56 THE SUM IMPRESSION 



then love of Nature would fade away from men's 

 hearts. Being out of sympathy and repelled from 

 entering into deep communion with her, men 

 would never again see Beauty in her. The enjoy- 

 ment of Natural Beauty would pass from them 

 for ever. 



So the Artist will try to get at the true Heart of 

 Nature. If the Naturalist part of him tells him that 

 at bottom Nature is merciless and unrelenting, 

 utterly regardless of the things of most worth in 

 life; that Nature is indeed "red in tooth and 

 claw " ; that all she cares for — all she selects as the 

 fittest to survive — are the merely strongest, the 

 most pushing and aggressive, the individuals who 

 will simply trample down their neighbours in order 

 that they themselves may " survive " ; or if , again, 

 the Naturalist convinces him that all he has seen in, 

 the forest has come about by pure chance ; that it is 

 by a mere fluke that we find orchids and not mush- 

 rooms, men and not monkeys, at the head of plant 

 and animal life ; and that Nature herself is wholly 

 indifferent as to which of the two establishes its pre- 

 eminence — ^then he will feel the chill upon his soul, 

 he will shrivel up within himself, the very fountain- 

 spring of Beauty will be frozen up, and never again 

 will he see Beauty in any single one of Nature's 

 manifestations. 



But if, on the other hand, the Naturalist is able 

 to convince the Artist that in spite of the very 

 evident struggle for existence Nature does not care 

 twopence whether the " fittest " survive or not so 

 long as what is best in the end prevails ; that far from 

 things coming about by mere chance Nature has a 



