XX11 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



branch of Natural History now prosecuted amongst 

 us with the keenest ardour and success ; and that 

 the many able minds engaged in it are becoming 

 more and more aware that their favourite pursuits 

 have a far higher claim to regard than even the 

 direct knowledge which they bring, and the per- 

 sonal delight they afford; that they invigorate 

 both mind and body, tranquillize the passions, and 

 elevate the heart above all worldliness. The pre- 

 sent tone of such works is admirable and ani- 

 mating. 



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 beautiful 

 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 fail- 

 landscapes, 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 melancholy 



