In
him science and literature, too often divorced, were closely united; and
literature owes him a debt for importing into it so much of the highest
scientific habit of mind; for showing that truthfulness need not be
bald, and that real power lies more in exact accuracy than in luxuriance
of diction.
Huxley's own theory as to how clearness is to be obtained gets at the
root of the matter. "For my part, I venture to doubt the wisdom of
attempting to mould one's style by any other process than that
of striving after the clear and forcible expression of definite
conceptions; in which process the Glassian precept, first catch your
definite conception, is probably the most difficult to obey."
Perfect clearness, above every other quality of style, certainly
is characteristic of Huxley; but clearness alone does not make
subject-matter literature. In addition to this quality, Huxley's writing
wins the reader by the racy diction, the homely illustration, the
plain, honest phrasing. All these and other qualities bring one into
an intimate relationship with his subject. A man of vast technical
learning, he is still so interested in the relation of his facts to the
problems of men that he is always able to infuse life into the driest
of subjects, in other words, to HUMANIZE his knowledge; and in the
estimation of Matthew Arnold, this is the true work of the scholar, the
highest mission of style.
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