8 PREFACE. 



spiritually, by the amount of Divine thought re- 

 vealed to him therein ; holding every phenomenon 

 worth the noting down ; believing that every 

 pebble holds a treasure, every bud a revelation ; 

 making it a point of conscience to pass over 

 nothing through laziness or hastiness, lest the 

 vision, once offered and despised, should be with- 

 drawn ; and looking at every object as if he 

 were never to behold it again." Glaucw, p. 46. 



This volume is mainly the record of pursuits 

 which occupied holiday hours snatched from a 

 life devoted to other and more serious tasks, 

 but it has often been felt that these pursuits, 

 while being a relief from the strain of other 

 kinds of work, have yet been in a large measure 

 in harmony with it, and helpful to its better 

 performance. The preaching of the Gospel covers 

 a wider ground than the mere interpretation of 

 a written Word. Nature has revelations for man 

 if he will try to read them intelligently. She 

 may not be able to answer all the instincts of 

 his complex being, but she has much to say 

 that is vitally concerned in his moral, social, and 

 spiritual welfare. It is the duty of the teacher 

 of religion, we contend, to seek philosophical and 

 scientific truth, as well as to expound and enforce 

 theological doctrines. To leave out of our litera- 

 ture all that bears upon the exposition of Nature's 



