156 GLAUCUS; OR, 
copy neither, and fear neither the silence nor the 
laughter of the mighty mother Earth, if he will be 
but wise, and hear her tell him, alike in both-- 
“Why call me mother? Why ask me for knowledge 
which I cannot teach, peace which I cannot give or 
take away? Iam only your foster-mother and your 
nurse—and I have not been an unkindly one. But 
you are God’s children, and not mine. Ask Him. 
I can amuse you with my songs; but they are but 
a nurse’s lullaby to the weary flesh. I can awe you 
with my silence; but my silence is only my just 
humility, and your gain. How dare I pretend to 
tell you secrets which He who made me knows 
alone? I am but inanimate matter; why ask of 
me things which belong to living spirit? In God 
I live and move, and have my being; I know not 
how, any more than you know. Who will tell 
you what life is, save He who is the Lord of life? 
And if He will not tell you, be sure it is because 
you need not to know. At least, why seek God 
in nature, the living among the dead? He is not 
here: He is risen.” 
