84 NATURAL HISTORY 



men and women of more refinement, because Down- 

 ing was a lover of Nature. 



It is meet that his monument should stand upon 

 our national grounds at "Washington, not only be- 

 cause they were beautified by his hand, and because 

 his influence was national, but that every American 

 might read the words he penned while living, now 

 engraven on the stone. 



" The taste of an individual as well as a nation 

 will "be in direct proportion to the profound sensibil- 

 ity with which he perceives the beautiful in natural 

 scenery" 



Thus has Natural History ever been the field 

 where the objects of taste have been gathered in the 

 greatest abundance, and it must ever be the great 

 source of the pure and beautiful images which the 

 progress of the Fine Arts demands. The cultivation 

 of Taste is sneered at by those who talk wisely of 

 utility, but its value can not be over-estimated ; and 

 its progress must move on necessarily with the 

 study of Nature, especially with that more accurate 

 study which we denominate Natural History. 



The accurate study of this science stores the mind 



