THE FIRESIDE AT FAR AWAY. 117 



Bay ? And what teaches the saracena plant to shut its 

 fingers and gather in its leaves all nourishing insects ? 

 Thus, when you see these things day and night, you are 

 led to reason of them, and your thought makes you bet- 

 ter by a positive judgment. It is no mere assimilation, 

 but a refined study." 



" I will propose a question to you," retorted the Doc- 

 tor : " why, then, should not the Indians be better men, 

 as they see these things day and night ?" 



" Simply because the Indian never had mind enough 

 to think or reason at all of such things. You commit an 

 error by assuming that, because all these things are 

 visible and constant, therefore men of no mind will read 

 them aright ; but I think that it is, on the contrary, the 

 greatest minds that are the best students of nature, and 

 until a mind has received some education, it cannot 

 aj^preciate nature to any extent. Listen to the mon- 

 strous errors the rustic repeats of what he sees in the 

 fields, and then, as the world culminates in a highly reli- 

 gious and educated society, see how it gathers, as m 

 London, all the birds of the air and beasts of the field, 

 together, to * consider their ways and be wise.' " 



As Miss Jackson talked, her grey eye kindled, and a 

 blush brightened either cheek. The Doctor raised him- 

 self gradually to a sitting position, then to his feet, and 

 then he walked across the floor, saying, in his clear, 

 hearty tone : " Give me your hand, Lou Jackson ! who 

 cares which comes first, the love of nature or the mind, to 

 appreciate her, the one is sure to produce the other." 



