Night-Prowls iti^kt Stteets Voi 



may be only an insitineV-tO rrtefge tji^iridi- 

 vidual into the whole, the part into the 

 entirety. When young we feel our per- 

 sonality and glory in it As we grow older 

 we see its indifferent consequence, the 

 inferiority of the part to the whole, while 

 making allowance for dominant individ- 

 uality. Assembled at a meeting, a dinner, 

 a play, a battle, we find the ego we had 

 vaunted to be no better than a thousand 

 others. Perhaps we are sorry at this ; per- 

 haps we are glad to be supported and 

 absorbed. 



One charm of the night walk is its mys- 

 tery. We do not want facts thrown at us, 

 as if we were doing wrong, and they were 

 bricks. I suppose it is a little pride of 

 mind that makes us reserve some rights of 

 understanding and discovery, and a pride 

 of individuality that makes us wish to im- 

 press ourselves on what we see. Night is 

 a time for impressions rather than for the 

 getting of knowledge, although if we know 

 a good deal about something we are pretty 

 sure to see it ; not in its own light, perhaps, 

 but in ours. Unless our specialty is seeing, 



