ANIMAL SKETCHES. 



always keep our hearts open to the simplest and commonest 

 daily occurrences. " The daily light, fresh as a young child 

 every morning, and dignified as the mellowness of age at 

 even," I quote from Dr. James Martineau, "the weari- 

 ness of nature as she drops her leaves, the glee with which 

 she hangs them out again, the silver mists of autumn, the 

 slanting rains of spring, the sweeping lines of drifted snow, 

 all are as the natural language of God the turns of His 

 Almighty thought to the spirit that lies open to their 

 wonder." And again " The modest flower nestling in 

 the meadow grass ; the happy tree, as it laughs and riots 

 in the wind ; the moody cloud, knitting its brow in solemn 

 thought ; the river that has been flowing all night long ; 

 the sound of the thirsty earth, as it drinks and relishes the 

 rain. These things are as a full hymn when they flow 

 from the melody of nature, but an empty rhythm when 

 scanned by the finger of art " 



Again I say, Let us all so live our life that our spirits 

 may " lie open to the wonder " of these things ; then will 

 the " empty rhythm " form an integral part of the " melody 

 of nature " ; then, indeed, shall we be able to feel that 

 " beneath the dome of this Universe we cannot stand 

 where the musings of the Eternal Mind do not murmur 

 round us, and the visions of His loving thought appear." 



