* * * * *
The following Letters and the little Notes on Birds are inserted here
by the express wish of Mr. Ruskin. I had it in my mind to pay Susie
some extremely fine compliments about these Letters and Notes, and to
compare her method of observation with Thoreau's, and above all, to
tell some very pretty stories showing her St. Francis-like sympathy
with, and gentle power over, all living creatures; but Susie says that
she is already far too prominent, and we hope that the readers of
"Hortus" will see for themselves how she reverences and cherishes all
noble life, with a special tenderness, I think, for furred and
feathered creatures. To all outcast and hungry things the Thwaite is a
veritable Bethlehem, or House of Bread, and to her, their sweet
"Madonna Nourrice," no less than to her Teacher, the sparrows and
linnets that crowd its thresholds are in a very particular sense "Sons
of God."