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It　would　be　easy　to　cite　a　hundred　other　words　like　these；　saved　only　by　their　nobler　uses　in　literature　from　ultimate　defacement。　The　higher　standard　imposed　upon　the　written　word　tends　to　raise　and　purify　speech　also；　and　since　talkers　owe　the　same　debt　to　writers　of　prose　that　these；　for　their　part；　owe　to　poets；　it　is　the　poets　who　must　be　accounted　chief　protectors；　in　the　last　resort；　of　our　common　inheritance。　　Every　page　of　the　works　of　that　great　exemplar　of　diction；　Milton；　is　crowded　with　examples　of　felicitous　and　exquisite　meaning　given　to　the　infallible　word。　Sometimes　he　accepts　the　secondary　and　more　usual　meaning　of　a　word　only　to　enrich　it　by　the　interweaving　of　the　primary　and　etymological　meaning。　　Thus　the　seraph　Abdiel；　in　the　passage　that　narrates　his　offer　of　combat　to　Satan；　is　said　to　〃explore〃　his　own　undaunted　heart；　and　there　is　no　sense　of　〃explore〃　that　does　not　heighten　the　description　and　help　the　thought。　　Thus　again；　when　the　poet　describes　those


Eremites　and　friars；　White；　Black；　and　Gray；　with　all　their　trumpery；


who　inhabit；　or　are　doomed　to　inhabit；　the　Paradise　of　Fools；　he　seems　to　invite　the　curious　reader　to　recall　the　derivation　of　〃trumpery；〃　and　so　supplement　the　idea　of　worthlessness　with　that　other　idea；　equally　grateful　to　the　author；　of　deceit。　　The　strength　that　extracts　this　multiplex　resonance　of　meaning　from　a　single　note　is　matched　by　the　grace　that　gives　to　Latin　words　like　〃secure；〃　〃arrive；〃　〃obsequious；〃　〃redound；〃　〃infest；〃　and　〃solemn〃　the　fine　precision　of　intent　that　art　can　borrow　from　scholarship。

Such　an　exactitude　is　consistent　with　vital　change；　Milton　himself　is　bold　to　write　〃stood　praying〃　for　〃continued　kneeling　in　prayer；〃　and　deft　to　transfer　the　application　of　〃schism〃　from　the　rent　garment　of　the　Church　to　those　necessary　〃dissections　made　in　the　quarry　and　in　the　timber　ere　the　house　of　God　can　be　built。〃　Words　may　safely　veer　to　every　wind　that　blows；　so　they　keep　within　hail　of　their　cardinal　meanings；　and　drift　not　beyond　the　scope　of　their　central　employ；　but　when　once　they　lose　hold　of　that；　then；　indeed；　the　anchor　has　begun　to　drag；　and　the　beach…comber　may　expect　his　harvest。

Fixity　in　the　midst　of　change；　fluctuation　at　the　heart　of　sameness；　such　is　the　estate　of　language。　　According　as　they　endeavour　to　reduce　letters　to　some　large　haven　and　abiding…place　of　civility；　or　prefer　to　throw　in　their　lot　with　the　centrifugal　tendency　and　ride　on　the　flying　crest　of　change；　are　writers　dubbed　Classic　or　Romantic。　　The　Romantics　are　individualist；　anarchic；　the　strains　of　their　passionate　incantation　raise　no　cities　to　confront　the　wilderness　in　guarded　symmetry；　but　rather　bring　the　stars　shooting　from　their　spheres；　and　draw　wild　things　captive　to　a　voice。　　To　them　Society　and　Law　seem　dull　phantoms；　by　the　light　cast　from　a　flaming　soul。　　They　dwell　apart；　and　torture　their　lives　in　the　effort　to　attain　to　self…expression。　　All　means　and　modes　offered　them　by　language　they　seize　on　greedily；　and　shape　them　to　this　one　end；　they　ransack　the　vocabulary　of　new　sciences；　and　appropriate　or　invent　strange　jargons。　　They　furbish　up　old　words　or　weld　together　new　indifferently；　that　they　may　possess　the　machinery　of　their　speech　and　not　be　possessed　by　it。　　They　are　at　odds　with　the　idiom　of　their　country　in　that　it　serves　the　common　need；　and　hunt　it　through　all　its　metamorphoses　to　subject　it　to　their　private　will。　　Heretics　by　profession；　they　are　everywhere　opposed　to　the　party　of　the　Classics；　who　move　by　slower　ways　to　ends　less　personal；　but　in　no　wise　easier　of　attainment。　　The　magnanimity　of　the　Classic　ideal　has　had　scant　justice　done　to　it　by　modern　criticism。　　To　make　literature　the　crowning　symbol　of　a　world…wide　civilisation；　to　roof　in　the　ages；　and　unite　the　elect　of　all　time　in　the　courtesy　of　one　shining　assembly；　paying　duty　to　one　unquestioned　code；　to　undo　the　work　of　Babel；　and　knit　together　in　a　single　community　the　scattered　efforts　of　mankind　towards　order　and　reason；　…　this　was　surely　an　aim　worthy　of　labour　and　sacrifice。　　Both　have　been　freely　given；　and　the　end　is　yet　to　seek。　　The　self…assertion　of　the　recusants　has　found　eulogists　in　plenty；　but　who　has　celebrated　the　self…denial　that　was　thrown　away　on　this　other　task；　which　is　farther　from　fulfilment　now　than　it　was　when　the　scholars　of　the　Renaissance　gave　up　their　patriotism　and　the　tongue　of　their　childhood　in　the　name　of　fellow…citizenship　with　the　ancients　and　the　oecumenical　authority　of　letters？　Scholars；　grammarians；　wits；　and　poets　were　content　to　bury　the　lustre　of　their　wisdom　and　the　hard…won　fruits　of　their　toil　in　the　winding…sheet　of　a　dead　language；　that　they　might　be　numbered　with　the　family　of　Cicero；　and　added　to　the　pious　train　of　Virgil。　　It　was　a　noble　illusion；　doomed　to　failure；　the　versatile　genius　of　language　cried　out　against　the　monotony　of　their　Utopia；　and　the　crowds　who　were　to　people　the　unbuilded　city　of　their　dreams　went　straying　after　the　feathered　chiefs　of　the　rebels；　who；　when　the　fulness　of　time　was　come；　themselves　received　apotheosis　and　the　honours　of　a　new　motley　pantheon。　　The　tomb　of　that　great　vision　bears　for　epitaph　the　ironical　inscription　which　defines　a　Classic　poet　as　〃a　dead　Romantic。〃

In　truth　the　Romantics　are　right；　and　the　serenity　of　the　classic　ideal　is　the　serenity　of　paralysis　and　death。　　A　universal　agreement　in　the　use　of　words　facilitates　communication；　but；　so　inextricably　is　expression　entangled　with　feeling；　it　leaves　nothing　to　communicate。　　Inanity　dogs　the　footsteps　of　the　classic　tradition；　which　is　everywhere　lackeyed；　through　a　long　decline；　by　the　pallor　of　reflected　glories。　　Even　the　irresistible　novelty　of　personal　experience　is　dulled　by　being　cast　in　the　old　matrix；　and　the　man　who　professes　to　find　the　whole　of　himself　in　the　Bible　or　in　Shakespeare　had　as　good　not　be。　　He　is　a　replica　and　a　shadow；　a　foolish　libel　on　his　Creator；　who；　from　the　beginning　of　time；　was　never　guilty　of　tautology。　　This　is　the　error　of　the　classical　creed；　to　imagine　that　in　a　fleeting　world；　where　the　quickest　eye　can　never　see　the　same　thing　twice；　and　a　deed　once　done　can　never　be　repeated；　language　alone　should　be　capable　of　fixity　and　finality。　　Nature　avenges　herself　on　those　who　would　thus　make　her　prisoner；　their　truths　degenerate　to　truisms；　and　feeling　dies　in　the　ice…palaces　that　they　build　to　house　it。　　In　their　search　for　permanence　they　become　unreal；　abstract；　didactic；　lovers　of　generalisation；　cherishers　of　the　dry　bones　of　life；　their　art　is　transformed　into　a　science；　their　expression　into　an　academic　terminology。　　Immutability　is　their　ideal；　and　they　find　it　in　the　arms　of　death。　　Words　must　change　to　live；　and　a　word　once　fixed　becomes　useless　for　the　purposes　of　art。　　Whosoever　would　make　acquaintance　with　the　goal　towards　which　the　classic　practice　tends；　should　seek　it　in　the　vocabulary　of　the　Sciences。　　There　words　are　fixed　and　dead；　a　botanical　collection　of　colourless；　scentless；　dried　weeds；　a　HORTUS　SICCUS　of　proper　names；　each　individual　symbol　poorly　tethered　to　some　single　object　or　idea。　No　wind　blows　through　that　garden；　and　no　sun　shines　on　it；　to　discompose　the　melancholy　workers　at　their　task　of　tying　Latin　labels　on　to　withered　sticks。　　Definition　and　division　are　the　watchwords　of　science；　where　art　is　all　for　composition　and　creation。　　Not　that　the　exact　definable　sense　of　a　word　is　of　no　value　to　the　stylist；　he　profits　by　it　as　a　painter　profits　by　a　study　of　anatomy；　or　an　architect　by　a　knowledge　of　the　strains　and　stresses　that　may　be　put　on　his　material。　　The　exact　logical　definition　is　often　necessary　for　the　structure　of　his　thought　and　the　ordering　of　his　severer　argument。　　But　often；　too；　it　is　the　merest　beginning；　when　a　word　is　once　defined　he　overlays　it　with　fresh　associations　and　buries　it　under　new…found　moral　significances；　which　may　belie　the　definition　they　conceal。　　This　is　the　burden　of　Jeremy　Bentham's　quarrel　with　〃question…begging　appellatives。〃　　A　clear…sighted　and　scrupulously　veracious　philosopher；　abettor　of　the　age　of　reason；　apostle　of　utility；　god…　father　of　the　panopticon；　and　donor　to　the　English　dictionary　of　such　unimpassioned　vocables　as　〃codification〃　and　〃international；〃　Bentham　would　have　been　glad　to　purify　the　language　by　purging　it　of　those　〃affections　of　the　soul〃　wherein　Burke　had　found　its　highest　glory。　　Yet　in　censuring　the　ordinary　political　usage　of　such　a　word　as　〃innovation；〃　it　was　hardly　prejudice　in　general　that　he　attacked；　but　the　particular　and　deep…seated　prejudice　against　novelty。　　The　surprising　vivacity　of　many　of　his　own　figures；　…　although　he　had　the　courage　of　his　convictions；　and　laboured；　throughout　the　course　of　a　long　life；　to　desiccate　his　style；　…　bears　witness　to　a　natural　skill　in　the　use　of　loaded　weapons。　　He　will　pack　his　text　with　grave　argument　on　matters　ecclesiastical；　and　indulge　himself　and　literature；　in　the　notes　with　a　pleasant　description　of　the　flesh　and　the　spirit　playing　leap…frog；　now　one　up；　now　the　other；　around　the　holy　precincts　of　the　Church。　　Lapses　like　these　show　him　far　enough　from　his　own　ideal　of　a　geometric　fixity　in　the　use　of　words。　　The　claim　of　reason　and　l