 they shunned ,mr4 ,spencer's objection above referred to with a persistency more unanimous and obstinate than ,i ever remember to have seen displayed even by professional truth-seekers4 ,i find no rejoinder to it from ,mr4 ,darwin himself1 between #ahfe when it was first put forward1 and #ahhb when ,mr4 ,darwin died4 ,it has been similarly ostrichised by all the leading apologists of ,darwinism1 so far at least as ,i have been able to observe1 and ,i have followed the matter closely for many years4 ,mr4 ,spencer has repeated and amplified it in his recent work1 ,the ,factors of ,organic ,evolution1 but it still remains without so much as an attempt at serious answer1 for the perfunctory and illusory remarks of ,mr4 ,wallace at the end of his ,darwinism cannot be counted as such4 ,the best proof of its irresistible weight is that ,mr4 ,darwin1 though maintaining silence in respect to it1 retreated from his original position in the direction that would most obviate ,mr4 ,spencer's objection4 ,yet this objection has been repeatedly urged by the more prominent anti- ,charles-,darwinian authorities1 and there is no sign that the ,british public is becoming less rigorous in requiring people either to reply to objections repeatedly urged by men of even moderate weight1 or to let judgment go by default4 ,as regards ,mr4 ,darwin's claim to the theory of evolution generally1 ,darwinians are beginning now to perceive that this cannot be admitted1 and either say with some hardihood that ,mr4 ,darwin never claimed it1 or after a few saving clauses to the effect that this theory refers only to the particular means by which evolution has been brought about1 imply forthwith thereafter none the less that evolution is ,mr4 ,darwin's theory4 ,mr4 ,wallace has done this repeatedly in his recent ,darwinism4 ,indeed1 ,i should be by no means sure that on the first page of his preface1 in the passage about ,darwin's theory1 which ,i have already somewhat severely criticised1 he was not intending evolution by ,darwin's theory1 if in his preceding paragraph he had not so clearly shown that he knew evolution to be a theory of greatly older date than ,mr4 ,darwin's4 ,the history of science--well exemplified by that of the development theory--is the history of eminent men who have fought against light and have been worsted4 ,the tenacity with which ,darwinians stick to their accumulation of fortuitous variations is on a par with the like tenacity shown by the illustrious ,cuvier1 who did his best to crush evolution altogether4 ,it always has been thus1 and always will be2 nor is it desirable in the interests of ,truth herself that it should be otherwise4 ,truth is like money--lightly come1 lightly go2 and if she cannot hold her own against even gross misrepresentation1 she is herself not worth holding4 ,misrepresentation in the long run makes ,truth as much as it mars her2 hence our law courts do not think it desirable that pleaders should speak their bona fide opinions1 much less that they should profess to do so4 ,rather let each side hoodwink judge and jury as best it can1 and let truth flash out from collision of defence and accusation4 ,when either side will not collide1 it is an axiom of controversy that it desires to prevent the truth from being elicited4 ,let us now note the courses forced upon biologists by the difficulties of ,mr4 ,darwin's distinctive feature4 ,mr4 ,darwin and ,mr4 ,wallace1 as is well known1 brought the feature forward simultaneously and independently of one another1 but ,mr4 ,wallace always believed in it more firmly than ,mr4 ,darwin did4 ,mr4 ,darwin as a young man did not believe in it4 ,he wrote before #ahhi1 ,nature1 by making habit omnipotent and its effects hereditary1 has fitted the ,fuegian for the climate and productions of his country1 #ba a sentence than which nothing can coincide more fully with the older view that use and disuse were the main purveyors of variations1 or conflict more fatally with his own subsequent distinctive feature4 ,moreover1 as ,i showed in my last work on evolution1 #bb in the peroration to his ,origin of ,species1 he discarded his accidental variations altogether1 and fell back on the older theory1 so that the body of the ,origin of ,species supports one theory1 and the peroration another that differs from it toto coelo4 ,finally1 in his later editions1 he retreated indefinitely from his original position1 edging always more and more continually towards the theory of his grandfather and ,lamarck4 ,these facts convince me that he was at no time a thorough- going ,darwinian1 but was throughout an unconscious ,lamarckian1 though ever anxious to conceal the fact alike from himself and from his readers4 ,not so with ,mr4 ,wallace1 who was both more outspoken in the first instance1 and who has persevered along the path of ,wallaceism just as ,mr4 ,darwin with greater sagacity was ever on the retreat from ,darwinism4 ,mr4 ,wallace's profounder faith led him in the outset to place his theory in fuller daylight than ,mr4 ,darwin was inclined to do4 ,mr4 ,darwin just waved ,lamarck aside1 and said as little about him as he could1 while in his earlier editions ,erasmus ,darwin and ,buffon were not so much as named4 ,mr4 ,wallace1 on the contrary1 at once raised the ,lamarckian spectre1 and declared it exorcised4 ,he said the ,lamarckian hypothesis was quite unnecessary4 ,the giraffe did not acquire its long neck by desiring to reach the foliage of the more lofty shrubs1 and constantly stretching its neck for this purpose1 but because any varieties which occurred among its antitypes with a longer neck than usual at once secured a fresh range of pasture over the same ground as their shorter-necked companions1 and on the first scarcity of food were thus enabled to outlive them4 #bc ,which occurred is evidently which happened to occur by some chance or accident unconnected with use and disuse4 ,the word accident is never used1 but ,mr4 ,wallace must be credited with this instance of a desire to give his readers a chance of perceiving that according to his distinctive feature evolution is an affair of luck1 rather than of cunning4 ,whether his readers actually did understand this as clearly as ,mr4 ,wallace doubtless desired that they should1 and whether greater development at this point would not have helped them to fuller apprehension1 we need not now inquire4 ,what was gained in distinctness might have been lost in distinctiveness1 and after all he did technically put us upon our guard4 ,nevertheless he too at a pinch takes refuge in ,lamarckism4 ,in relation to the manner in which the eyes of soles1 turbots1 and other flat-fish travel round the head so as to become in the end unsymmetrically placed1 he says3-- ,the eyes of these fish are curiously distorted in order that both eyes may be upon the upper side1 where alone they would be of any use4 4 4 4 ,now if we suppose this process1 which in the young is completed in a few days or weeks1 to have been spread over thousands of generations during the development of these fish1 those usually surviving whose eyes retained more and more of the position into which the young fish tried to twist them italics mine1 the change becomes intelligible4 #bd ,when it was said by ,professor ,ray ,lankester--who knows as well as most people what ,lamarck taught--that this was flat ,lamarckism1 ,mr4 ,wallace rejoined that it was the survival of the modified individuals that did it all1 not the efforts of the young fish to twist their eyes1 and the transmission to descendants of the effects of those efforts4 ,but this1 as ,i said in my book1 ,evolution1 ,old and ,new1 #be is like saying that horses are swift runners1 not by reason of the causes1 whatever they were1 that occasioned the direct line of their progenitors to vary towards ever greater and greater swiftness1 but because their more slow- going uncles and aunts go away4 ,plain people will prefer to say that the main cause of any accumulation of favourable modifications consists rather in that which brings about the initial variations1 and in the fact that these can be inherited at all1 than in the fact that the unmodified individuals were not successful4 ,people do not become rich because the poor in large numbers go away1 but because they have been lucky1 or provident1 or more commonly both4 ,if they would keep their wealth when they have made it they must exclude luck thenceforth to the utmost of their power1 and their children must follow their example1 or they will soon lose their money4 ,the fact that the weaker go to the wall does not bring about the greater strength of the stronger2 it is the consequence of this last and not the cause--unless1 indeed1 it be contended that a knowledge that the weak go to the wall stimulates the strong to exertions which they would not otherwise so make1 and that these exertions produce inheritable modifications4 ,even in this case1 however1 it would be the exertions1 or use and disuse1 that would be the main agents in the modification4 ,but it is not often that ,mr4 ,wallace thus backslides4 ,his present position is that acquired 7as distinguished from congenital7 modifications are not inherited at all4 ,he does not indeed put his faith prominently forward and pin himself to it as plainly as could be wished1 but under the heading1 ,the ,non-,heredity of ,acquired ,characters1 he writes as follows on p4 #ddj of his recent work in reference to ,professor ,weismann's ,theory of ,heredity3-- ,certain observations on the embryology of the lower animals are held to afford direct proof of this theory of heredity1 but they are too technical to be made clear to ordinary readers4 ,a logical result of the theory is the impossibility of the transmission of acquired characters1 since the molecular structure of the germ-plasm is already determined within the embryo2 and ,weismann holds that there are no facts which really prove that acquired characters can be inherited1 although their inheritance has1 by most writers1 been considered so probable as hardly to stand in need of direct proof4 ,we have already seen in the earlier part of this chapter that many instances of change1 imputed to the inheritance of acquired variations1 are really cases of selection4 ,and the rest of the remarks tend to convey the impression that ,mr4 ,wallace adopts ,professor ,weismann's view1 but1 curiously enough1 though ,i have gone through ,mr4 ,wallace's book with a special view to this particular point1 ,i have not been able to find him definitely committing himself either to the assertion that acquired modifications never are inherited1 or that they sometimes are so4 ,it is abundantly laid down that ,mr4 ,darwin laid too much stress on use and disuse1 and a residuary impression is left that ,mr4 ,wallace is endorsing ,professor ,weismann's view1 but ,i have found it impossible to collect anything that enables me to define his position confidently in this respect4 ,this is natural enough1 for ,mr4 ,wallace has entitled his book ,darwinism1 and a work denying that use and disuse produced any effect could not conceivably be called ,darwinism4 ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer has recently collected many passages from ,the ,origin of ,species and from ,animals and ,plants under ,domestication1 #bf which show how largely1 after all1 use and disuse entered into ,mr4 ,darwin's system1 and we know that in his later years he attached still more importance to them4 ,it was out of the question1 therefore1 that ,mr4 ,wallace should categorically deny that their effects were inheritable4 ,on the other hand1 the temptation to adopt ,professor ,weismann's view must have been overwhelming to one who had been already inclined to minimise the effects of use and disuse4 ,on the whole1 one does not see what ,mr4 ,wallace could do1 other than what he has done--unless1 of course1 he changed his title1 or had been no longer ,mr4 ,wallace4 ,besides1 thanks to the works of ,mr4 ,spencer1 ,professor ,mivart1 ,professor ,semper1 and very many others1 there has for some time been a growing perception that the ,darwinism of ,charles ,darwin was doomed4 ,use and disuse must either do even more than is officially recognised in ,mr4 ,darwin's later concessions1 or they must do a great deal less4 ,if they can do as much as ,mr4 ,darwin himself said they did1 why should they not do more8 ,why stop where ,mr4 ,darwin did8 ,and again1 where in the name of all that is reasonable did he really stop8 ,he drew no line1 and on what principle can we say that so much is possible as effect of use and disuse1 but so much more impossible8 ,if1 as ,mr4 ,darwin contended1 disuse can so far reduce an organ as to render it rudimentary1 and in many cases get rid of it altogether1 why cannot use create as much as disuse can destroy1 provided it has anything1 no matter how low in structure1 to begin with8 ,let us know where we stand4 ,if it is admitted that use and disuse can do a good deal1 what does a good deal mean8 ,and what is the proportion between the shares attributable to use and disuse and to natural selection respectively8 ,if we cannot be told with absolute precision1 let us at any rate have something more definite than the statement that natural selection is the most important means of modification4 ,mr4 ,darwin gave us no help in this respect2 and worse than this1 he contradicted himself so flatly as to show that he had very little definite idea upon the subject at all4 ,thus in respect to the winglessness of the ,madeira beetles he wrote3-- ,in some cases we might easily put down to disuse modifications of structure1 which are wholly or mainly due to natural selection4 ,mr4 ,wollaston has discovered the remarkable fact that #bjj beetles1 out of the #eej species 7but more are now known7 inhabiting ,madeira1 are so far deficient in wings that they cannot fly2 and that of the #bi endemic genera no less than #bc have all their species in this condition6 ,several facts1--namely1 that beetles in many parts of the world are frequently blown out to sea and perish2 that the beetles in ,madeira1 as observed by ,mr4 ,wollaston1 lie much concealed until the wind lulls and the sun shines2 that the proportion of wingless beetles is larger on the exposed ,desertas than in ,madeira itself2 and especially the extraordinary fact1 so strongly insisted on by ,mr4 ,wollaston1 that certain large groups of beetles1 elsewhere excessively numerous1 which absolutely require the use of their wings are here almost entirely absent2--these several considerations make me believe that the wingless condition of so many ,madeira beetles is mainly due to the action of natural selection1 combined probably with disuse italics mine4 ,for during many successive generations each individual beetle which flew least1 either from its wings having been ever so little less perfectly developed or from indolent habit1 will have had the best chance of surviving1 from not being blown out to sea2 and1 on the other hand1 those beetles which most readily took to flight would oftenest have been blown to sea1 and thus destroyed4 #bg ,we should like to know1 first1 somewhere about how much disuse was able to do after all1 and moreover why1 if it can do anything at all1 it should not be able to do all4 ,mr4 ,darwin says3 ,any change in structure and function which can be effected by small stages is within the power of natural selection4 ,and why not1 we ask1 within the power of use and disuse8 ,moreover1 on a later page we find ,mr4 ,darwin saying3-- ,it appears probable that disuse has been the main agent in rendering organs rudimentary italics mine4 ,it would at first lead by slow steps to the more and more complete reduction of a part1 until at last it has become rudimentary--as in the case of the eyes of animals inhabiting dark caverns1 and of the wings of birds inhabiting oceanic islands1 which have seldom been forced by beasts of prey to take flight1 and have ultimately lost the power of flying4 ,again1 an organ1 useful under certain conditions1 might become injurious under others1 as with the wings of beetles living on small and exposed islands2 and in this case natural selection will have aided in reducing the organ1 until it was rendered harmless and rudimentary italics mine4 #bh ,so that just as an undefined amount of use and disuse was introduced on the earlier page to supplement the effects of natural selection in respect of the wings of beetles on small and exposed islands1 we have here an undefined amount of natural selection introduced to supplement the effects of use and disuse in respect of the identical phenomena4 ,in the one passage we find that natural selection has been the main agent in reducing the wings1 though use and disuse have had an appreciable share in the result2 in the other1 it is use and disuse that have been the main agents1 though an appreciable share in the result must be ascribed to natural selection4 ,besides1 who has seen the uncles and aunts going away with the uniformity that is necessary for ,mr4 ,darwin's contention8 ,we know that birds and insects do often get blown out to sea and perish1 but in order to establish ,mr4 ,darwin's position we want the evidence of those who watched the reduction of the wings during the many generations in the course of which it was being effected1 and who can testify that all1 or the overwhelming majority1 of the beetles born with fairly well-developed wings got blown out to sea1 while those alone survived whose wings were congenitally degenerate4 ,who saw them go1 or can point to analogous cases so conclusive as to compel assent from any equitable thinker8 ,darwinians of the stamp of ,mr4 ,thiselton ,dyer1 ,professor ,ray ,lankester1 or ,mr4 ,romanes1 insist on their pound of flesh in the matter of irrefragable demonstration4 ,they complain of us for not bringing forward some one who has been able to detect the movement of the hour-hand of a watch during a second of time1 and when we fail to do so1 declare triumphantly that we have no evidence that there is any connection between the beating of a second and the movement of the hour-hand4 ,when we say that rain comes from the condensation of moisture in the atmosphere1 they demand of us a rain-drop from moisture not yet condensed4 ,if they stickle for proof and cavil on the ninth part of a hair1 as they do when we bring forward what we deem excellent instances of the transmission of an acquired characteristic1 why may not we1 too1 demand at any rate some evidence that the unmodified beetles actually did always1 or nearly always1 get blown out to sea1 during the reduction above referred to1 and that it is to this fact1 and not to the masterly inactivity of their fathers and mothers1 that the ,madeira beetles owe their winglessness8 ,if we began stickling for proof in this way1 our opponents would not be long in letting us know that absolute proof is unattainable on any subject1 that reasonable presumption is our highest certainty1 and that crying out for too much evidence is as bad as accepting too little4 ,truth is like a photographic sensitised plate1 which is equally ruined by over and by under exposure1 and the just exposure for which can never be absolutely determined4 ,surely if disuse can be credited with the vast powers involved in ,mr4 ,darwin's statement that it has probably been the main agent in rendering organs rudimentary1 no limits are assignable to the accumulated effects of habit1 provided the effects of habit1 or use and disuse1 are supposed1 as ,mr4 ,darwin supposed them1 to be inheritable at all4 ,darwinians have at length woke up to the dilemma in which they are placed by the manner in which ,mr4 ,darwin tried to sit on the two stools of use and disuse1 and natural selection of accidental variations1 at the same time4 ,the knell of ,charles-,darwinism is rung in ,mr4 ,wallace's present book1 and in the general perception on the part of biologists that we must either assign to use and disuse such a predominant share in modification as to make it the feature most proper to be insisted on1 or deny that the modifications1 whether of mind or body1 acquired during a single lifetime1 are ever transmitted at all4 ,if they can be inherited at all1 they can be accumulated4 ,if they can be accumulated at all1 they can be so1 for anything that appears to the contrary1 to the extent of the specific and generic differences with which we are surrounded4 ,the only thing to do is to pluck them out root and branch3 they are as a cancer which1 if the smallest fibre be left unexcised1 will grow again1 and kill any system on to which it is allowed to fasten4 ,mr4 ,wallace1 therefore1 may well be excused if he casts longing eyes towards ,weismannism4 ,and what was ,mr4 ,darwin's system8 ,who can make head or tail of the inextricable muddle in which he left it8 ,the ,origin of ,species in its latest shape is the reduction of hedging to an absurdity4 ,how did ,mr4 ,darwin himself leave it in the last chapter of the last edition of the ,origin of ,species8 ,he wrote3-- ,i have now recapitulated the facts and considerations which have thoroughly convinced me that species have been modified during a long course of descent4 ,this has been effected chiefly through the natural selection of numerous1 successive1 slight1 favourable variations2 aided in an important manner by the inherited effects of the use and disuse of parts1 and in an unimportant manner--that is1 in relation to adaptive structures whether past or present--by the direct action of external conditions1 and by variations which seem to us in our ignorance to arise spontaneously4 ,it appears that ,i formerly underrated the frequency and value of these latter forms of variation1 as leading to permanent modifications of structure independently of natural selection4 ,the numerous1 successive1 slight1 favourable variations above referred to are intended to be fortuitous1 accidental1 spontaneous4 ,it is the essence of ,mr4 ,darwin's theory that this should be so4 ,mr4 ,darwin's solemn statement1 therefore1 of his theory1 after he had done his best or his worst with it1 is1 when stripped of surplusage1 as follows3-- ,the modification of species has been mainly effected by accumulation of spontaneous variations2 it has been aided in an important manner by accumulation of variations due to use and disuse1 and in an unimportant manner by spontaneous variations2 ,i do not even now think that spontaneous variations have been very important1 but ,i used once to think them less important than ,i do now4 ,it is a discouraging symptom of the age that such a system should have been so long belauded1 and it is a sign of returning intelligence that even he who has been more especially the alter ego of ,mr4 ,darwin should have felt constrained to close the chapter of ,charles-,darwinism as a living theory1 and relegate it to the important but not very creditable place in history which it must henceforth occupy4 ,it is astonishing1 however1 that ,mr4 ,wallace should have quoted the extract from the ,origin of ,species just given1 as he has done on p4 #dab of his ,darwinism1 without betraying any sign that he has caught its driftlessness--for drift1 other than a desire to hedge1 it assuredly has not got4 ,the battle now turns on the question whether modifications of either structure or instinct due to use or disuse are ever inherited1 or whether they are not4 ,can the effects of habit be transmitted to progeny at all8 ,we know that more usually they are not transmitted to any perceptible extent1 but we believe also that occasionally1 and indeed not infrequently1 they are inherited and even intensified4 ,what are our grounds for this opinion8 ,it will be my object to put these forward in the following number of the ,universal ,review4 ,,the ,,deadlock ,,in ,,darwinism--,,part ,,ii #bi ,at the close of my article in last month's number of the ,universal ,review1 ,i said ,i would in this month's issue show why the opponents of ,charles-,darwinism believe the effects of habits acquired during the lifetime of a parent to produce an effect on their subsequent offspring1 in spite of the fact that we can rarely find the effect in any one generation1 or even in several1 sufficiently marked to arrest our attention4 ,i will now show that offspring can be1 and not very infrequently is1 affected by occurrences that have produced a deep impression on the parent organism--the effect produced on the offspring being such as leaves no doubt that it is to be connected with the impression produced on the parent4 ,having thus established the general proposition1 ,i will proceed to the more particular one--that habits1 involving use and disuse of special organs1 with the modifications of structure thereby engendered1 produce also an effect upon offspring1 which1 though seldom perceptible as regards structure in a single1 or even in several generations1 is nevertheless capable of being accumulated in successive generations till it amounts to specific and generic difference4 ,i have found the first point as much as ,i can treat within the limits of this present article1 and will avail myself of the hospitality of the ,universal ,review next month to deal with the second4 ,the proposition which ,i have to defend is one which no one till recently would have questioned1 and even now1 those who look most askance at it do not venture to dispute it unreservedly2 they every now and then admit it as conceivable1 and even in some cases probable2 nevertheless they seek to minimise it1 and to make out that there is little or no connection between the great mass of the cells of which the body is composed1 and those cells that are alone capable of reproducing the entire organism4 ,the tendency is to assign to these last a life of their own1 apart from1 and unconnected with that of the other cells of the body1 and to cheapen all evidence that tends to prove any response on their part to the past history of the individual1 and hence ultimately of the race4 ,professor ,weismann is the foremost exponent of those who take this line4 ,he has naturally been welcomed by ,english ,charles-,darwinians2 for if his view can be sustained1 then it can be contended that use and disuse produce no transmissible effect1 and the ground is cut from under ,lamarck's feet2 if1 on the other hand1 his view is unfounded1 the ,lamarckian reaction1 already strong1 will gain still further strength4 ,the issue1 therefore1 is important1 and is being fiercely contested by those who have invested their all of reputation for discernment in ,charles-,darwinian securities4 ,professor ,weismann's theory is1 that at every new birth a part of the substance which proceeds from parents and which goes to form the new embryo is not used up in forming the new animal1 but remains apart to generate the germ-cells--or perhaps ,i should say germ-plasm--which the new animal itself will in due course issue4 ,contrasting the generally received view with his own1 ,professor ,weismann says that according to the first of these the organism produces germ- cells afresh again and again1 and that it produces them entirely from its own substance4 ,while by the second the germ-cells are no longer looked upon as the product of the parent's body1 at least as far as their essential part--the specific germ-plasm--is concerned2 they are rather considered as something which is to be placed in contrast with the tout ensemble of the cells which make up the parent's body1 and the germ-cells of succeeding generations stand in a similar relation to one another as a series of generations of unicellular organisms arising by a continued process of cell-division4 #cj ,on another page he writes3-- ,i believe that heredity depends upon the fact that a small portion of the effective substance of the germ1 the germ-plasm1 remains unchanged during the development of the ovum into an organism1 and that this part of the germ-plasm serves as a foundation from which the germ-cells of the new organism are produced4 ,there is1 therefore1 continuity of the germ- plasm from one generation to another4 ,one might represent the germ-plasm by the metaphor of a long creeping root-stock from which plants arise at intervals1 these latter representing the individuals of successive generations4 #ca ,mr4 ,wallace1 who does not appear to have read ,professor ,weismann's essays themselves1 but whose remarks are1 no doubt1 ultimately derived from the sequel to the passage just quoted from page #bff of ,professor ,weismann's book1 contends that the impossibility of the transmission of acquired characters follows as a logical result from ,professor ,weismann's theory1 inasmuch as the molecular structure of the germ-plasm that will go to form any succeeding generation is already predetermined within the still unformed embryo of its predecessor2 and ,weismann1 continues ,mr4 ,wallace1 holds that there are no facts which really prove that acquired characters can be inherited1 although their inheritance has1 by most writers1 been considered so probable as hardly to stand in need of direct proof4 #cb ,professor ,weismann1 in passages too numerous to quote1 shows that he recognises this necessity1 and acknowledges that the non-transmission of acquired characters forms the foundation of the views set forth in his book1 p4 #bia4 ,professor ,ray ,lankester does not commit himself absolutely to this view1 but lends it support by saying 7,nature1 ,december #ab1 #ahhi73 ,it is hardly necessary to say that it has never yet been shown experimentally that anything acquired by one generation is transmitted to the next 7putting aside diseases74 ,mr4 ,romanes1 writing in ,nature1 ,march #ah1 #ahij1 and opposing certain details of ,professor ,weismann's theory1 so far supports it as to say that there is the gravest possible doubt lying against the supposition that any really inherited decrease is due to the inherited effects of disuse4 ,the gravest possible doubt should mean that ,mr4 ,romanes regards it as a moral certainty that disuse has no transmitted effect in reducing an organ1 and it should follow that he holds use to have no transmitted effect in its development4 ,the sequel1 however1 makes me uncertain how far ,mr4 ,romanes intends this1 and ,i would refer the reader to the article which ,mr4 ,romanes has just published on ,weismann in the ,contemporary ,review for this current month4 ,the burden of ,mr4 ,thiselton ,dyer's controversy with the ,duke of ,argyll 7see ,nature1 ,january #af1 #ahij1 et seq47 was that there was no evidence in support of the transmission of any acquired modification4 ,the orthodoxy of science1 therefore1 must be held as giving at any rate a provisional support to ,professor ,weismann1 but all of them1 including even ,professor ,weismann himself1 shrink from committing themselves to the opinion that the germ-cells of any organisms remain in all cases unaffected by the events that occur to the other cells of the same organism1 and until they do this they have knocked the bottom out of their case4 ,from among the passages in which ,professor ,weismann himself shows a desire to hedge ,i may take the following from page #agj of his book3-- ,i am also far from asserting that the germ-plasm which1 as ,i hold1 is transmitted as the basis of heredity from one generation to another1 is absolutely unchangeable or totally uninfluenced by forces residing in the organism within which it is transformed into germ-cells4 ,i am also compelled to admit it as conceivable that organisms may exert a modifying influence upon their germ-cells1 and even that such a process is to a certain extent inevitable4 ,the nutrition and growth of the individual must exercise some influence upon its germ-cells 4 4 4 ,professor ,weismann does indeed go on to say that this influence must be extremely slight1 but we do not care how slight the changes produced may be provided they exist and can be transmitted4 ,on an earlier page 7p4 #aja7 he said in regard to variations generally that we should not expect to find them conspicuous2 their frequency would be enough1 if they could be accumulated4 ,the same applies here1 if stirring events that occur to the somatic cells can produce any effect at all on offspring4 ,a very small effect1 provided it can be repeated and accumulated in successive generations1 is all that even the most exacting ,lamarckian will ask for4 ,having now made the reader acquainted with the position taken by the leading ,charles-,darwinian authorities1 ,i will return to ,professor ,weismann himself1 who declares that the transmission of acquired characters at first sight certainly seems necessary1 and that it appears rash to attempt to dispense with its aid4 ,he continues3-- ,many phenomena only appear to be intelligible if we assume the hereditary transmission of such acquired characters as the changes which we ascribe to the use or disuse of particular organs1 or to the direct influence of climate4 ,furthermore1 how can we explain instinct as hereditary habit1 unless it has gradually arisen by the accumulation1 through heredity1 of habits which were practised in succeeding generations8 #cc ,i may say in passing that ,professor ,weismann appears to suppose that the view of instinct just given is part of the ,charles-,darwinian system1 for on page #hhi of his book he says that many observers had followed ,darwin in explaining them instincts as inherited habits4 ,this was not ,mr4 ,darwin's own view of the matter4 ,he wrote3-- ,if we suppose any habitual action to become inherited--and ,i think it can be shown that this does sometimes happen--then the resemblance between what originally was a habit and an instinct becomes so close as not to be distinguished4 4 4 ,but it would be the most serious error to suppose that the greater number of instincts have been acquired by habit in one generation1 and then transmitted by inheritance to succeeding generations4 ,it can be clearly shown that the most wonderful instincts with which we are acquainted1 namely1 those of the hive-bee and of many ants1 could not possibly have been thus acquired4--,origin of ,species1 ed41 #ahei1 p4 #bji4 ,again we read3 ,domestic instincts are sometimes spoken of as actions which have become inherited solely from long-continued and compulsory habit1 but this1 ,i think1 is not true4--,ibid41 p4 #bad4 ,again3 ,i am surprised that no one has advanced this demonstrative case of neuter insects1 against the well-known doctrine of inherited habit1 as advanced by ,lamarck4--,origin of ,species1 ed4 #ahgb1 p4 #bhc4 ,i am not aware that ,lamarck advanced the doctrine that instinct is inherited habit1 but he may have done so in some work that ,i have not seen4 ,it is true1 as ,i have more than once pointed out1 that in the later editions of the ,origin of ,species it is no longer the most serious error to refer instincts generally to inherited habit1 but it still remains a serious error1 and this slight relaxation of severity does not warrant ,professor ,weismann in ascribing to ,mr4 ,darwin an opinion which he emphatically condemned4 ,his tone1 however1 is so offhand1 that those who have little acquaintance with the literature of evolution would hardly guess that he is not much better informed on this subject than themselves4 ,returning to the inheritance of acquired characters1 ,professor ,weismann says that this has never been proved either by means of direct observation or by experiment4 ,it must be admitted1 he writes1 that there are in existence numerous descriptions of cases which tend to prove that such mutilations as the loss of fingers1 the scars of wounds1 c41 are inherited by the offspring1 but in these descriptions the previous history is invariably obscure1 and hence the evidence loses all scientific value4 ,the experiments of ,m4 ,brown-,sequard throw so much light upon the question at issue that ,i will quote at some length from the summary given by ,mr4 ,darwin in his ,variation of ,animals and ,plants under ,domestication4 #cd ,mr4 ,darwin writes3-- ,with respect to the inheritance of structures mutilated by injuries or altered by disease1 it was until lately difficult to come to any definite conclusion4 ,then follow several cases in which mutilations practised for many generations are not found to be transmitted4 ,notwithstanding1 continues ,mr4 ,darwin1 the above several negative cases1 we now possess conclusive evidence that the effects of operations are sometimes inherited4 ,dr4 ,brown-,sequard gives the following summary of his observations on guinea-pigs1 and this summary is so important that ,i will quote the whole3-- '#ast4 ,appearance of epilepsy in animals born of parents having been rendered epileptic by an injury to the spinal cord4 '#bnd4 ,appearance of epilepsy also in animals born of parents having been rendered epileptic by the section of the sciatic nerve4 '#crd4 ,a change in the shape of the ear in animals born of parents in which such a change was the effect of a division of the cervical sympathetic nerve4 '#dth4 ,partial closure of the eyelids in animals born of parents in which that state of the eyelids had been caused either by the section of the cervical sympathetic nerve or the removal of the superior cervical ganglion4 '#eth4 ,exophthalmia in animals born of parents in which an injury to the restiform body had produced that protrusion of the eyeball4 ,this interesting fact ,i have witnessed a good many times1 and ,i have seen the transmission of the morbid state of the eye continue through four generations4 ,in these animals modified by heredity1 the two eyes generally protruded1 although in the parents usually only one showed exophthalmia1 the lesion having been made in most cases only on one of the corpora restiformia4 '#fth4 ,haematoma and dry gangrene of the ears in animals born of parents in which these ear-alterations had been caused by an injury to the restiform body near the nib of the calamus4 '#gth4 ,absence of two toes out of the three of the hind leg1 and sometimes of the three1 in animals whose parents had eaten up their hind- leg toes which had become anaesthetic from a section of the sciatic nerve alone1 or of that nerve and also of the crural4 ,sometimes1 instead of complete absence of the toes1 only a part of one or two or three was missing in the young1 although in the parent not only the toes but the whole foot was absent 7partly eaten off1 partly destroyed by inflammation1 ulceration1 or gangrene74 '#hth4 ,appearance of various morbid states of the skin and hair of the neck and face in animals born of parents having had similar alterations in the same parts1 as effects of an injury to the sciatic nerve4' ,it should be especially observed that ,brown-,sequard has bred during thirty years many thousand guinea-pigs from animals which had not been operated upon1 and not one of these manifested the epileptic tendency4 ,nor has he ever seen a guinea-pig born without toes1 which was not the offspring of parents which had gnawed off their own toes owing to the sciatic nerve having been divided4 ,of this latter fact thirteen instances were carefully recorded1 and a greater number were seen2 yet ,brown-,sequard speaks of such cases as one of the rarer forms of inheritance4 ,it is a still more interesting fact1 'that the sciatic nerve in the congenitally toeless animal has inherited the power of passing through all the different morbid states which have occurred in one of its parents from the time of the division till after its reunion with the peripheric end4 ,it is not1 therefore1 simply the power of performing an action which is inherited1 but the power of performing a whole series of actions1 in a certain order4' ,in most of the cases of inheritance recorded by ,brown-,sequard only one of the two parents had been operated upon and was affected4 ,he concludes by expressing his belief that 'what is transmitted is the morbid state of the nervous system1' due to the operation performed on the parents4 ,mr4 ,darwin proceeds to give other instances of inherited effects of mutilations3-- ,with the horse there seems hardly a doubt that exostoses on the legs1 caused by too much travelling on hard roads1 are inherited4 ,blumenbach records the case of a man who had his little finger on the right hand almost cut off1 and which in consequence grew crooked1 and his sons had the same finger on the same hand similarly crooked4 ,a soldier1 fifteen years before his marriage1 lost his left eye from purulent ophthalmia1 and his two sons were microphthalmic on the same side4 ,the late ,professor ,rolleston1 whose competence as an observer no one is likely to dispute1 gave ,mr4 ,darwin two cases as having fallen under his own notice1 one of a man whose knee had been severely wounded1 and whose child was born with the same spot marked or scarred1 and the other of one who was severely cut upon the cheek1 and whose child was born scarred in the same place4 ,mr4 ,darwin's conclusion was that the effects of injuries1 especially when followed by disease1 or perhaps exclusively when thus followed1 are occasionally inherited4 ,let us now see what ,professor ,weismann has to say against this4 ,he writes3-- ,the only cases worthy of discussion are the well-known experiments upon guinea-pigs conducted by the ,french physiologist1 ,brown-,sequard4 ,but the explanation of his results is1 in my opinion1 open to discussion4 ,in these cases we have to do with the apparent transmission of artificially produced malformations 4 4 4 ,all these effects were said to be transmitted to descendants as far as the fifth or sixth generation4 ,but we must inquire whether these cases are really due to heredity1 and not to simple infection4 ,in the case of epilepsy1 at any rate1 it is easy to imagine that the passage of some specific organism through the reproductive cells may take place1 as in the case of syphilis4 ,we are1 however1 entirely ignorant of the nature of the former disease4 ,this suggested explanation may not perhaps apply to the other cases2 but we must remember that animals which have been subjected to such severe operations upon the nervous system have sustained a great shock1 and if they are capable of breeding1 it is only probable that they will produce weak descendants1 and such as are easily affected by disease4 ,such a result does not1 however1 explain why the offspring should suffer from the same disease as that which was artificially induced in the parents4 ,but this does not appear to have been by any means invariably the case4 ,brown-,sequard himself says3 ',the changes in the eye of the offspring were of a very variable nature1 and were only occasionally exactly similar to those observed in the parents4' ,there is no doubt1 however1 that these experiments demand careful consideration1 but before they can claim scientific recognition1 they must be subjected to rigid criticism as to the precautions taken1 the nature and number of the control experiments1 c4 ,up to the present time such necessary conditions have not been sufficiently observed4 ,the recent experiments themselves are only described in short preliminary notices1 which1 as regards their accuracy1 the possibility of mistake1 the precautions taken1 and the exact succession of individuals affected1 afford no data on which a scientific opinion can be founded 7pp4 #ha1 #hb74 ,the line ,professor ,weismann takes1 therefore1 is to discredit the facts2 yet on a later page we find that the experiments have since been repeated by ,obersteiner1 who has described them in a very exact and unprejudiced manner1 and that the fact--7,i imagine that ,professor ,weismann intends the facts7--cannot be doubted4 ,on a still later page1 however1 we read3-- ,if1 for instance1 it could be shown that artificial mutilation spontaneously reappears in the offspring with sufficient frequency to exclude all possibilities of chance1 then such proof i4e41 that acquired characters can be transmitted would be forthcoming4 ,the transmission of mutilations has been frequently asserted1 and has been even recently again brought forward1 but all the supposed instances have broken down when carefully examined 7p4 #cij74 ,here1 then1 we are told that proof of the occasional transmission of mutilations would be sufficient to establish the fact1 but on p4 #bfg we find that no single fact is known which really proves that acquired characters can be transmitted1 for the ascertained facts which seem to point to the transmission of artificially produced diseases cannot be considered as proof ,italics mine4 ,perhaps2 but it was mutilation in many cases that ,professor ,weismann practically admitted to have been transmitted when he declared that ,obersteiner had verified ,brown-,sequard's experiments4 ,that ,professor ,weismann recognises the vital importance to his own theory of the question whether or no mutilations can be transmitted under any circumstances1 is evident from a passage on p4 #dbe of his work1 on which he says3 ,it can hardly be doubted that mutilations are acquired characters2 they do not arise from any tendency contained in the germ1 but are merely the reaction of the body under certain external influences4 ,they are1 as ,i have recently expressed it1 purely somatogenic characters--viz41 characters which emanate from the body 7soma7 only1 as opposed to the germ-cells2 they are1 therefore1 characters that do not arise from the germ itself4 ,if mutilations must necessarily be transmitted which no one that ,i know of has maintained1 or even if they might occasionally be transmitted which cannot1 ,i imagine1 be reasonably questioned1 a powerful support would be given to the ,lamarckian principle1 and the transmission of functional hypertrophy or atrophy would thus become highly probable4 ,i have not found any further attempt in ,professor ,weismann's book to deal with the evidence adduced by ,mr4 ,darwin to show that mutilations1 if followed by diseases1 are sometimes inherited2 and ,i must leave it to the reader to determine how far ,professor ,weismann has shown reason for rejecting ,mr4 ,darwin's conclusion4 ,i do not1 however1 dwell upon these facts now as evidence of a transmitted change of bodily form1 or of instinct due to use and disuse or habit2 what they prove is that the germ- cells within the parent's body do not stand apart from the other cells of the body so completely as ,professor ,weismann would have us believe1 but that1 as ,professor ,hering1 of ,prague1 has aptly said1 they echo with more or less frequency and force to the profounder impressions made upon other cells4 ,i may say that ,professor ,weismann does not more cavalierly wave aside the mass of evidence collected by ,mr4 ,darwin and a host of other writers1 to the effect that mutilations are sometimes inherited1 than does ,mr4 ,wallace1 who says that1 as regards mutilations1 it is generally admitted that they are not inherited1 and there is ample evidence on this point4 ,it is indeed generally admitted that mutilations1 when not followed by disease1 are very rarely1 if ever1 inherited2 and ,mr4 ,wallace's appeal to the ample evidence which he alleges to exist on this head1 is much as though he should say that there is ample evidence to show that the days are longer in summer than in winter4 ,nevertheless1 he continues1 a few cases of apparent inheritance of mutilations have been recorded1 and these1 if trustworthy1 are difficulties in the way of the theory4 4 4 4 ,the often-quoted case of a disease induced by mutilation being inherited 7,brown-,sequard's epileptic guinea-pigs7 has been discussed by ,professor ,weismann and shown to be not conclusive4 ,the mutilation itself--a section of certain nerves--was never inherited1 but the resulting epilepsy1 or a general state of weakness1 deformity1 or sores1 was sometimes inherited4 ,it is1 however1 possible that the mere injury introduced and encouraged the growth of certain microbes1 which1 spreading through the organism1 sometimes reached the germ-cells1 and thus transmitted a diseased condition to the offspring4 #ce ,i suppose a microbe which made guinea-pigs eat their toes off was communicated to the germ-cells of an unfortunate guinea-pig which had been already microbed by it1 and made the offspring bite its toes off too4 ,the microbe has a good deal to answer for4 ,on the case of the deterioration of horses in the ,falkland ,islands after a few generations1 ,professor ,weismann says3-- ,in such a case we have only to assume that the climate which is unfavourable1 and the nutriment which is insufficient for horses1 affect not only the animal as a whole but also its germ-cells4 ,this would result in the diminution in size of the germ-cells1 the effects upon the offspring being still further intensified by the insufficient nourishment supplied during growth4 ,but such results would not depend upon the transmission by the germ-cells of certain peculiarities due to the unfavourable climate1 which only appear in the full-grown horse4 ,but ,professor ,weismann does not like such cases1 and admits that he cannot explain the facts in connection with the climatic varieties of certain butterflies1 except by supposing the passive acquisition of characters produced by the direct influence of climate4 ,nevertheless in his next paragraph but one he calls such cases doubtful1 and proposes that for the moment they should be left aside4 ,he accordingly leaves them1 but ,i have not yet found what other moment he considered auspicious for returning to them4 ,he tells us that new experiments will be necessary1 and that he has himself already begun to undertake them4 ,perhaps he will give us the results of these experiments in some future book--for that they will prove satisfactory to him can hardly1 ,i think1 be doubted4 ,he writes3-- ,leaving on one side1 for the moment1 these doubtful and insufficiently investigated cases1 we may still maintain that the assumption that changes induced by external conditions in the organism as a whole are communicated to the germ-cells after the manner indicated in ,darwin's hypothesis of pangenesis1 is wholly unnecessary for the explanation of these phenomena4 ,still we cannot exclude the possibility of such a transmission occasionally occurring1 for even if the greater part of the effects must be attributable to natural selection1 there might be a smaller part in certain cases which depends on this exceptional factor4 ,i repeatedly tried to understand ,mr4 ,darwin's theory of pangenesis1 and so often failed that ,i long since gave the matter up in despair4 ,i did so with the less unwillingness because ,i saw that no one else appeared to understand the theory1 and that even ,mr4 ,darwin's warmest adherents regarded it with disfavour4 ,if ,mr4 ,darwin means that every cell of the body throws off minute particles that find their way to the germ-cells1 and hence into the new embryo1 this is indeed difficult of comprehension and belief4 ,if he means that the rhythms or vibrations that go on ceaselessly in every cell of the body communicate themselves with greater or less accuracy or perturbation1 as the case may be1 to the cells that go to form offspring1 and that since the characteristics of matter are determined by vibrations1 in communicating vibrations they in effect communicate matter1 according to the view put forward in the last chapter of my book ,luck or ,cunning1 #cf then we can better understand it4 ,i have nothing1 however1 to do with ,mr4 ,darwin's theory of pangenesis beyond avoiding the pretence that ,i understand either the theory itself or what ,professor ,weismann says about it2 all ,i am concerned with is ,professor ,weismann's admission1 made immediately afterwards1 that the somatic cells may1 and perhaps sometimes do1 impart characteristics to the germ-cells4 ,a complete and satisfactory refutation of such an opinion1 he continues1 cannot be brought forward at present2 so ,i suppose we must wait a little longer1 but in the meantime we may again remark that1 if we admit even occasional communication of changes in the somatic cells to the germ-cells1 we have let in the thin end of the wedge1 as ,mr4 ,darwin did when he said that use and disuse did a good deal towards modification4 ,buffon1 in his first volume on the lower animals1 #cg dwells on the impossibility of stopping the breach once made by admission of variation at all4 ,if the point1 he writes1 were once gained1 that among animals and vegetables there had been1 ,i do not say several species1 but even a single one1 which had been produced in the course of direct descent from another species2 if1 for example1 it could be once shown that the ass was but a degeneration from the horse--then there is no farther limit to be set to the power of ,nature1 and we should not be wrong in supposing that with sufficient time she could have evolved all other organised forms from one primordial type4 ,so with use and disuse and transmission of acquired characteristics generally--once show that a single structure or instinct is due to habit in preceding generations1 and we can impose no limit on the results achievable by accumulation in this respect1 nor shall we be wrong in conceiving it as possible that all specialisation1 whether of structure or instinct1 may be due ultimately to habit4 ,how far this can be shown to be probable is1 of course1 another matter1 but ,i am not immediately concerned with this2 all ,i am concerned with now is to show that the germ-cells not unfrequently become permanently affected by events that have made a profound impression upon the somatic cells1 in so far that they transmit an obvious reminiscence of the impression to the embryos which they go subsequently towards forming4 ,this is all that is necessary for my case1 and ,i do not find that ,professor ,weismann1 after all1 disputes it4 ,but here1 again1 comes the difficulty of saying what ,professor ,weismann does1 and what he does not1 dispute4 ,one moment he gives all that is wanted for the ,lamarckian contention1 the next he denies common-sense the bare necessaries of life4 ,for a more exhaustive and detailed criticism of ,professor ,weismann's position1 ,i would refer the reader to an admirably clear article by ,mr4 ,sidney ,h4 ,vines1 which appeared in ,nature1 ,october #bd1 #ahhi4 ,i can only say that while reading ,professor ,weismann's book1 ,i feel as ,i do when ,i read those of ,mr4 ,darwin1 and of a good many other writers on biology whom ,i need not name4 ,i become like a fly in a window-pane4 ,i see the sunshine and freedom beyond1 and buzz up and down their pages1 ever hopeful to get through them to the fresh air without1 but ever kept back by a mysterious something1 which ,i feel but cannot either grasp or see4 ,it was not thus when ,i read ,buffon1 ,erasmus ,darwin1 and ,lamarck2 it is not thus when ,i read such articles as ,mr4 ,vines's just referred to4 ,love of self-display1 and the want of singleness of mind that it inevitably engenders--these1 ,i suppose1 are the sins that glaze the casements of most men's minds2 and from these1 no matter how hard he tries to free himself1 nor how much he despises them1 who is altogether exempt8 ,finally1 then1 when we consider the immense mass of evidence referred to briefly1 but sufficiently1 by ,mr4 ,charles ,darwin1 and referred to without other1 for the most part1 than off-hand dismissal by ,professor ,weismann in the last of the essays that have been recently translated1 ,i do not see how any one who brings an unbiased mind to the question can hesitate as to the side on which the weight of testimony inclines4 ,professor ,weismann declares that the transmission of mutilations may be dismissed into the domain of fable4 #ch ,if so1 then1 whom can we trust8 ,what is the use of science at all if the conclusions of a man as competent as ,i readily admit ,mr4 ,darwin to have been1 on the evidence laid before him from countless sources1 is to be set aside lightly and without giving the clearest and most cogent explanation of the why and wherefore8 ,when we see a person ostrichising the evidence which he has to meet1 as clearly as ,i believe ,professor ,weismann to be doing1 we shall in nine cases out of ten be right in supposing that he knows the evidence to be too strong for him4 ,,the ,,deadlock ,,in ,,darwinism--,,part ,,iii ,now let me return to the recent division of biological opinion into two main streams--,lamarckism and ,weismannism ,both ,lamarckians and ,weismannists1 not to mention mankind in general1 admit that the better adapted to its surroundings a living form may be1 the more likely it is to outbreed its compeers4 ,the world at large1 again1 needs not to be told that the normal course is not unfrequently deflected through the fortunes of war2 nevertheless1 according to ,lamarckians and ,erasmus-,darwinians1 habitual effort1 guided by ever-growing intelligence--that is to say1 by continued increase of power in the matter of knowing our likes and dislikes--has been so much the main factor throughout the course of organic development1 that the rest1 though not lost sight of1 may be allowed to go without saying4 ,according1 on the other hand1 to extreme ,charles-,darwinians and ,weismannists1 habit1 effort and intelligence acquired during the experience of any one life goes for nothing4 ,not even a little fraction of it endures to the benefit of offspring4 ,it dies with him in whom it is acquired1 and the heirs of a man's body take no interest therein4 ,to state this doctrine is to arouse instinctive loathing2 it is my fortunate task to maintain that such a nightmare of waste and death is as baseless as it is repulsive4 ,the split in biological opinion occasioned by the deadlock to which ,charles-,darwinism has been reduced1 though comparatively recent1 widens rapidly4 ,ten years ago ,lamarck's name was mentioned only as a byword for extravagance2 now1 we cannot take up a number of ,nature without seeing how hot the contention is between his followers and those of ,weismann4 ,this must be referred1 as ,i implied earlier1 to growing perception that ,mr4 ,darwin should either have gone farther towards ,lamarckism or not so far4 ,in admitting use and disuse as freely as he did1 he gave ,lamarckians leverage for the overthrow of a system based ostensibly on the accumulation of fortunate accidents4 ,in assigning the lion's share of development to the accumulation of fortunate accidents1 he tempted fortuitists to try to cut the ground from under ,lamarck's feet by denying that the effects of use and disuse can be inherited at all4 ,when the public had once got to understand what ,lamarck had intended1 and wherein ,mr4 ,charles ,darwin had differed from him1 it became impossible for ,charles-,darwinians to remain where they were1 nor is it easy to see what course was open to them except to cast about for a theory by which they could get rid of use and disuse altogether4 ,weismannism1 therefore1 is the inevitable outcome of the straits to which ,charles-,darwinians were reduced through the way in which their leader had halted between two opinions4 ,this is why ,charles-,darwinians1 from ,professor ,huxley downwards1 have kept the difference between ,lamarck's opinions and those of ,mr4 ,darwin so much in the background4 ,unwillingness to make this understood is nowhere manifested more clearly than in ,dr4 ,francis ,darwin's life of his father4 ,in this work ,lamarck is sneered at once or twice1 and told to go away1 but there is no attempt to state the two cases side by side2 from which1 as from not a little else1 ,i conclude that ,dr4 ,francis ,darwin has descended from his father with singularly little modification4 ,proceeding to the evidence for the transmissions of acquired habits1 ,i will quote two recently adduced examples from among the many that have been credibly attested4 ,the first was contributed to ,nature 7,march #ad1 #ahhi7 by ,professor ,marcus ,m4 ,hartog1 who wrote3-- ,a4 ,b4 is moderately myopic and very astigmatic in the left eye2 extremely myopic in the right4 ,as the left eye gave such bad images for near objects1 he was compelled in childhood to mask it1 and acquired the habit of leaning his head on his left arm for writing1 so as to blind that eye1 or of resting the left temple and eye on the hand1 with the elbow on the table4 ,at the age of fifteen the eyes were equalised by the use of suitable spectacles1 and he soon lost the habit completely and permanently4 ,he is now the father of two children1 a boy and a girl1 whose vision 7tested repeatedly and fully7 is emmetropic in both eyes1 so that they have not inherited the congenital optical defect of their father4 ,all the same1 they have both of them inherited his early acquired habit1 and need constant watchfulness to prevent their hiding the left eye when writing1 by resting the head on the left forearm or hand4 ,imitation is here quite out of the question4 ,considering that every habit involves changes in the proportional development of the muscular and osseous systems1 and hence probably of the nervous system also1 the importance of inherited habits1 natural or acquired1 cannot be overlooked in the general theory of inheritance4 ,i am fully aware that ,i shall be accused of flat ,lamarckism1 but a nickname is not an argument4 ,to this ,professor ,ray ,lankester rejoined 7,nature1 ,march #ba1 #ahhi73-- ,it is not unusual for children to rest the head on the left forearm or hand when writing1 and ,i doubt whether much value can be attached to the case described by ,professor ,hartog4 ,the kind of observation which his letter suggests is1 however1 likely to lead to results either for or against the transmission of acquired characters4 ,an old friend of mine lost his right arm when a schoolboy1 and has ever since written with his left4 ,he has a large family and grandchildren1 but ,i have not heard of any of them showing a disposition to left-handedness4 ,from ,nature 7,march #ba1 #ahhi7 ,i take the second instance communicated by ,mr4 ,j4 ,jenner-,weir1 who wrote as follows3-- ,mr4 ,marcus ,m4 ,hartog's letter of ,march #fth1 inserted in last week's number 7p4 #dfb71 is a very valuable contribution to the growing evidence that acquired characters may be inherited4 ,i have long held the view that such is often the case1 and ,i have myself observed several instances of the1 at least ,i may say1 apparent fact4 ,many years ago there was a very fine male of the ,capra megaceros in the gardens of the ,zoological ,society4 ,to restrain this animal from jumping over the fence of the enclosure in which he was confined1 a long1 and heavy chain was attached to the collar round his neck4 ,he was constantly in the habit of taking this chain up by his horns and moving it from one side to another over his back2 in doing this he threw his head very much back1 his horns being placed in a line with the back4 ,the habit had become quite chronic with him1 and was very tiresome to look at4 ,i was very much astonished to observe that his offspring inherited the habit1 and although it was not necessary to attach a chain to their necks1 ,i have often seen a young male throwing his horns over his back and shifting from side to side an imaginary chain4 ,the action was exactly the same as that of his ancestor4 ,the case of the kid of this goat appears to me to be parallel to that of child and parent given by ,mr4 ,hartog4 ,i think at the time ,i made this observation ,i informed ,mr4 ,darwin of the fact by letter1 and he did not accuse me of 'flat ,lamarckism4' ,to this letter there was no rejoinder4 ,it may be said1 of course1 that the action of the offspring in each of these cases was due to accidental coincidence only4 ,anything can be said1 but the question turns not on what an advocate can say1 but on what a reasonably intelligent and disinterested jury will believe2 granted they might be mistaken in accepting the foregoing stories1 but the world of science1 like that of commerce1 is based on the faith or confidence1 which both creates and sustains them4 ,indeed the universe itself is but the creature of faith1 for assuredly we know of no other foundation4 ,there is nothing so generally and reasonably accepted--not even our own continued identity--but questions may be raised about it that will shortly prove unanswerable4 ,we cannot so test every sixpence given us in change as to be sure that we never take a bad one1 and had better sometimes be cheated than reduce caution to an absurdity4 ,moreover1 we have seen from the evidence given in my preceding article that the germ-cells issuing from a parent's body can1 and do1 respond to profound impressions made on the somatic-cells4 ,this being so1 what impressions are more profound1 what needs engage more assiduous attention than those connected with self-protection1 the procuring of food1 and the continuation of the species8 ,if the mere anxiety connected with an ill-healing wound inflicted on but one generation is sometimes found to have so impressed the germ-cells that they hand down its scars to offspring1 how much more shall not anxieties that have directed action of all kinds from birth till death1 not in one generation only but in a longer series of generations than the mind can realise to itself1 modify1 and indeed control1 the organisation of every species8 ,i see ,professor ,s4 ,h4 ,vines1 in the article on ,weismann's theory referred to in my preceding article1 says ,mr4 ,darwin held that it was not the sudden variations due to altered external conditions which become permanent1 but those slowly produced by what he termed 'the accumulative action of changed conditions of life4' ,nothing can be more soundly ,lamarckian1 and nothing should more conclusively show that1 whatever else ,mr4 ,darwin was1 he was not a ,charles-,darwinian2 but what evidence other than inferential can from the nature of the case be adduced in support of this1 as ,i believe1 perfectly correct judgment8 ,none know better than they who clamour for direct evidence that their master was right in taking the position assigned to him by ,professor ,vines1 that they cannot reasonably look for it4 ,with us1 as with themselves1 modification proceeds very gradually1 and it violates our principles as much as their own to expect visible permanent progress1 in any single generation1 or indeed in any number of generations of wild species which we have yet had time to observe4 ,occasionally we can find such cases1 as in that of ,branchipus stagnalis1 quoted by ,mr4 ,wallace1 or in that of the ,new ,zealand ,kea whose skin1 ,i was assured by the late ,sir ,julius von ,haast1 has already been modified as a consequence of its change of food4 ,here we can show that in even a few generations structure is modified under changed conditions of existence1 but as we believe these cases to occur comparatively rarely1 so it is still more rarely that they occur when and where we can watch them4 ,nature is eminently conservative1 and fixity of type1 even under considerable change of conditions1 is surely more important for the well-being of any species than an over-ready power of adaptation to1 it may be1 passing changes4 ,there could be no steady progress if each generation were not mainly bound by the traditions of those that have gone before it4 ,it is evolution and not incessant revolution that both parties are upholding2 and this being so1 rapid visible modification must be the exception1 not the rule4 ,i have quoted direct evidence adduced by competent observers1 which is1 ,i believe1 sufficient to establish the fact that offspring can be and is sometimes modified by the acquired habits of a progenitor4 ,i will now proceed to the still more1 as it appears to me1 cogent proof afforded by general considerations4 ,what1 let me ask1 are the principal phenomena of heredity8 ,there must be physical continuity between parent1 or parents1 and offspring1 so that the offspring is1 as ,erasmus ,darwin well said1 a kind of elongation of the life of the parent4 ,erasmus ,darwin put the matter so well that ,i may as well give his words in full2 he wrote3-- ,owing to the imperfection of language the offspring is termed a new animal1 but is in truth a branch or elongation of the parent1 since a part of the embryon animal is1 or was1 a part of the parent1 and therefore1 in strict language1 cannot be said to be entirely new at the time of its production2 and therefore it may retain some of the habits of the parent system4 ,at the earliest period of its existence the embryon would seem to consist of a living filament with certain capabilities of irritation1 sensation1 volition1 and association1 and also with some acquired habits or propensities peculiar to the parent2 the former of these are in common with other animals2 the latter seem to distinguish or produce the kind of animal1 whether man or quadruped1 with the similarity of feature or form to the parent4 #ci ,those who accept evolution insist on unbroken physical continuity between the earliest known life and ourselves1 so that we both are and are not personally identical with the unicellular organism from which we have descended in the course of many millions of years1 exactly in the same way as an octogenarian both is and is not personally identical with the microscopic impregnate ovum from which he grew up4 ,everything both is and is not4 ,there is no such thing as strict identity between any two things in any two consecutive seconds4 ,in strictness they are identical and yet not identical1 so that in strictness they violate a fundamental rule of strictness--namely1 that a thing shall never be itself and not itself at one and the same time2 we must choose between logic and dealing in a practical spirit with time and space2 it is not surprising1 therefore1 that logic1 in spite of the show of respect outwardly paid to her1 is told to stand aside when people come to practice4 ,in practice identity is generally held to exist where continuity is only broken slowly and piecemeal1 nevertheless1 that occasional periods of even rapid change are not held to bar identity1 appears from the fact that no one denies this to hold between the microscopically small impregnate ovum and the born child that springs from it1 nor yet1 therefore1 between the impregnate ovum and the octogenarian into which the child grows2 for both ovum and octogenarian are held personally identical with the newborn baby1 and things that are identical with the same are identical with one another4 ,the first1 then1 and most important element of heredity is that there should be unbroken continuity1 and hence sameness of personality1 between parents and offspring1 in neither more nor less than the same sense as that in which any other two personalities are said to be the same4 ,the repetition1 therefore1 of its developmental stages by any offspring must be regarded as something which the embryo repeating them has already done once1 in the person of one or other parent2 and if once1 then1 as many times as there have been generations between any given embryo now repeating it1 and the point in life from which we started--say1 for example1 the amoeba4 ,in the case of asexually and sexually produced organisms alike1 the offspring must be held to continue the personality of the parent or parents1 and hence on the occasion of every fresh development1 to be repeating something which in the person of its parent or parents it has done once1 and if once1 then any number of times1 already4 ,it is obvious1 therefore1 that the germ-plasm 7or whatever the fancy word for it may be7 of any one generation is as physically identical with the germ-plasm of its predecessor as any two things can be4 ,the difference between ,professor ,weismann and1 we will say1 ,heringians consists in the fact that the first maintains the new germ-plasm when on the point of repeating its developmental processes to take practically no cognisance of anything that has happened to it since the last occasion on which it developed itself2 while the latter maintain that offspring takes much the same kind of account of what has happened to it in the persons of its parents since the last occasion on which it developed itself1 as people in ordinary life take of things that happen to them4 ,in daily life people let fairly normal circumstances come and go without much heed as matters of course4 ,if they have been lucky they make a note of it and try to repeat their success4 ,if they have been unfortunate but have recovered rapidly they soon forget it2 if they have suffered long and deeply they grizzle over it and are scared and scarred by it for a long time4 ,the question is one of cognisance or non-cognisance on the part of the new germs1 of the more profound impressions made on them while they were one with their parents1 between the occasion of their last preceding development1 and the new course on which they are about to enter4 ,those who accept the theory put forward independently by ,professor ,hering of ,prague 7whose work on this subject is translated in my book1 ,unconscious ,memory7 #dj and by myself in ,life and ,habit1 #da believe in cognizance1 as do ,lamarckians generally4 ,weismannites1 and with them the orthodoxy of ,english science1 find non-cognisance more acceptable4 ,if the ,heringian view is accepted1 that heredity is only a mode of memory1 and an extension of memory from one generation to another1 then the repetition of its development by any embryo thus becomes only the repetition of a lesson learned by rote2 and1 as ,i have elsewhere said1 our view of life is simplified by finding that it is no longer an equation of1 say1 a hundred unknown quantities1 but of ninety-nine only1 inasmuch as two of the unknown quantities prove to be substantially identical4 ,in this case the inheritance of acquired characteristics cannot be disputed1 for it is postulated in the theory that each embryo takes note of1 remembers and is guided by the profounder impressions made upon it while in the persons of its parents1 between its present and last preceding development4 ,to maintain this is to maintain use and disuse to be the main factors throughout organic development2 to deny it is to deny that use and disuse can have any conceivable effect4 ,for the detailed reasons which led me to my own conclusions ,i must refer the reader to my books1 ,life and ,habit #db and ,unconscious ,memory1 #db the conclusions of which have been often adopted1 but never1 that ,i have seen1 disputed4 ,a brief resume of the leading points in the argument is all that space will here allow me to give4 ,we have seen that it is a first requirement of heredity that there shall be physical continuity between parents and offspring4 ,this holds good with memory4 ,there must be continued identity between the person remembering and the person to whom the thing that is remembered happened4 ,we cannot remember things that happened to some one else1 and in our absence4 ,we can only remember having heard of them4 ,we have seen1 however1 that there is as much bona-fide sameness of personality between parents and offspring up to the time at which the offspring quits the parent's body1 as there is between the different states of the parent himself at any two consecutive moments2 the offspring therefore1 being one and the same person with its progenitors until it quits them1 can be held to remember what happened to them within1 of course1 the limitations to which all memory is subject1 as much as the progenitors can remember what happened earlier to themselves4 ,whether it does so remember can only be settled by observing whether it acts as living beings commonly do when they are acting under guidance of memory4 ,i will endeavour to show that1 though heredity and habit based on memory go about in different dresses1 yet if we catch them separately--for they are never seen together--and strip them there is not a mole nor strawberry-mark1 nor trick nor leer of the one1 but we find it in the other also4 ,what are the moles and strawberry-marks of habitual action1 or actions remembered and thus repeated8 ,first1 the more often we repeat them the more easily and unconsciously we do them4 ,look at reading1 writing1 walking1 talking1 playing the piano1 c42 the longer we have practised any one of these acquired habits1 the more easily1 automatically and unconsciously1 we perform it4 ,look1 on the other hand1 broadly1 at the three points to which ,i called attention in ,life and ,habit3-- ,i4 ,that we are most conscious of and have most control over such habits as speech1 the upright position1 the arts and sciences--which are acquisitions peculiar to the human race1 always acquired after birth1 and not common to ourselves and any ancestor who had not become entirely human4 ,,ii4 ,that we are less conscious of and have less control over eating and drinking provided the food be normal1 swallowing1 breathing1 seeing1 and hearing--which were acquisitions of our prehuman ancestry1 and for which we had provided ourselves with all the necessary apparatus before we saw light1 but which are still1 geologically speaking1 recent4 ,,iii4 ,that we are most unconscious of and have least control over our digestion and circulation--powers possessed even by our invertebrate ancestry1 and1 geologically speaking1 of extreme antiquity4 ,i have put the foregoing very broadly1 but enough is given to show the reader the gist of the argument4 ,let it be noted that disturbance and departure1 to any serious extent1 from normal practice tends to induce resumption of consciousness even in the case of such old habits as breathing1 seeing1 and hearing1 digestion and the circulation of the blood4 ,so it is with habitual actions in general4 ,let a player be never so proficient on any instrument1 he will be put out if the normal conditions under which he plays are too widely departed from1 and will then do consciously1 if indeed he can do it at all1 what he had hitherto been doing unconsciously4 ,it is an axiom as regards actions acquired after birth1 that we never do them automatically save as the result of long practice2 the stages in the case of any acquired facility1 the inception of which we have been able to watch1 have invariably been from a nothingness of ignorant impotence to a little somethingness of highly self-conscious1 arduous performance1 and thence to the unselfconsciousness of easy mastery4 ,i saw one year a poor blind lad of about eighteen sitting on a wall by the wayside at ,varese1 playing the concertina with his whole body1 and snorting like a child4 ,the next year the boy no longer snorted1 and he played with his fingers only2 the year after that he seemed hardly to know whether he was playing or not1 it came so easily to him4 ,i know no exception to this rule4 ,where is the intricate and at one time difficult art in which perfect automatic ease has been reached except as the result of long practice8 ,if1 then1 wherever we can trace the development of automatism we find it to have taken this course1 is it not most reasonable to infer that it has taken the same even when it has risen in regions that are beyond our ken8 ,ought we not1 whenever we see a difficult action performed1 automatically to suspect antecedent practice8 ,granted that without the considerations in regard to identity presented above it would not have been easy to see where a baby of a day old could have had the practice which enables it to do as much as it does unconsciously1 but even without these considerations it would have been more easy to suppose that the necessary opportunities had not been wanting1 than that the easy performance could have been gained without practice and memory4 ,when ,i wrote ,life and ,habit 7originally published in #ahgg7 ,i said in slightly different words3-- ,shall we say that a baby of a day old sucks 7which involves the whole principle of the pump and hence a profound practical knowledge of the laws of pneumatics and hydrostatics71 digests1 oxygenises its blood--millions of years before any one had discovered oxygen--sees and hears1 operations that involve an unconscious knowledge of the facts concerning optics and acoustics compared with which the conscious discoveries of ,newton are insignificant--shall we say that a baby can do all these things at once1 doing them so well and so regularly without being even able to give them attention1 and yet without mistake1 and shall we also say at the same time that it has not learnt to do them1 and never did them before8 ,such an assertion would contradict the whole experience of mankind4 ,i have met with nothing during the thirteen years since the foregoing was published that has given me any qualms about its soundness4 ,from the point of view of the law courts and everyday life it is1 of course1 nonsense2 but in the kingdom of thought1 as in that of heaven1 there are many mansions1 and what would be extravagance in the cottage or farmhouse1 as it were1 of daily practice1 is but common decency in the palace of high philosophy1 wherein dwells evolution4 ,if we leave evolution alone1 we may stick to common practice and the law courts2 touch evolution and we are in another world2 not higher1 not lower1 but different as harmony from counterpoint4 ,as1 however1 in the most absolute counterpoint there is still harmony1 and in the most absolute harmony still counterpoint1 so high philosophy should be still in touch with common sense1 and common sense with high philosophy4 ,the common-sense view of the matter to people who are not over-curious and to whom time is money1 will be that a baby is not a baby until it is born1 and that when born it should be born in wedlock4 ,nevertheless1 as a sop to high philosophy1 every baby is allowed to be the offspring of its father and mother4 ,the high-philosophy view of the matter is that every human being is still but a fresh edition of the primordial cell with the latest additions and corrections2 there has been no leap nor break in continuity anywhere2 the man of to-day is the primordial cell of millions of years ago as truly as he is the himself of yesterday2 he can only be denied to be the one on grounds that will prove him not to be the other4 ,every one is both himself and all his direct ancestors and descendants as well2 therefore1 if we would be logical1 he is one also with all his cousins1 no matter how distant1 for he and they are alike identical with the primordial cell1 and we have already noted it as an axiom that things which are identical with the same are identical with one another4 ,this is practically making him one with all living things1 whether animal or vegetable1 that ever have existed or ever will--something of all which may have been in the mind of ,sophocles when he wrote3-- ,nor seest thou yet the gathering hosts of ill ,that shall en-one thee both with thine own self ,and with thine offspring4 ,and all this has come of admitting that a man may be the same person for two days running6 ,as for sopping common sense it will be enough to say that these remarks are to be taken in a strictly scientific sense1 and have no appreciable importance as regards life and conduct4 ,true they deal with the foundations on which all life and conduct are based1 but like other foundations they are hidden out of sight1 and the sounder they are1 the less we trouble ourselves about them4 ,what other main common features between heredity and memory may we note besides the fact that neither can exist without that kind of physical continuity which we call personal identity8 ,first1 the development of the embryo proceeds in an established order2 so must all habitual actions based on memory4 ,disturb the normal order and the performance is arrested4 ,the better we know ,god save the ,queen1 the less easily can we play or sing it backwards4 ,the return of memory again depends on the return of ideas associated with the particular thing that is remembered--we remember nothing but for the presence of these1 and when enough of these are presented to us we remember everything4 ,so1 if the development of an embryo is due to memory1 we should suppose the memory of the impregnate ovum to revert not to yesterday1 when it was in the persons of its parents1 but to the last occasion on which it was an impregnate ovum4 ,the return of the old environment and the presence of old associations would at once involve recollection of the course that should be next taken1 and the same should happen throughout the whole course of development4 ,the actual course of development presents precisely the phenomena agreeable with this4 ,for fuller treatment of this point ,i must refer the reader to the chapter on the abeyance of memory in my book ,life and ,habit1 already referred to4 ,secondly1 we remember best our last few performances of any given kind1 so our present performance will probably resemble some one or other of these2 we remember our earlier performances by way of residuum only1 but every now and then we revert to an earlier habit4 ,this feature of memory is manifested in heredity by the way in which offspring commonly resembles most its nearer ancestors1 but sometimes reverts to earlier ones4 ,brothers and sisters1 each as it were giving their own version of the same story1 but in different words1 should generally resemble each other more closely than more distant relations4 ,and this is what actually we find4 ,thirdly1 the introduction of slightly new elements into a method already established varies it beneficially2 the new is soon fused with the old1 and the monotony ceases to be oppressive4 ,but if the new be too foreign1 we cannot fuse the old and the new--nature seeming to hate equally too wide a deviation from ordinary practice and none at all4 ,this fact reappears in heredity as the beneficial effects of occasional crossing on the one hand1 and on the other1 in the generally observed sterility of hybrids4 ,if heredity be an affair of memory1 how can an embryo1 say of a mule1 be expected to build up a mule on the strength of but two mule-memories8 ,hybridism causes a fault in the chain of memory1 and it is to this cause that the usual sterility of hybrids must be referred4 ,fourthly1 it requires many repeated impressions to fix a method firmly1 but when it has been engrained into us we cease to have much recollection of the manner in which it came to be so1 or indeed of any individual repetition1 but sometimes a single impression1 if prolonged as well as profound1 produces a lasting impression and is liable to return with sudden force1 and then to go on returning to us at intervals4 ,as a general rule1 however1 abnormal impressions cannot long hold their own against the overwhelming preponderance of normal authority4 ,this appears in heredity as the normal non-inheritance of mutilations on the one hand1 and on the other as their occasional inheritance in the case of injuries followed by disease4 ,fifthly1 if heredity and memory are essentially the same1 we should expect that no animal would develop new structures of importance after the age at which its species begins ordinarily to continue its race2 for we cannot suppose offspring to remember anything that happens to the parent subsequently to the parent's ceasing to contain the offspring within itself4 ,from the average age1 therefore1 of reproduction1 offspring should cease to have any farther steady1 continuous memory to fall back upon2 what memory there is should be full of faults1 and as such unreliable4 ,an organism ought to develop as long as it is backed by memory--that is to say1 until the average age at which reproduction begins2 it should then continue to go for a time on the impetus already received1 and should eventually decay through failure of any memory to support it1 and tell it what to do4 ,this corresponds absolutely with what we observe in organisms generally1 and explains1 on the one hand1 why the age of puberty marks the beginning of completed development--a riddle hitherto not only unexplained but1 so far as ,i have seen1 unasked2 it explains1 on the other hand1 the phenomena of old age--hitherto without even attempt at explanation4 ,sixthly1 those organisms that are the longest in reaching maturity should on the average be the longest-lived1 for they will have received the most momentous impulse from the weight of memory behind them4 ,this harmonises with the latest opinion as to the facts4 ,in his article on ,weismann in the ,contemporary ,review for ,may #ahij1 ,mr4 ,romanes writes3 ,professor ,weismann has shown that there is throughout the metazoa a general correlation between the natural lifetime of individuals composing any given species1 and the age at which they reach maturity or first become capable of procreation4 ,this1 ,i believe1 has been the conclusion generally arrived at by biologists for some years past4 ,lateness1 then1 in the average age of reproduction appears to be the principle underlying longevity4 ,there does not appear at first sight to be much connection between such distinct and apparently disconnected phenomena as #a1 the orderly normal progress of development2 #b1 atavism and the resumption of feral characteristics2 #c1 the more ordinary resemblance inter se of nearer relatives2 #d1 the benefit of an occasional cross1 and the usual sterility of hybrids2 #e1 the unconsciousness with which alike bodily development and ordinary physiological functions proceed1 so long as they are normal2 #f1 the ordinary non-inheritance1 but occasional inheritance of mutilations2 #g1 the fact that puberty indicates the approach of maturity2 #h1 the phenomena of middle life and old age2 #i1 the principle underlying longevity4 ,these phenomena have no conceivable bearing on one another until heredity and memory are regarded as part of the same story4 ,identify these two things1 and ,i know no phenomenon of heredity that does not immediately become infinitely more intelligible4 ,is it conceivable that a theory which harmonises so many facts hitherto regarded as without either connection or explanation should not deserve at any rate consideration from those who profess to take an interest in biology8 ,it is not as though the theory were unknown1 or had been condemned by our leading men of science4 ,professor ,ray ,lankester introduced it to ,english readers in an appreciative notice of ,professor ,hering's address1 which appeared in ,nature1 ,july #ah1 #ahgf4 ,he wrote to the ,athenaeum1 ,march #bd1 #ahhd1 and claimed credit for having done so1 but ,i do not believe he has ever said more in public about it than what ,i have here referred to4 ,mr4 ,romanes did indeed try to crush it in ,nature1 ,january #bg1 #ahha1 but in #ahhc1 in his ,mental ,evolution in ,animals1 he adopted its main conclusion without acknowledgment4 ,the ,athenaeum1 to my unbounded surprise1 called him to task for this 7,march #a1 #ahhd71 and since that time he has given the ,heringian theory a sufficiently wide berth4 ,mr4 ,wallace showed himself favourably enough disposed towards the view that heredity and memory are part of the same story when he reviewed my book ,life and ,habit in ,nature1 ,march #bg1 #ahgi1 but he has never since betrayed any sign of being aware that such a theory existed4 ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer wrote to the ,athenaeum 7,april #e1 #ahhd71 and claimed the theory for himself1 but1 in spite of his doing this1 he has never1 that ,i have seen1 referred to the matter again4 ,i have dealt sufficiently with his claim in my book1 ,luck or ,cunning4 #dc ,lastly1 ,professor ,hering himself has never that ,i know of touched his own theory since the single short address read in #ahgj1 and translated by me in #ahha4 ,every one1 even its originator1 except myself1 seems afraid to open his mouth about it4 ,of course the inference suggests itself that other people have more sense than ,i have4 ,i readily admit it2 but why have so many of our leaders shown such a strong hankering after the theory1 if there is nothing in it8 ,the deadlock that ,i have pointed out as existing in ,darwinism will1 ,i doubt not1 lead ere long to a consideration of ,professor ,hering's theory4 ,english biologists are little likely to find ,weismann satisfactory for long1 and if he breaks down there is nothing left for them but ,lamarck1 supplemented by the important and elucidatory corollary on his theory proposed by ,professor ,hering4 ,when the time arrives for this to obtain a hearing it will be confirmed1 doubtless1 by arguments clearer and more forcible than any ,i have been able to adduce2 ,i shall then be delighted to resign the championship which till then ,i shall continue1 as for some years past1 to have much pleasure in sustaining4 ,heretofore my satisfaction has mainly lain in the fact that more of our prominent men of science have seemed anxious to claim the theory than to refute it2 in the confidence thus engendered ,i leave it to any fuller consideration which the outline ,i have above given may incline the reader to bestow upon it4 ,footnotes3 #a ,published in the ,universal ,review1 ,july #ahhh4 #b ,published in the ,universal ,review1 ,december #ahij4 #c ,published in the ,universal ,review1 ,may #ahhi4 ,as ,i have several times been asked if the letters here reprinted were not fabricated by ,butler himself1 ,i take this opportunity of stating that they are authentic in every particular1 and that the originals are now in my possession4--,r4 ,a4 ,s4 #d ,an address delivered at the ,somerville ,club1 ,february #bg1 #ahie4 #e ,the ,foundations of ,belief1 by the ,right ,hon4 ,a4 ,j4 ,balfour4 ,longmans1 #ahie1 p4 #dh4 #f ,published in the ,universal ,review1 ,november #ahhh4 #g ,since this essay was written it has been ascertained by ,cavaliere ,francesco ,negri1 of ,casale ,monferrato1 that ,tabachetti died in #afae4 ,if1 therefore1 the ,sanctuary of ,montrigone was not founded until #afca1 it is plain that ,tabachetti cannot have worked there4 ,all the latest discoveries about ,tabachetti's career will be found in ,cavaliere ,negri's pamphlet ,il ,santuario di ,crea 7,alessandria1 #aijb74 ,see also note on p4 #aed4--,r4 ,a4 ,s4 #h ,published in the ,universal ,review1 ,december #ahhi4 #i ,longmans ,co41 #ahij4 #aj ,longmans ,co41 #ahij4 #aa ,published in the ,universal ,review1 ,november #ahij4 #ab ,longmans ,co41 #ahij4 #ac ,m4 ,ruppen's words run3 #afhg wurde die ,kapelle zur hohen ,stiege gebaut1 #agdg durch ,zusatz vergrossert und #agee mit ,orgeln ausgestattet4 ,anton ,ruppen1 ein geschickter ,steinhauer mid ,maurermeister leitete den ,kapellebau1 und machte darin das kleinere ,altarlein4 ,bei der hohen ,stiege war fruher kein ,gebetshauslein2 nur ein wunderthatiges ,bildlein der ,mutter ,gottes stand da in einer ,mauer vor dem fromme ,hirten und viel andachtiges ,volk unter freiem ,himmel beteten4 #agji wurden die kleinen ,kapellelein die #ae ,geheimnisse des ,psalters vorstelland auf dem ,wege zur hohen ,stiege gebaut4 ,jeder ,haushalter des ,viertels ,fee ubernahm den ,bau eines dieser ,geheimnisskapellen1 und ein besonderer ,gutthater dieser frommen ,unternehmung war ,heinrich ,andenmatten1 nachher ,bruder der ,geselischaft ,jesu4 #ad ,the story of ,tabachetti's incarceration is very doubtful4 ,cavaliere ,f4 ,negri1 to whose book on ,tabachetti and his work at ,crea ,i have already referred the reader1 does not mention it4 ,tabachetti left his native ,dinant in #aehe1 and from that date until his death in #afae he appears to have worked chiefly at ,varallo and ,crea4 ,there is a document in existence stating that in #aehh he executed a statue for the hermitage of ,s4 ,rocco1 at ,crea1 which1 if it is to be relied on1 disposes both of the incarceration and of the visit to ,saas4 ,it is possible1 however1 that the date is #aeih1 in which case ,butler's theory of the visit to ,saas may hold good4 ,in #aeij ,tabachetti was certainly at ,varallo1 and again in #aeid1 #aeii1 and #afjb4 ,he died in #afae1 possibly during a visit to ,varallo1 though his home at that time was ,costigliole1 near ,asti4--,r4 ,a4 ,s4 #ae ,this is thus chronicled by ,m4 ,ruppen3 #aehi den #i ,september war eine ,wassergrosse1 die viel ,schaden verursachte4 ,die ,thalstrasse1 die von den ,steinmatten an bis zur ,kirche am ,ufer der ,visp lag1 wurde ganz zerstort4 ,man ward gezwungen eine neue ,strasse in einiger ,entfernung vom ,wasser durch einen alten ,fussweg auszuhauen welche vier und einerhalben ,viertel der ,klafter1 oder #f ,schuh und #i ,zoll breit soilte4 7p4 #dc74 #af ,a lecture delivered at the ,working ,men's ,college in ,great ,ormond ,street1 ,march #ae1 #ahij2 rewritten and delivered again at the ,somerville ,club1 ,february #ac1 #ahid4 #ag ,correlation of ,forces3 ,longmans1 #ahgd1 p4 #ae4 #ah ,three ,lectures on the ,science of ,language1 ,longmans1 #ahhi1 p4 #d4 #ai ,science of ,thought1 ,longmans1 #ahhg1 p4 #i4 #bj ,published in the ,universal ,review1 ,april1 ,may1 and ,june #ahij4 #ba ,voyages of the ,adventure and ,beagle1 iii4 p4 #bcg4 #bb ,luck1 or ,cunning1 as the main means of ,organic ,modification8 7,longmans71 pp4 #agi1 #ahj4 #bc ,journals of the ,proceedings of the ,linnean ,society 7,zoology1 vol4 iii471 #ahei1 p4 #fa4 #bd ,darwinism 7,macmillan1 #ahhi71 p4 #abi4 #be ,longmans1 #ahij1 p4 #cgf4 #bf ,see ,nature1 ,march #f1 #ahij4 #bg ,origin of ,species1 sixth edition1 #ahhh1 vol4 i4 p4 #afh4 #bh ,origin of ,species1 sixth edition1 #ahhh1 vol4 ii4 p4 #bfa4 #bi ,mr4 ,j4 ,t4 ,cunningham1 of the ,marine ,biological ,laboratory1 ,plymouth1 has called my attention to the fact that ,i have ascribed to ,professor ,ray ,lankester a criticism on ,mr4 ,wallace's remarks upon the eyes of certain fiat-fish1 which ,professor ,ray ,lankester was1 in reality1 only adopting--with full acknowledgment--from ,mr4 ,cunningham4 ,mr4 ,cunningham has left it to me whether to correct my omission publicly or not1 but he would so plainly prefer my doing so that ,i consider myself bound to insert this note4 ,curiously enough ,i find that in my book ,evolution ,old and ,new1 ,i gave what ,lamarck actually said upon the eyes of flat-fish1 and having been led to return to the subject1 ,i may as well quote his words4 ,he wrote3-- ,need--always occasioned by the circumstances in which an animal is placed1 and followed by sustained efforts at gratification--can not only modify an organ--that is to say1 augment or reduce it--but can change its position when the case requires its removal4 ,ocean fishes have occasion to see what is on either side of them1 and have their eyes accordingly placed on either side of their head4 ,some fishes1 however1 have their abode near coasts on submarine banks and inclinations1 and are thus forced to flatten themselves as much as possible in order to get as near as they can to the shore4 ,in this situation they receive more light from above than from below1 and find it necessary to pay attention to whatever happens to be above them2 this need has involved the displacement of their eyes1 which now take the remarkable position which we observe in the case of soles1 turbots1 plaice1 c4 ,the transfer of position is not even yet complete in the case of these fishes1 and the eyes are not1 therefore1 symmetrically placed2 but they are so with the skate1 whose head and whole body are equally disposed on either side a longitudinal section4 ,hence the eyes of this fish are placed symmetrically upon the uppermost side4--,philosophie ,zoologique1 tom4 i41 pp4 #bej1 #bea4 ,edition ,c4 ,martins4 ,paris1 #ahgc4 #cj ,essays on ,heredity1 c41 ,oxford1 #ahhi1 p4 #aga4 #ca ,essays on ,heredity1 c41 ,oxford1 #ahhi1 p4 #bff4 #cb ,darwinism1 #ahhi1 p4 #ddj4 #cc ,page #hc4 #cd ,vol4 i4 p4 #dff1 c4 ,ed4 #ahhe4 #ce ,darwinism1 p4 #ddj4 #cf ,longmans1 #ahij4 #cg ,tom4 iv4 p4 #chc4 ,ed4 #agec4 #ch ,essays1 c41 p4 #ddg4 #ci ,zoonomia1 #agid1 vol4 i4 p4 #dhj4 #dj ,longmans1 #ahij4 #da ,longmans1 #ahij4 #db ,longmans1 #ahij4 #dc ,longmans1 #ahij4