8 PREPARATORY WALK INTO THE COUNTRY. 



of God's love ! ^Vitllout gratitude for mercies, humility on 

 account of frailties, hope for happier days, trust in providence, 

 and an earnest desire to do good to our fellow men, our world, 

 beautiful as it may be, would not be worth living in, and all 

 our ornithology, however scientific and orderly we might make 

 it, however pompously w^e might talk of it, and whatever 

 applause it might elicit from admiring crowds, would be of no 

 real advantage to us. Even as it is, the science that has refer- 

 ence merely to the things of time, seems to me a very small 

 matter, hardly worth disputing about. And yet, when I de- 

 scend from this mound, which to me is the temple of God, and 

 shut myself up in my closet, to pen the pages of a History of 

 British Birds, I shall sometimes forget to exercise that moder- 

 ation toward opposing writers which conscience might approve. 

 But the sky is blackening in the west, large drops are be- 

 ginning to fall, a thread of yellow light has shot across the 

 gloom, and as heavy rain and thunder may be expected, let ua 

 betake ourselves to the Hunters' Tryst, and await the issue. 

 I always feel excited and nervous during a thunder-storm. The 

 glory of the dazzling flash, the pomp of the rolling mass of 

 sound, the thick darkness, and the deluge of waters, impress 

 me with terror and delight, wonder and dread. It is like the 

 valley of the shadow of death. When the clouds are past, 

 and the bow of promise gladdens the eye, and the glorious sun 

 shines in the clear blue sky, a gladness tempered with awe 

 comes on the soul, a feeling like that which I hope may be 

 mine and thine, good reader, when the last trumpet shall sum- 

 mon us before the judgment-seat. 



