112 HOURS WITH NATURE. 



those lines there behind me, ? They sound like music to 

 my ears. Go on, please, speak aloud. 



"I have seen 



* A curious child, who dwelt upon a tract 

 Of inland ground, applying to his ear 

 The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell. 

 To which, in silence hushed, his very soul 

 Listened intensely ; and his countenance soon 

 Brightened with joy ; for from within were heard 

 Murmurings whereby the monitor expressed 

 Mysterious union with its native sea. 

 Even such a shell the universe itself 

 Is to the ear of Faith ; and there are times 

 I doubt not, when to you it doth impart 

 Authentic tidings of invisible things ; 

 Of ebb and flow, and ever-during power ; 

 And central peace, subsisting at the heart 

 Of endless agitation. Here you stand, *3 



Adore and worship when you know it not ; 

 Pious beyond the intention of your thought ; 

 Devout above the meaning of your will." 



The shell alluded to in the above lines, is really 

 used by children, in certain parts of England and 

 Scotland, in the manner described by Wordsworth. 

 But, my friends, it is not merely for the sake of the 

 allusion that I asked Upen to recite the above ex- 

 quisite lines. My object was to take this opportunity 

 to impress upon your minds, that, in order to understand 

 Nature, and to be able to receive her teaching, we 

 must have certain qualities, and these, according to 

 the philosophy of the poet quoted, are the "qualities 

 of the child." The first and foremost is a simple heart, 

 as that of the child whose countenance brightened with 

 joy when he. heard the murmurings within the convolu 

 tions of a shell. Faith and purity of heart are other 



