']6 love's meinie. 



in an umbrella), which will catch the wind, 

 and flutter upon it, like a leaf; but cannot 

 strike it to any purpose. The flying squirrel 

 drifts like a falling leaf; the bat flits like a 

 black rag torn at the edge. To give power, 

 we must have plumes that can strike, as with 

 the flat of a sword-blade ; and to give perfect 

 power, these must be laid over each other, so 

 that each may support the one below it. I 

 use the word below advisedly : we have to 

 strike down. The lowest feather is the one 

 that first meets the adverse force. It is the 

 one to be supported. 



Now for the manner of the support. You 

 must all know well the look of the machicolated 

 parapets in mediaeval castles. You know they 

 are carried on rows of small projecting but- 

 tresses constructed so that, though the upper- 

 most stone, far-projecting, would break easily 

 under any shock, it is supported by the next 

 below, and so on, down to the wall. Now 

 in this figure I am obliged to separate the 

 feathers by white spaces, to show you them 

 distinctly. In reality they are set as close to 

 each other as can be, but putting them as close 

 as I can, you get a or ^, Fig. 5, for the rough 



