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fellow creatures are thus more kindly treated as they deserve to be, 
and we are enormously benefitted. 
9. Truthfulness. The uniformity of habit to be found in all 
the individuals of every living species of plant or animal safeguards 
accuracy in recording observations. Any departure from truth, un- 
conscious or otherwise, is sure to be detected by those better informed, 
or to be exposed by subsequent investigators. Added to this, the great 
mass of unrecorded facts in connection with almost every branch of 
study demands the greatest care in seeing and in recording every ob- 
servation precisely as it appeared to the investigator. This cannot 
but foster habits which must produce that greatest of all virtues— 
strict truthfulness. 
10. Healthful recreation. As a source of healthful recreation 
both for the teacher and the scholar, the advantages of examining and 
studying natural objects are at once apparent. Students who have 
had their attention strained by abstract teaching, will find a welcome 
relaxation in observing things coming under their senses, and as the 
natural place to examine these objects is where they occur in a state 
of nature, the student is led away from the school and his books into 
the open air of the fields and woods. 
There is, moreover, another side to this picture, viz., the æsthetie 
and moral use of these studies, which bring before us only what is always 
true and perfect and which can produce nothing but reverence for the 
great Author of all things. How beautifully has the poet Keble ex- 
pressed some of the ideas I have tried to lay before you in the verse— 
“ Nothing useless is or low : 
Each thing in its place is best, 
And what seems but idle show, 
Strengthens and confirms the rest !” 
“The rest”—ah, what is that “rest,” and how full of meaning is that 
one word, perhaps there almost accidentally used ? That rest is the 
charming field, exquisite in detail, which forms the magnificent panoply 
of nature around us, and which belongs to all, to you, to me, and to. 
everyone who will enjoy it. Mother Nature is no hard mistress. She 
gives but one command before delivering up the free title deeds to 
this rich domain, imposes but one condition : — “ Look and see, study 
and understand.” That rest of creation referred to by the poet is 
partially revealed by what strikes the eye when we look across the 
broad landscape of nature, stretched around us with lavish hand, which 
appeals to our senses and calls forth our best instincts, be it in dewy, 

