Betes of tbe 



scape that has been cunningly put upon canvas, 

 and yet express a distaste for the very country 

 that the canvas reproduces. Such people, it 

 seems, hold it an insult to be told that they are 

 silly, perhaps with reason; but they are silly, 

 nevertheless, and I fling the assertion in their teeth 

 here, as I have done, time after time, to their 

 astonished faces. Let them disprove it if they 

 can, and then will be time, and time enough, to 

 reconsider my decision that indifference to na- 

 ture indicates a mind lacking an all-important 

 feature. Love of the out-door world is as es- 

 sential to a perfectly rounded-out character as 

 strict adherence to the commands of the Deca- 

 logue. It is an eleventh commandment; not 

 least though last, and, though the one most pleas- 

 ant to obey, the one most generally disregarded. 

 In spite of the facts, we are even told by these 

 indifferent folk that man should have higher aims 

 than a love of nature. As if we could climb a higher 

 mountain and look down on heaven. Not all the 

 strange stories get into the newspapers. A woman 

 recently remarked to a friend of mine that she 

 was surprised at her giving so much attention to 

 birds, and flowers, and nature generally, regretting 

 she had not higher aims in life. When I heard it, 

 I wondered what manner of woman it was who 

 could make such a remark, and was a little curi- 

 ous to meet her at a distance, for this would 

 lend enchantment to the view ; but when I learned, 

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