PREFACE. 17 



be then perhaps no longer of any use to mankind or to 

 themselves. They would permit their children to study 

 botany, only because it might possibly lead to profes- 

 sorships, or odier lucrative preferment. 



These views are not blameable, but they are not the 

 sole end of human existence. Is it not desirable to call 

 the soul from the feverish agitation of worldly pursuits, 

 to the contemplation of Divine Wisdom in the beautiful 

 oeconomy of Nature ? Is it not a privilege to walk with 

 God in the garden of creation, and hold converse with 

 his providence ? If such elevated feelings do not lead 

 to the study of Nature, it cannot far be pursued without 

 rewarding the student by exciting them. 



Rousseau, a great judge of the human heart and ob- 

 server of human manners, has remarked, that " when 

 science is transplanted from the mountains and woods 

 into cities and worldly society, it loses its genuine 

 charms, and becomes a source of envy, jealousy and 

 rivalship." This is still more true if it be cultivated 

 as a mere source of emolument. But the man who 

 loves botany for its own sake knows no such feelings, 

 nor is he dependent for happiness on situations or scenes 

 that favour their growth. He would find himself nei- 

 ther solitary nor desolate, had he no other companion 

 than a " mountain daisy," that " modest crimson-tipped 

 c 



