132 STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY 



nature of his pursuits. Neither wealth, nor titles, 

 nor honours, have ever had the power to lure him 

 from his peaceful studies ; and he is, therefore, ex- 

 empt from the committal of those mean artifices and 

 unworthy acts, by which such distinctions are too 

 often gained. We can imagine such a man looking 

 back on the quiet path he has trodden, with some- 

 thing of the same feeling with which we contem- 

 plate, from a mossy seat, the vista of a green 

 embowered lane, nigh to which is the public road, 

 sultry and dusty, thronged with crossing vehicles 

 and jostling crowds. Although no longer fit for 

 active exertion, we can still fancy him contemplating 

 his collections — the acquisitions of his youth, and the 

 study of his manhood — with that complacency which 

 we feel towards an old companion. Every object 

 in his little museum has its own story ; the scenes 

 and incidents of youth are brought back to his re- 

 collection in all their freshness ; and the memory, 

 dwelling on these green spots in the desert of life, 

 will oftentimes be prevented from recalling others 

 of a less cheering nature. He looks abroad in the 

 spring of the year, and sees the face of nature re- 

 newed, with the same beauty and freshness, as when 

 he contemplated her in the spring of youth. That 

 season of his life has long passed away: but he 

 knows that he, too, will be renewed — that his winter 

 will be changed to an eternal spring ; and with firm 

 but humble confidence in the promises of his God, 

 he resigns the contemplation of His sublunary works, 

 in the sure and certain hope of seeing those which 

 are heavenlv. 



