228 A GARDEN DIARY 



dislike it, and they are probably right in doing 

 so. It is true that what we call the Past, that 

 which is entirely put away, and done with, 

 might seem to be a harmless enough subject of 

 contemplation. So conceivably it might be, were 

 it not for the fact that in following it one is apt 

 to find oneself brought suddenly face to face with 

 the other, and the far more formidable brother ; 

 the one whose kingdom lies, not behind us, but 

 ahead. At those dim barriers all real advance is 

 inexorably stayed ; into the recesses beyond them 

 no secular lantern has ever peered ; while even 

 our most authoritative, our most convinced guides, 

 can at best assure us as to its geography with 

 hesitating, and often curiously conflicting voices. 



To abstain from all attempts at peering into 

 that obscurity is more perhaps than can be asked 

 of mortals. The less of such peerings we indulge 

 in, however, surely the better, because the saner, 

 because, also, the more trustful. Of all the catar- 

 acts of words, poured in verbal Niagaras over 

 this momentous topic, have there been many, I 

 wonder, wiser or truer than these of old Hooker? 

 I write them down as they have lodged in my 

 memory ; probably therefore quite incorrectly. 



" Rash were it for the feeble mind of man to 

 wade far into the doings of the Almighty. For 

 though 'tis Joy to know Him, and Pride to make 

 mention of His name, yet our deepest Wisdom 

 is to know that we know Him not, and our truest 

 Homage is our Silence." 



