Pagina 23 de 483

The untaught peasant beheld the elements around him and was

acquainted with their practical uses. The most learned

philosopher knew little more. He had partially unveiled the face

of Nature, but her immortal lineaments were still a wonder and a

mystery. He might dissect, anatomise, and give names; but, not to

speak of a final cause, causes in their secondary and tertiary

grades were utterly unknown to him. I had gazed upon the

fortifications and impediments that seemed to keep human beings

from entering the citadel of nature, and rashly and ignorantly I

had repined.