ESOTERIC PERIPATETICISM. 195 



his own vision is but rudimentary. He 

 catches a glimpse now and then, nothing 

 more. Like his neighbors, he, too, prays 

 for sight. Sooner or later, however, he dis- 

 covers that it is a blessing to be able on 

 occasion to leave one's scientific senses at 

 home. For here, again, surprising as it 

 may seem, it is necessary to be on our 

 guard against a superserviceable activity. 

 There are times when we go out-of-doors, 

 not after information, but in quest of a 

 mood. Then we must not be over-obser- 

 vant. Nature is coy ; she appreciates the 

 difference between an inquisitor and a 

 lover. The curious have their reward, no 

 doubt, but her best gifts are reserved for 

 suitors of a more sympathetic turn. And 

 unless it be here and there some creature 

 altogether devoid of poetic sensibility, some 

 "fingering slave," 



" One who would peep and botanize 

 Upon his mother's grave," 



unless it be such a person as this, too poor 

 to be conscious of his own poverty, there 

 can be no enthusiastic student of natural 

 history but has found out for himself the 

 truth and importance of the paradoxical 



