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THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



read the sign that directs to the great 

 changes for the better that shall come 

 in the future. 



It is true, as John Fiske remarked, 

 that "Every daisy field is a scene of 

 carnage worse than that of any Water- 

 loo," but every daisy field of the pre- 

 sent is the result of the carnage of the 

 past. Every protective Government, 

 and every healthful enjoyment is the 

 result of the carnage of the past. 



History tells us of the cruel suffer- 

 ing in the wars between the Whites 

 and the Indians that occurred in our 

 own vicinity. Only a few rods from 

 where I am dictating this article, is 

 the Congregational Church to which 

 the men, only a comparatively few de- 

 cades ago, carried their rifles when 

 they went to the church service. Those 

 were times when faith was strained to 

 the breaking point. Rifles, war, the 

 possibility of death in God's House ! 

 Would one be surprised if some of 

 those good people had lost faith and 

 had said, "There is no God to protect 

 us from the tomahawk and the scalp- 

 ing knife — nothing but our own power 

 and bullets!" 



But out of it all has come a better 

 race, a better Sound Beach with better 

 protected homes, with better laws and 

 better order everywhere. 



Would it have been possible for even 

 Omnipotence to develop a world in any 

 different manner? Could there be hap- 

 piness in a world in which unhappiness 

 is impossible? Would not the monot- 

 ony be painful? Could there be any 

 righteousness in a world in which sin 

 is impossible? What may be in some 

 other world or in some other state of 

 existence no one knows. This dictum 

 is intended to apply only within the 

 scope of that human earthly horizon. 



As I look out of the window I see a 

 long ridge of earth and two conical 

 mounds on the golf links. Why do 

 not the golf players remove those 

 things? They leave the obstructions 

 for the future satisfaction of overcom- 

 ing them, and of getting the ball from 

 one end of the links to the other. If 

 I were to ask such a question, I should 

 be laughed at : "Do you not know that 

 we have just added what you call hay- 

 stacks of turf? We want to make play- 

 ing not easier but more difificult. Our 

 pleasure is in exercising skill in over- 

 coming obstacles." A life without ob- 



stacles would not be worth living, and 

 a painless life could never afford real 

 happiness. The greater the upheaval 

 of the road, the greater will be our 

 future comfort, convenience and plea- 

 sure. 



Be Frank, even if Not Interested. 



Not everybody is expected to be in- 

 terested in the study of nature. If 

 everybody were interested, there would 

 be no need for some phases of the work 

 of The Agassiz Association. But it is 

 strange that many people who are not 

 in the slightest degree attracted try to 

 imply that their interest in nature is 

 supreme. I recently called at a school 

 where, so far as I know, there is not 

 a particle of nature study in the pro- 

 gramme. Said the principal, "I readily 

 recognize the great importance of na- 

 ture study for these young people. In- 

 deed, I think nothing better can enter 

 into their lives. Why, I recall that 

 when I was a boy I was influenced 

 more by nature than by anything else, 

 and I recognize that you are doing 

 wonderful work,' and so on, and so on, 

 commending ad infinitum, it seemed to 

 me, stopping hardly long enough to 

 catch his breath. 



"How much time," I asked, "do you 

 devote each day to this subject, or how 

 much time would you be willing to de- 

 vote to it?" 



He said, "We have no room for it in 

 our curriculum. I wish you could see 

 what we are doing. We are already 

 overcrowded and there is not a minute 

 to spare for any of your kind of work." 



"Do you have any nature study in 

 the school?" 



"I should like to have a lot of it, but 

 we have no time for it." 



I do not hope to live long enough to 

 convince that man of the importance 

 of nature study, but I might perhaps 

 convince him of his lack of frankness. 

 He is not honest with himself. His re- 

 marks amounted to this : "There are 

 many subjects to be considered in the 

 school. We have everything except 

 nature because we consider that less 

 important than any other." 



I recently handed a man a sample 

 copy of The Guide to Nature. He 

 went into ecstacies and poured forth 

 a volume of grateful expression for an 

 occasional copy of this "beautiful little 

 magazine." He said, "I think it is the 



