in its perfection is the prize he will have won.

CHAPTER X

THE NATURE OF NATURE

The Artist is now in a position to take stock of Nature as a whole, of
her nature, methods, and manner of working, of the motives which
actuate her--of what, in short, she really is at heart. And having thus
reviewed her, he will have to determine whether his wider and
deeper knowledge of Nature confirms or detracts from the
impression of her which he had gained from a contemplation of the
forest's innumerable life. Upon this decision will depend his final
attitude towards her. And upon his attitude towards her depends his
capacity for enjoying Natural Beauty. For if he has any doubt in his
mind as to the goodness of Nature or any hesitation about giving
himself out to her, there is little prospect of his seeing Beauty in her.
He will remain cold and unresponsive to her calls and enjoyment of
Natural Beauty will not be for him.

And each of us--each for himself--just as much as the Artist will
have to make up his mind on this fundamental question. If we are to
get the full enjoyment we should expect out of Natural Beauty we
must have a clear and firm conception in our minds of what Nature
really is, what is her essential character, whether at heart she is cold
and callous or warm and loving. So far as we were justified in
drawing conclusions regarding the character of Nature as a whole
from what we saw of her manifestations in the life of the forest, we
came to the conclusion that she was not so hard and repellent as she
assuredly would be to us if her guiding principle of action were the
survival of the fittest. We inferred, rather, from our observations of
her in the forest that she was actuated by an aspiration towards what
we ourselves hold to be of most worth and value. We were therefore
not disillusioned by closer familiarity with her, but more closely
drawn towards her, and therefore prepared to see more Beauty in her.
Now we have to review Nature as a whole--that is, in the Starry
World as well as on this Earth--and see if the same conclusions hold
good, and if we are therefore justified in loving Nature, or if we
should view her with suspicion and distrust, hold ourselves aloof
from her, and cultivate a stoic courage in face of a Power whose
character we must cordially dislike.

There are men who hold that the appearance of life and love on this
Earth is a mere flash in the pan and comes about by pure chance.
They beli