230 FLOWERS AND FOLKS. 
abominable odor, and it is not unheard of 
that inconspicuous or even downright homely 
sorts should be accounted precious for their 
sweetness; while, as everybody knows, few 
members of our native flora are more grace- 
ful in appearance than the very two whose 
simple touch is poison. Could anything be 
more characteristic of human nature than 
just such inconsistencies? Suavity and 
trickery, harshness and integrity, a fiery 
temper and a gentle heart, — how often do 
we see the good and the bad dwelling to- 
gether! We would have ordered things dif- 
ferently, I: dare say, had they been left to 
us, —the good should have been all good, 
and the bad all bad; and yet, if it be a grief 
to feel that the holiest men have their fail- 
ings, it ought perhaps to be a consolation, 
rather than an additional sorrow, to perceive 
that the most vicious are not without their 
virtues. Beyond which, shall we presume to 
suggest that as poisons have their use, so 
moral evil, give it time enough, may turn out 
to be not altogether a curse? 
I have treated my subject too fancifully, 
I fear. Indeed, there comes over me at this 
moment a sudden suspicion that my subject 
