474 
and understandings are already formed, the study of 
nature may be recommended, independently of all 
other considerations, as a rich source of innocent 
pleasure. Some people are ever inquiring, What is 
the use of any particular plant? by which they 
mean, What food or physic, or what materials for 
the painter or dyer does it afford? They look ona 
beautiful flowery meadow with admiration, only in 
proportion as it affords nauseous drugs or salves. 
Others consider a botanist with respect only as he 
may be able to teach them some profitable improve- 
ment in tanning, or dyeing, by which they may 
quickly grow rich, and be then perhaps no longer 
of any use to mankind or themselves. These views 
are not blameable, but they are not the sole end of 
human existence. Is it not desirable to call the 
soul from the feverish agitation of worldly pursuits, 
to the contemplation of Divine Wisdom in the 
beautiful economy of Nature ? Is it not a privilege to 
walk with God in the garden of creation, and hold 
converse with his providence? If such elevated 
feelings do not lead to the study of Nature, it can- 
not be far pursued without rewarding the student 
by exciting them. 
““ Rousseau, a great judge of the human heart and 
observer of human manners, has remarked, that 
‘when science is transplanted from the mountains 
and woods into cities and worldly society, it loses 
its genuine charms and becomes a source of envy, 
jealousy, and rivalship.’ This is still more true, if 
it be cultivated as a mere source of emolument. 
** But the man who loves botany for its own sake, 
