And, again, Christianity has one saint--the most beautiful character in all Christian hagiography--who thought of all nature in a manner that, at first sight, strangely resembles Buddhism.

This saint was Francis of Assisi, born in the latter part of the twelfth century, so that he may be said to belong to the very heart of the Middle Ages,--the most superstitious epoch of Christianity.

Now this saint used to talk to trees and stones as if they were animated beings.

He addressed the sun as "my brother sun"; and he spoke of the moon as his sister.

He preached not only to human beings, but also to the birds and the fishes; and he made a great many poems on these subjects, full of a strange and childish beauty.