THE VERNAL GENTIAN 37 



place in folk-lore. In short, it is just its own 

 bright, fascinating self ; there is nothing of blatant 

 notoriety about its renown, no suspicion of a 

 succes de scandale such as the Edelweiss can so 

 justly claim. 



We may laud the Edelweiss as a symbol of 

 advanced endeavour, but the Gentian is more 

 useful, if not, indeed, worthier, in this respect ; for 

 it marks no great extreme and therefore its condi- 

 tion is symbolic of less that is incompatible with 

 consistent human effort. Ruskin has somewhere 

 said that the most glorious repose is that of the 

 chamois panting on its bed of granite, rather 

 than that of the ox chewing the cud in its stall ; 

 but, however transcendentally true this may be, 

 the actually glorious position lies midway betwixt 

 the two — the position of the Gentian in relation 

 with, for instance, the positions of the Edelweiss 

 and the Primrose. We are likely to derive in- 

 spiration of more abundant practical value from 

 the Gentian than from the Edelweiss, because 

 there is comparatively little about it that is 

 extreme. Though advanced in circumstance it is 

 reasonably situated ; it leads, therefore, to no such 

 flagrant inconsistency with facts, no such beating 

 of the drum of romance as, apparently, w^e find 



