THE THRESHOLD OF THE GODS. 



" Silva altajovis, lucusve Diana." 



How shall we account for the old mytholo- 

 gies, or shall we attempt to account for them 

 at all ? That beauty is imperishable, and that 

 whatever fills the measure of logic may be 

 taken as demonstrated, has somehow come to be 

 accepted by wise men as true. But shall we 

 receive or reject the gods of the ancients on 

 the score of beauty on the one hand or of logic 

 on the other? Who ever did believe in the 

 gods ? Were they men of feeble minds or 

 debilitated physiques — a lot of degenerate 

 clods without any fixedness of character ? 

 Was Agamemnon a fool, Homer a dunce, 

 Pythagoras a ninny, or Caesar a weakling ? 



These may at first view seem questions both 

 trite and uninteresting ; but I purpose sketch- 

 ing presently, as best I may, the outlines of a 

 quiet little adventure which led me to ponder 

 deeply over the proposition, Was there ever 

 any foundation in fact for this belief in the 

 gods ? I will not say that I believe there ever 

 was, nor can I own to a total disregard for 

 certain rather obscure and mysterious evi- 

 dences in nature of the existence of beings 

 whose tenure of material bodies is as certain 

 and indestructible as the bodies are shadowy, 

 and whose power is somehow held, for some 

 reason hard to discover, in abeyance. If 

 gods ever were they now are. They may not 

 be now palpable or visible or audible, but 



