KNOWLEDGE SLOW OF ATTAINMENT. 277 



mation, hilarity, and glee; they cluster round us, 

 suppliant in the winter of our year, and> unre- 

 pining through cold and want, seek their scanty 

 meal amidst the refuse of the barn, the stalls of the 

 cattle, or at the doors of our house ; or, flitting 

 hungry from one denuded and bare spray to ano- 

 ther, excite our pity and regard ; their lives are 

 patterns of gaiety, cleanliness, alacrity, and joy. 



THERE are very many subjects and employments 

 of mankind, which, if we would obtain a compe- 

 tent knowledge of them, will require an almost un- 

 divided attention ; yet, after all our " rising early 

 and late taking rest/' we shall know too little to be 

 weighed in competition with what is beyond our 

 attainment or comprehension. As in ascending 

 mountainous regions we may reach the summit of 

 one hill with comparative ease, that of a higher with 

 more laborious efforts, and a still higher is attained 

 by a gifted few, beyond which our breath fails us, 

 our natural powers become inadequate ; so a small 

 number may ascend the Alps of science, but pant, 

 unable to attain the Himmala ranges of their wishes. 

 If proficiency be the object, all the branches of 

 natural history require undivided attention; but 

 amusement, admiration, and intelligence, may be 

 obtained by even superficial observation ; and of 

 all these departments, perhaps entomology, or the 

 investigation of the insect world, from the variety 



