x.] 1EVEKENCE AND COWARDICE. 231 



out in state robes, putting on the sacred Urim and 

 Thummim, not that men may ask counsel of the Deity, 

 but that they may not ? What is it but cowardice, 

 very pitiable when unmasked ; and what is its child 

 but ignorance as pitiable, which would be ludicrous 

 were it not so injurious ? If a man comes up to Nature 

 as to a parrot or a monkey, with this prevailing thought 

 in his head Will it bite me ? will he not be pretty 

 certain to make up his mind that it may bite him, and 

 had therefore best be left alone ? It is only the man 

 of courage few and far between who will stand the 

 chance of a first bite, in the hope of teaching the parrot 

 to talk, or the monkey to fire off a gun. And it is only 

 the man of courage few and far between who will 

 stand the chance of a first bite from Nature, which 

 may kill him for aught he knows for her teeth, though 

 clumsy, are very strong in order that he may tame 

 her and break her in to his use by the very same 

 method by which that admirable inductive philosopher, 

 Mr. Rarey, used to break in his horses ; first, by not 

 being afraid of them ; and next, by trying to find out 

 what they were thinking of. But after all, as with 

 animals, so with Nature ; cowardice is dangerous. The 

 surest method of getting bitten by an animal is to be 

 afraid of it ; and the surest method of being injured by 

 Nature is to be afraid of it. Only as far as we under- 

 stand Nature are we safe from it ; and those who in 

 any age counsel mankind not to pry into the secrets of 

 the universe, counsel them not to provide for their 

 own life and well-being, or for their children after 

 them. 



But how few there have been in any age who have 

 not been afraid of Nature. How few have set them- 



