But his wisdom is but
folly, and his light darkness.'
"Oh that day one of Nature's great mysteries was revealed to me,
doubtless with the purpose of humbling my vanity, and of teaching me
that nothing is impossible to God, and that it is in His power only
to multiply our senses, and by so doing gratify those who please Him."
Here the young professor took a pinch from his tortoiseshell snuff-box,
raised his eyes to the ceiling with a contemplative air, and then, after
a short pause, continued in these terms:--
"Does it not often happen to you, ladies, when you are in the country in
fine weather in summer, especially after a brief storm, when the air is
warm, and the exhalations from the ground filling it with the perfume of
thousands of plants, and their sweet scent penetrates and warms you; when
the foliage from the trees in the solitary avenues, as well as from the
bushes, seems to lean over you as if it sought to take you in its arms
and embrace you; when the minutest flowers, the humble daisy, the blue
forget-me-not, the convolvulus in the hedgerows raise their heads and
follow you with a longing look--does it not happen to you to experience
an inexpressible sensation of languor, to sigh for no apparent reason,
and even to feel inclined to shed tears, and to ask yourselves, 'Why does
this feeling of love oppress me? why do my knees bend under me? whence
these tears?'
"Whence indeed, ladies? Why from life, and the thousands of living things
which surround you, lean to you, and call to you to stay with them, while
they gently murmur, 'We love you; love us, and do not leave us.
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