XXVI INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



to regard than even the direct knowledge which 

 they bring, and the personal delight they afford ; 

 that they invigorate both mind and body, tran- 

 quillize the passions, and elevate the heart above 

 all worldliness. The present tone of such works 

 is admirable and animating. 



And now, as I close these remarks, let me 

 say, that if I could but arouse in other minds 

 that ardent and ever-growing love of the beau- 

 tiful works of God in the creation, which I feel 

 in myself, if I could but make it in others 

 what it has been to me 



The nurse, 



The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul 



Of all my moral being ; 



if I could open to any, the mental eye which 

 can never be again closed, but which finds, 

 more and more clearly, revealed before it, 

 beauty, wisdom, and peace, in the splendours 

 of the heavens, in the majesty of seas and 

 mountains, in the freshness of winds, the ever- 

 changing lights and shadows of fair land- 

 scapes, the solitude of heaths, the radiant face 

 of bright lakes, and the solemn depths of woods, 

 then indeed should I rejoice. Oh ! that I could 

 but touch a thousand bosoms with that me- 



