18()1).] ESSAYS. S/) 



DuriiiiT the tiiiie uikKu- eiii^lit, llio child, thouuh not in srhool, 

 need not he idle. He is " near to nature's heart," and all that 

 she has to reveal to his bright eyes and his active fingers arc 

 very real to him. Many and valuable are the lessons she will 

 teach him on the beauty and sacredness of the life around him 

 that will influence him all his subsecjuent life. The little child 

 will learn much if left entirely to himself, but if a lover of 

 nature can be his companion much more real good may be 

 accom[)lished. It seems to me that it is not necessary that the 

 teacher in this case shall he prop'cient in natural science, though 

 better so, but it is necessary that he shall have a nature-loving 

 heart. While a child looks upon a bird as something to call 

 forth his skill in throwing a stone, or rabbits and squirrels as 

 things to be trapped, beetles and caterpillars as something 

 horrible, he is at variance with nature; he cannot understand 

 her message. " Eyes has he, but they see not." 



I have seen children rush to their teacher, a butterfly or 

 wounded bird crushed in their little hands, with the air of a 

 hunter bringing in his ffame, but when the teacher has taken the 

 little creature, smoothed out the ruffled wings with tender hands 

 and explained that it was suflering, the little man or woman was 

 immediately anxious to do everything possible to relieve the 

 pain, often much ajfected because of the injury done. 



I fear that parents often underrate the value of teaching of 

 this kind in the formation of kind and gentle traits of character. 



The child may learn much of the character and habits of birds, 



insects, and flowers without knowing a technical term ; and 



habits of keen, accurate observation may be formed that will 



prove invaluable in after life. It is a great thing to start right 



in life, in harmony with the environments in which God has 



placed us. When a little child has learned that the same great 



God that created and loves him, also made and cares for all about 



him, even the feeblest and tiniest; that life is a wonderful, a 



sacred thing to be guarded, not destroyed, — he is in harmony 



with nature and nature's God — he is ready for life. This truth 



may be and I think, is hest learned under eight years of age, 



without greater stimulation of the intellect than is conducive to 

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