6 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE CHAP. 
Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all 
The dreary intercourse of daily life, 
Shall e’er prevail against us, or disturb 
Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold 
Is full of blessings. 
Kingsley speaks with enthusiasm of the 
heaths and moors round his home, “ where 
I have so long enjoyed the wonders of na- 
ture; never, I can honestly say, alone; be- 
cause when man was not with me, I had 
companions in every bee, and flower and 
pebble; and never idle, because I could not 
pass a swamp, or a tuft of heather, without 
finding in it a fairy tale of which I could 
but decipher here and there a line or two, 
and yet found them more interesting than all 
the books, save one, which were ever written 
upon earth.” ; , 
Those who love Nature can never be dull. 
They may have other temptations; but at 
least they will run no risk of being beguiled, 
by ennui, idleness, or want of occupation, 
“to buy the merry madness of an hour with 
the long penitence of after time.” The love 
of Nature, again, helps us greatly to keep 
1 Wordsworth. 
