i8o 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



ment. ' 'Tis not in mortals to com- 

 mand success ; we'll do more, Sem- 

 pronious, we'll deserve it." The Sum- 

 mer School was a great success in at 

 least one particular — it showed that it 

 deserved success. It also showed mark- 

 edly how difficult it is to implaint a 

 new idea in the minds of the public. 

 It seemed to the Director that all was 

 perfectly plain and fully announced. 

 By means of circulars, announcements 

 in The Guide to Nature and various 

 other periodicals, information was 

 widely circulated. Local newspapers 

 were especially liberal in interest. One 

 devoted over a column with bold head 

 lines. The gist of it was that the 

 school began June 21, was for all 

 ages and in any department of nature 

 with terms and selection of subjects 

 left wholly to each member of the 

 school. Could anything be clearer, 

 broader or more liberal ? And yet the 

 curious misconstructions, the inquiries 

 the "didn't know about it," "couldn't 

 understand Avhat you were going to 

 do," were some humorous and some 

 painful, at least to the Director. 



Sessions were held on Mondays, 

 Wednesdays and Fridays, at 9:00 a.m. 

 for boys and girls and at 2 :oo p.m. for 

 men and women. There were indoor 

 class work at laboratory tables, con- 

 ferences, quizzes, seminars and lec- 

 tures. There were special demonstra- 

 tions in the apiarian laboratory. There 

 were five excursions, including one 

 afternoon in an oyster boat on the 

 Sound at the conclusion of which tea 

 was served in an Italian garden by a 

 friend of the school. The membership 

 of the school was seventeen boys and 

 girls and seventeen men and women. 



The session of 1910 will be under 

 greatly improved facilities but on the 

 same general plan as this — one month 

 all ages, all topics, pay what ymi wish. 

 Already we have enrolled several for 

 that session. Perhaps you would like 

 to be a member. 



Gleanings Near to Nature's Heart. 



BY KATE A. JONES, GRANTHAM, NEW 

 HAMPSHIRE. 



"The glory of the Lord is seen upon 

 the mountains." 



I am sitting in a peaceful valley 

 with grand old mountains towering 

 above me, broad fields white with 

 daisies or golden with buttercups be-, 

 tore me, hundreds of birds singing mer- 

 rily, and the air full of the smell of 

 new mown hay, while over all hangs 

 the bending sky full of sunshine. 



It is in such surroundings that one 

 especially appreciates the truth of Rev- 

 erend Henry M. Field's beautiful 

 thought : "Nature soothes and com- 

 forts us ; she speaks in gentle tones, as 

 if she had a heart of tenderness, a 

 motherly sympathy with the sorrow 

 of her children. There is something 

 in the deep silence of the woods that 

 seems to say, "Peace, be still !" The 

 brooks murmur softly as they flow 

 between their mossy banks, as if they 

 would not disturb our musings, but 

 "glide into them, and steal away their 

 sharpness ere we are aware." The 

 robins sing in notes not too gay, but 

 that speak of returning spring after a 

 long dark winter ; and the soft airs 

 that touch the brow seem to lift gently 

 the grief that rested there, and carry it 

 away on the evening wind." 



After months spent in the city how 

 good it seems to breathe once more the 

 pure air, and look out across the 

 broad intervales. The rides in the city 

 seem so limited and circumscribed 

 compared to the miles and miles of 

 hill and plain upon which we gaze 

 when we drive or walk among the pine 

 clad hills ; we follow the narrow- 

 road beside winding streams, through 

 quaint covered wooden bridges and 

 across the meadows — where meadow 

 larks are singing sweetly and bright 

 flowers lift their cims to the sun. Back 

 to the pleasant farmhouse iust at sun- 

 set as the last light of day touches 

 the mountain tons with a parting 

 splendor, and we see : — 



"The gold against the amethyst, 

 The ereen against the rose." 



