294 THE UNSEEn universe." heat power, and in process of time would exhaust it if not supplied with fresh material. Let the authors of "The Unseen Universe" speak for themselves :-"The sun is the furnace or source of high temperature heat of our system, just as the stars are for other systems; and the energy which is essential to our existence is derived from the heat which the sun radiates, and represents only a very small portion of that heat. But while the sun thus supplies us with energy, he is himself getting colder, and must ultimately, by means of radiation into space, part with the life-sustaining power which he at present possesses. Besides the cooling of the sun, we must also suppose that, owing to something analogous to ethereal friction, the earth and the other planets of our system will be drawn spirally nearer and nearer to the sun, and will at length be engulfed in this mass. In each such case there will be, as the result of the collision, the conversion of visible energy into heat and a partial and temporary restoration of the power of the sun. At length, however, this process will have come to an end, and he will be extinguished, until, after long but not immeasurable ages, by means of the same ethereal friction, his black mass is brought into contact with that of his nearest neighbour." The dissipation of " energy," then, must finally bring about the collapse of our present visible system. Does not this indicate a breach in the continuity which is supposed to be a law of the universe? That would be the case if the visible universe were all. Here, then, it is that science is stretching out her hands to the unseen universe, and recognising that the invisible spiritual world is necessary for the perfection of the laws she has discovered. From the same law of continuity is deduced the fact that this unseen universe must have existed before the visible one, since the visible universe must have had a beginning. Thus we find several points of contact with revelation. Revelation teaches that the world was created in time; science shows that it could not always have existed as it is. Revelation teaches us that the world and its work shall be burned up; science demonstrates that such will be the inevitable conclusion of the present system, according to the laws which now govern it. Revelation teaches that there is a spiritual world closely connected with and intimately affecting our present condition; science is now beginning to see that human laws must absolutely fail and be their own condemnation if such be not the case. For the law of continuity demands that if the present universe be destroyed, it must be only in order to recover its existence under, it may be, a further development and different laws. And the same principle, in its application to the individual, demands from us, on grounds altogether independent of revelation, the belief in immortality; for it is manifest that, if the principle be true, death can offer no let or hindrance to the development of the individual. This, be it noted, is but putting THE RELigion of science. 295 in other words the argument in favour of the future life urged by that great master of Christian apologetics, Bishop Butler. I have dealt at some length with this remarkable book on account of its relation to an important aspect of modern thought, and because it is really a scientific attempt by scientific men to harmonise the teachings of science with those of revelation. The main argument seems to me indisputable; I should be glad to see it further investigated. Religion can have no cause to fear such an investigation, for each fresh discovery of truth must be a help to it and a confirmation of it. What religion does shrink from is the advancement of baseless and untested theories as if they were discoveries. True science (scientia), which is the knowledge of God and the things of God, can but prove, with every real discovery of the laws of God, the handmaid of revelation.1 1 In connection with this subject, I may refer to a volume of able sermons by the Rev. W. Page Roberts, "Law and God." It has also been thoughtfully handled by the Rev. Stopford Brooke. The reader should not overlook Dr. Carpenter's "Mental Physiology" and Jevons's "First Principles of Science," which need no praise of mine. CHAPTER X. HOW TO WRITE: ENGLISH COMPOSITION. SE the pen," says a thoughtful writer; "there is no magic in it, but it keeps the mind from staggering about." The first object of him who would think correctly should be to learn to express himself correctly. "Litera scripta manet," in a different sense from that which the adage originally bore; it assists us to survey the progress of our argument or to count up the stages and courses of our reasoning. It steadies us in the operation of thinking. "The magic of the pen," says George Henry Lewes, "lies in the concentration of your thoughts upon one subject,"- -a concentration almost impossible for ordinary thinkers unless they have the assistance of the written page. "If what you have written should turn out imperfect, you can correct it, and the correction will be more efficient than that correction which takes place in the shifting thoughts of hesitation." As a method of self-culture, therefore, the art of composition rises into primary importance. Its value in our social and business relations needs no exposition. We are all of us accustomed to regard it as one of the marks of education and refinement. To write one's own language accurately and elegantly is not less desirable than to speak it accurately and elegantly. Moreover, if you write with ease and exactness, you are more likely to speak with ease and exactness. It is, of course, essential that, whether you write or speak, you should have something to say, and that what you have or wish to say should be your first consideration. And it is true to a certain extent that if your heart and mind be full, they will find a means of relieving themselves. But that others may readily understand you, and as a means of regulating and controlling your ideas and feelings, it is essential you should learn "combination of lucid order, graceful ease, pregnant significance, and rich variety," which makes and distinguishes a good style. In the present day almost everybody writes, and it might be thought therefore that a "good style" would be one of the commonest of commonplaces. As a matter of fact, it is exceedingly rare. There are fewer good writers now, in the sense of writers with an original and characteristic style, than in the Elizabethan PAST AND PRESENT ENGLISH. 297 era. The standard is lower; style is no longer cultivated as essential to the due expression of a man's thought; it is supposed to be sufficient for a writer, in addressing the public, to avoid grammatical errors and say what he means with tolerable clearness. There is no individuality; the majority of authors write so much alike, that, if their names were expunged, Robinson's books might be taken for Brown's and both for Smith's. In each we observe the same dead level of listless, monotonous, inartistic diction; cadence, modulation, continuity, all that makes up the rhythm and harmony of language, being absolutely deficient. This sameness of style is specially noticeable in our newspapers, where "leader" after "leader" presents exactly similar characteristics, or, more correctly speaking, the same absence of characteristics. The truth seems to be that style is, to a great extent, the reflex of the spirit of the age; and men have put off the stately, rich, and various prose of their ancestors together with their dignity of manners and picturesqueness of costume. They live more rapidly and write more rapidly, having no leisure for the construction of the long-sustained and elaborate word-harmonies in which their forefathers delighted. There is less original thought, and consequently less originality of style. The principal work of modern literature is exposition, and exposition requires simply lucidity and directness of language. In the days of Bacon, men created and built up their sentences just as they created and built up their theories and methods. The history of style is, in truth, a subject of profound interest, closely connected with the history of literature, and involving or suggesting considerations of very great importance. It is not within my province here to enter upon it, but a few brief quotations arranged in chronological order will demonstrate to the reader the variety of phases through which it has passed. Let us begin with Sir Philip Sidney. The quotation is from the "Arcadia :" "The third day after, in the time that the morning did strew roses and violets in the heavenly floor against the coming of the sun, the nightingales, striving one with the other which could in most dainty variety recount their wrong-caused sorrow, made them put off their sleep; and, rising from under a tree, which that night had been their pavilion, they went on their journey, which by and by welcomed Musidorus' eyes with delightful prospects. There were hills which garnished their proud heights with stately trees; humble valleys whose bare estate seemed comforted with the refreshing of silver rivers; meadows enamelled with all sorts of eye-pleasing flowers; thickets which, being lined with most pleasant shade, were witnessed so to by the cheerful disposition of many well-tuned birds; each pasture stored with sheep, feeding with sober security, while the pretty lambs, with bleating outcry, craved the dams' comfort; here a shepherd's boy piping, 298 THE HISTORY OF STYLE. as though he should never be old; there a young shepherdess knitting, and withal singing; and it seemed that her voice comforted her hands to work, and her hands kept time to her voicemusic. As for the houses of the country-for many houses came under their eye-they were all scattered, no two being one by the other, and yet not so far off as that it barred mutual succour; a show, as it were, of an accompanable (companionable) solitariness, and of a civil wildness." As every great writer uses the current language of his time, while elevating and enobling it by his genius, we may gather from this passage a notion of the characteristics of the Elizabethan style. Our next quotation is from Lord Bacon. It is the "current language" still, but its rhythm is all Bacon's own; so is its fervour, its brilliancy, its splendid imagery; all flowing naturally from the affluence of his intellectual powers. "The virtue of prosperity is temperance, the virtue of adversity is fortitude. Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity is the blessing of the New, which carrieth the greater benediction and the clearer revelation of God's favour. Yet even in the Old Testament, if you listen to David's lays, you shall hear as many heaven-like airs as carols; and the pencil of the Holy Ghost hath laboured more in describing the afflictions of Job than the felicities of Solomon. Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes, and adversity is not without comforts and hopes. We see in needleworks and embroideries, it is more pleasing to have a lively work upon a sad and solemn ground than to have a dark and melancholy work upon a lightsome ground; judge, therefore, of the pleasure of the heart by the pleasure of the eye. Certainly, virtue is like precious odours, most fragrant when they are incensed or crushed; for prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue." Milton's prose style has grave defects; it is frequently involved, heavy, and Latinistic; yet it has a pomp and majesty about it which is very imposing. Hazlitt says of it :-"It has the disadvantage of being formed on a classic model. It is like a fine translation from the Latin; and, indeed, he wrote originally in Latin." On the other hand, his prose writings cannot be overlooked by any student who would become acquainted with the full power of the English language. "They abound," says Macaulay, with passages compared with which the finest declamations of Burke sink into insignificance. They are a perfect field of cloth of gold. The style is stiff with gorgeous embroidery." Here is a specimen : 66 66 Truth, indeed, came over into the world with her Divine Master, and was a perfect shape, most glorious to look on; but when He ascended, and His Apostles after Him were laid asleep, then straight arose a wicked race of deceivers, who, as that story goes of the Egyptian Typhon with his conspirators, how they dealt with the god Osiris, took the virgin Truth, hewed her lovely form |