Some, it is true, go thither to see him simply as an object of curiosity; but even among these there are those who on returning thence, full of enthusiasm for what they have seen, find the flowers of the fields more sweet and fragile, and the wild fragrance of the woods and hedges more voluptuous, and the green of the trees more tender. They have learnt to look at the earth and to "kneel in the grass."
Scientists come to chat with the scientist. Others come to salute the primary schoolman, the lay instructor, the great pedagogue whose glory is reflected upon all the primary schools of France.
Those who cannot visit him write, telling him of all the pleasure which they owe him, thanking him for long and delightful hours passed in the reading of his books, expressing the hope that he may yet live many years, and still further increase the number of his "Souvenirs."
Some ask him a host of questions relating to entomology or philosophy; others ask him for impossible answers to some of the fascinating and mysterious problems which he has expounded; women confide in him their little private griefs or their intimate sorrows, a naive form of homage; but a thousand times more touching than any other, and one that shows how profound has been the beneficent influence of his books upon certain isolated minds, and what consolation can be derived from science when it finds a sufficiently eloquent voice to interpret it.
As he can work no longer, these visits now fill his life, formally so occupied; and in the midst of all the sympathy extended to him he is sensible, not of the twilight, but of a sunrise; he feels that his work has been good, that an infinity of minds are learning through him to regard plants and animals with greater affection; and that the consideration of men, finally directed upon his work, will not readily exhaust it, for it is one of the Bibles of Nature.
[NOTES.]
NOTES TO INTRODUCTION.
[Introduction/1.]
Letters to his brother, 1898-1900.
[Introduction/2.]
I have made some valuable "finds" here; among other pieces cited the fragment on "Playthings," the curious description of the "Eclipse," and the poem on "Number" are here published for the first time.
[Introduction/3.]
This negligence in the matter of correspondence is not least among the causes which have mitigated against his popularity.