306 BIRDS AND MAN 



on earth from which the meanest organism is 

 not excluded. For we are no longer isolated, 

 standing like starry visitors on a mountain-top, 

 surveying life from the outside ; but are on a 

 level with and part and parcel of it ; and if the 

 mystery of Ufe daily deepens, it is because we 

 view it more closely and with clearer vision. A 

 poet of our age has said that in the meanest 

 floweret we may find "thoughts that do often 

 he too deep for tears." The poet and prophet is 

 not alone in this ; he expresses a ffeeUng common 

 to all of those who, with our wider knowledge, 

 have the passion for nature in their hearts, who 

 go to nature, whether for knowledge or inspiration. 

 That there should appear in recent literature 

 something of a new spirit, a sympathetic feehng 

 which could not possibly have flourished in a 

 former age, is not to be wondered at, considering 

 all that has happened in the present century to 

 change the current of men's thoughts. For not 

 only has the new knowledge wrought in our 

 minds, but has entered, or is at last entering, into 

 our souls. 



Having got so far in my apology, a feehng of 

 despair would aU at once overcome me at the 



