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. 1 



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, 

 arid 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. 



