Page:Collingwood - Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll.djvu/384

360 From very early college days began to emerge that beautiful side of Lewis Carroll's character which afterwards was to be, next to his fame as an author, the one for which he was best known—his attitude towards children, and the strong attraction they had for him. I shall attempt to point out the various influences which led him in this direction; but if I were asked for one comprehensive word wide enough to explain this tendency of his nature, I would answer unhesitatingly—Love. My readers will remember a beautiful verse in "Sylvie and Bruno"; trite though it is, I cannot forbear to quote it—

Say, whose is the skill that paints valley and hill,
 * Like a picture so fair to the sight?

That flecks the green meadow with sunshine and shadow,
 * Till the little lambs leap with delight?

'Tis a secret untold to hearts cruel and cold,
 * Though 'tis sung by the angels above,

In notes that ring clear for the ears that can hear,
 * And the name of the secret is Love!

That "secret"—an open secret for him—explains this side of his character. As he read everything in its light, so it is only in its light that we can properly understand him. I think that the following quotation from a letter to the