mate contact with these fundamental
conceptions, worked out with such
infinite pain and patience, that the in-
dividual experience is broadened to
include the experience of the race.
This contact is the mystery as it is
the source of culture. No one can
explain the transmission of power
from a book to a reader; but all his-
tory bears witness to the fact that
such transmissions are made. Some-
times, as during what is called the
Revival of Learning, the transmission
is so general and so genuine that the
life of an entire society is visibly
quickened and enlarged; indeed, it
is not too much to say that an en-
tire civilisation feels the effect. The
transmission of power, the transfer-
ence of vitality, from books to indi-
viduals are so constant and common
that they are matters of universal ex-

[[89]]

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v?