THE POETIC SPIRIT 185 



morning the gulls would be there, flying about hungry 

 as ever, and the pipit would go on with flight and 

 song in the same old way, free as ever from appre- 

 hension. And as with the pipits so it is with all 

 creatures that are preyed upon : sudden violent death 

 as the result of any failure, or mistake, or slight acci- 

 dent, is a condition of wild life, else its vigour would 

 not be so perfect and its faculties so bright. 



Every day, in fact, when I am observing the actions 

 of birds, or of animals generally, from a dog or a 

 donkey to a fly, I may witness something unexpected, 

 an action which will come as a surprise ; but this 

 will be only because of its rarity, or because it comes 

 about through a rare concurrence of circumstances, 

 but not because the creature has acted in any way 

 contrary to its nature. 



It is sadly different (sadly, I mean, for the natural- 

 ist) with regard to human beings. You cannot gen- 

 eralise from the actions of an individual as you may 

 safely do in the case of a titlark or a gull or a donkey. 

 You study a dozen or a hundred, and then begin to 

 think that you have not had a sufficient number 

 owing to the variety you have noticed, and you study 

 a hundred more and after all you are still in doubt. 

 It may appear that, in the last chapter, I have not 

 shown much doubt as to the want of a sense of 

 humour (as we understand it) in the Cornish. J 

 have not ; but when it conies to another and a 

 greater faculty imagination, to wit I am not very 

 sure. 



If it could be taken for granted that a people who 



