If our life be one of toil and of suffering, if the world outside be cold and dreary, what a pleasure to return to the sunshine of happy faces and the warmth of hearts we love. [1] Sir T. Browne. [2] Mackenzie, _The Lounger_. [3] J. A. Symonds. [4] Gray's Letters. [5] Ruskin. [6] Seneca. [7] Emerson. [8] Helps. [9] Southey. [10] Heine, trans. by E. A. Bowring. [11] Emerson. [12] Woodworth. [13] Cowper. CHAPTER IX. SCIENCE. "Happy is he that findeth wisdom, And the man that getteth understanding: For the merchandise of it is better than silver, And the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: And all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand, And in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, And all her paths are peace." PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. Those who have not tried for themselves can hardly imagine how much Science adds to the interest and variety of life. It is altogether a mistake to regard it as dry, difficult, or prosaic--much of it is as easy as it is interesting. A wise instinct of old united the prophet and the "seer." "The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walketh in darkness." Technical works, descriptions of species, etc., bear the same relation to science as dictionaries do to literature. Occasionally, indeed, Science may destroy some poetical myth of antiquity, such as the ancient Hindoo explanation of rivers, that "Indra dug out their beds with his thunderbolts, and sent them forth by long continuous paths;" but the real causes of natural phenomena are far more striking, and contain more true poetry, than those which have occurred to the untrained imagination of mankind. In endless aspects science is as wonderful and interesting as a fairy tale. "There are things whose strong reality Outshines our fairyland; in shape and hues More beautiful than our fantastic sky, And the strange constellations which the Muse O'er her wild universe is skillful to diffuse." [1] Mackay justly exclaims: "Blessings on Science! When the earth seemed old, When Faith grew doting, and our reason cold, 'Twas she discovered that the world was young, And taught a language to its lisping tongue."