100 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY 



Mutability in science only belongs to error : for 

 truth, no less than nature, is unchanging ; whereas 

 mutability, on the contrary, is a necessary accom- 

 paniment of art, and is interwoven with its very 

 excellence. 



(48.) There is an inexpressible satisfaction, an in- 

 tellectual delight, in the pursuit of truth, which few 

 but the philosopher can fully understand. This 

 luxury of the soul, as it may well be termed, belongs 

 more especially to the pursuit of natural science ; 

 particularly to those branches which are usually 

 termed demonstrative. The man who studies the 

 forms of nature, has before him, so far as those 

 forms are concerned, models of perfection. He has 

 no need to suspect that others exist, in distant coun- 

 tries, more perfect of their kind, than those before 

 him, and which he should previously see and study. 

 He has not to consult popular taste, ephemeral 

 fashion, or arbitrary opinion, on the value or import- 

 ance of his pursuits. He has before him truth : 

 his sole business is to analyse all the parts and all 

 the bearings of that truth, and make them known to 

 the world. The models and materials of his study 

 are divine ; and how much they exceed those of any 

 human artist, will be manifested by a blade of grass, 

 compared with which the most exquisite carvings in 

 stone or ivory sink into insignificance. The calcu- 

 lations of the astronomer, and the results of the 

 chemist, are productive of much the same feelings. 

 Truth indeed is but seldom attained, yet with su- 

 perior minds this very difficulty serves but to 

 increase the ardour of its pursuit. 



(49.) Another advantage, almost exclusively be- 



