11 



more valuable than the information imparted by the book, Mr. 

 Martin thought, is its influence, as opening men's eyes to the 

 study of all the forms of Nature that they find about them, and 

 the example it holds out of what may be achieved by close, 

 intelligent observation of what lies immediately about one in the 

 inexhaustible realms of Nature. He wrote only one book, " The 

 Natural History of Selborne," but that book had given him a 

 sure niche in the temple of English literature. It is for us to 

 follow his example, and, retiring into the woods and forests, 

 drink in the healthy influence which the perusal of such a book 

 brings to us. 



As to Gilbert White's history, Mr. Martin told how he lived 

 from 1720 to 1795, and was Curate at Selborne and the neigh- 

 bouring village of Farrington. It was a time of considerable 

 political unrest in England and on the Continent, the latter part 

 of his life extending over the French Revolution, but Gilbert 

 White went on undisturbed, placidly noting how the birds lived 

 and the flowers grew, " more concerned with the course of events 

 in building a marten's nest than in the crash of Empires." His 

 famous book was originally not written for publication, but was 

 made up of letters he had despatched to two friends of his 

 during a considerable number of years. Eventually his brother 

 persuaded him to have these letters collected and put into book- 

 form, and so it was that "The Natural History of Selborne" 

 was saved to the world. Most of these letters were written from 

 Farrington and Selborne, but three are dated from Ringmer, in 

 Sussex, with whose Down scenery Gilbert White was greatly 

 impressed. Having only this limited area to draw upon, Gilbert 

 White's opportunities in one way were limited, but it happened, 

 fortunately for him and for us, that, if an observer's field 

 of research had to be limited to one village, then Selborne 

 was an ideal place for such an observer. Its peculiar geological 

 position, at the extreme edge of the Wealden clay, where it was 

 broken into by other formations, made it almost unrivalled as a 

 place for " specimens " of all the kinds sought by the naturalist. 

 Whatever came to hand Gilbert White studied most sedulously. 

 His forte was ornithology, but he took note of and wrote upon 

 everything that he could find, from fossils to rush-lights. The 

 life of a country clergyman in those days was not very burden- 

 some, and he had plenty of time to devote to his hobby. An 

 amusing instance of the easy way the Clergy worked in the 

 Georgian period was incidentally provided by the exhibition of a 

 leaf of a sermon written by Gilbert White, which his diary 

 showed he had used some twenty times. As to his thoroughness 

 in getting the most he could out of the material at hand, the 

 Lecturer mentioned that the number of fish he was able to ex- 

 amine was very few indeed, but he made up for it by the exhaus- 



