Urn. mm I 



other arts besides paintiny;, I think more particularly in 

 music. Notice the influence of Haydn, Mozart, and Bach 

 in the earlier works of Hecthoven, before he threw aside 

 the conventions of his time, and allowed his genius full 

 play among the magnificent harmonies that filled the musical 

 world of his day with awe, and still, after a century has 

 passed, hold us enthralled. 



He had emerged from the influence of others, and we 

 have onl)- to listen to his beautiful " Pastoral Symphony " 

 to know how trul)- he drew his inspiration from Nature. 



If I go in the country on a May morning, that wonderful 

 first movement, with its joyous, insistent, oft-reiterated motive, 

 is always singing in my brain ; it seems so exactly to express 

 the happiness and brightness of wood, field, and sky. 



It is a great thing to keep our idea of Nature fresh 

 before us, and endeavour to create something, with that 

 loving help she never withholds from us, something that is 

 really our own inception. Am I wearying you with mj' 

 own insistence on this ? Forgive me, and bear with me ; 

 for I am really anxious you should profit to the utmost by the 

 opportunities this golden month of beauty affords. 



Our list of floral studies is a long one, for Nature in her bright 

 spring dress is in a most lavish mood. What a chance for careful study 

 this perfect riot of beauty and colours affords ! Nature never repeats 

 her designs, and it is our pleasure and delight, in drawing flowers and 

 plants of any kind, to notice their individual characteristics, the special 

 points peculiarly their own, that give distinction and character to one 

 and all. And what makes our world all the more interesting and 

 absorbing is that, while our pencil or brush is gaining dexterity b}- 

 practice, our eye growing more trained and true, we are also learning much 

 of the wonders of Nature, and adding to our store of knowledge as well. 



It is not a very scientific method of studying botan}-, but it is 

 nevertheless a delightful one ; and, although vi'e may not be able to 

 discourse learnedly on this and that order or group, " giving it," as 

 Tennyson says, " a clumsy name," yet surely we are learning in the most 

 enjoyable manner to distinguish the subtle differences between the 

 varieties of plant form ; and the mere fact of translating our observations 

 to paper impresses them far more firmly on our memory than any other 

 method could do. With this as a basis to start on, surely we should go 

 further in our quest for knowledge, and study intelligently the marvels 

 and delights Nature has in store for us all. 



For the true lover of Nature, once his interest is awakened, is held so 

 closely, yet so willingly in her thraldom that he cannot draw back ; and 

 that wonderful interest and reverence he feels in her works pervades his 

 whole life, nay, is a part of himself 



And round green roots and y«^Miuw*i>b 

 Pale pink convolvulus in tendrils crcc 



yellowing stalks I see 

 _j„:i^ creep. 



41 



