The Life of Jean Henri Fabre 



used to accept the wild flowers which he 

 brought in from his walks, how tenderly he 

 would caress them with his frail lingers and 

 brilliant eyes. Both looks and gestures ex- 

 pressed an infinite admiration for the pure 

 and simple work of Nature as God has or- 

 dained it: 



" And when one evening," says his friend, 

 11 1 remarked that these little miracles 

 clearly proved the existence of a divine 

 Artificer: ' For me, I do not believe in God,' 

 declared the scientist, repeating for the last 

 time his famous and paradoxical profession 

 of faith : ' I do not believe in God, because 

 I see Him in all things and everywhere.' 



Another day he expressed his firm and 

 profound conviction to the same friend, in 

 a slightly different form. " God is Light! ' 

 he said dreamily. — " And you always see 

 Him shining?" "No," he said suddenly, 

 "God does not shine; He obtrudes Him- 

 self." 



The man who thus bows before God has 

 truly attained, on the heights of human 

 knowledge, what we may call with him the 

 threshold of eternal life. To him God sends 

 His angels to open the gates, that he may 

 enter by the straight paths of the Gospel 

 and the Church. 



.392 



