154 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



spirit is so abundantly poured out on us, or are you still 

 aliens and exiles from her great repose? If so, come, taste 

 and see that she is of all things the purest, noblest, greatest 

 and truest. She can console, inspire and reveal. She is 

 the great all-mother from whose bosom we sprung, and to 

 which at least all that is mortal of us will return. In afflic- 

 tion, in calamity, when conscious purpose and endeavor fail, 

 we can sink back into her everlasting arms ; and when 

 creeds and philosophies weaken or fade, we know that if our 

 bark sink it is to a larger sea. Science now tells us that 

 there is no void, but that infinite space is full of ethereal 

 energy. We know that wherever on this earth life is 

 possible, it exists ; and that some great power behind and 

 under all causes every species to multiply, sometimes with 

 amazing rapidity, so that, were this fecund energy unchecked 

 by selective and other influences, a single species would 

 literally fill the world. Science has taught us, too, that 

 there is no chaos, but everywhere there is law ; and the slow 

 evolution of sex and parenthood shows us that at the bottom 

 and top of all is love. The highest and latest product of all 

 is man, and the supreme function of all that we call the 

 environment throughout this complex magazine of forces 

 and influences is the intuition of the soul, as if everything 

 existed to bring these to their fullest maturity. Thus child- 

 hood and youth at their best and in their full glory are 

 the consummate flowers of nature, and more worthy than 

 anything else on earth of love, reverence and devoted 

 service. Unity with nature is the glory of childhood, and 

 unity with nature and with childhood is the glory of father- 

 hood and motherhood. 



