atitude cannot be
computed. But presently they become individualized and centre in some
Erasmus, or obscure thinker, and from a voice in the air, become a
living force on the earth. They multiply and seem contagious, and assume
a thousand new forms. They grow quarrelsome and demonstrative, impudent
and conceited, crowd themselves in where they have no right, and would
fain demolish or appropriate every institution and appointment of
society. But after a time they settle into their proper relations,
incorporate themselves in the world, and become new sources of power and
progress in history.

This quotation is especially significant, as it shows the writer's
already keen observation of the birds, and his cleverness in
appropriating these facts of nature to his philosophical purpose. How
neatly it is done! Readers of "Wake-Robin" will recognize a part of
it in the matchless description of the bluebird which is found in the
initial essay of that book.

In 1860, in the "Leader," there also appeared a long essay by Mr.
Burroughs, "On Indirections." This has the most unity and flow of
thought of any thus far. It is so good I should like to quote it all.
Here are the opening paragraphs:--

The South American Indian who discovered the silver mines of Potosi by
the turning up of a bush at the roots, which he had caught hold of to
aid his ascent while pursuing a deer up a steep hill, represents very
well how far intention and will are concerned in the grand results
that flow from men's lives. Every schoolboy knows that many of the most
valuable discoveries in science and art were accidental, or a kind of
necessity, and sprang from causes that had no place in the forethought
of the discoverer. The ostrich lays its eggs in the sand, and the sun
hatches them; so man puts forth an effort and higher powers second him,
and he finds himself the source of events that he had never conceived or
meditated. Things are so intimately connected and so interdependent,
the near and the remote are so closely related, and all parts of the
universe are so mutually sympathetic, that it is impossible to tell what
momentous secrets may lurk under the most trifling facts, or what grand
and beautiful results may be attained through low and unimportant
means. It seems that Nature delights in surprise, and in underlying our
careless existences with plans that are evermore to disclose themselves
to us and stimulate us to new enterprise and research.