112 THE HEATH. 



" To what good does it tend?" Be assured, that 

 the desire of inquiring into the things of Nature 

 was implanted in your heart by the God of 

 Nature. Those who ridicule the notion that 

 there can be any pleasure in the study, speak, pro- 

 bably, as they feel. Not understanding in what 

 the pleasure consists, they do not believe that 

 there is any. You may try to convince them of 

 their error if you please, but take care not to be 

 discouraged by their ridicule till you have made a 

 fair trial ; and, when this has been done, I am quite 

 sure that you will stand unshaken, whatever may 

 be said of you, or to you. 



And now that we must quit the pleasant velvet 

 turf skirting the common, and proceed home- 

 wards, I will repeat to you, as we wend our way, 

 a botanical poem by one of the wisest and best 

 men of the day, who, though no professed Bo- 

 tanist, has studied the Philosophy of Nature, in a 

 spirit happily uniting the thoughtfulness of a Sage 

 with the piety of a Christian, the great Poet 

 Wordsworth. 



"POOR ROBIN.* 



" Now when the Primrose makes a splendid show, 

 And Lilies face the March-winds in full blow, 

 And humbler growths, as moved with one desire, 

 Put on, to welcome Spring, their best attire ; 

 Poor Robin is yet flowerless, but how gay, 

 With his red stalks upon this sunny day ! 

 And, as his tuft of leaves he spreads, content 

 With a hard bed, and scanty nourishment, 

 Mix'd with the green, some shine, not lacking power 

 To rival summer's brightest scarlet flower : 

 And flowers they well might seem to passers by, 

 If looked at only with a careless eye ; 



* The small wild Geranium known by that name. 



