SCIENCE OF THE WlLDS^ rOETRY OF SrORT. 181 



a pheasant or two, a wood pigeon, a hare, or 

 rabbit, to call in the obedient and loving spaniel, — 

 I detest the nietaplior of '^the fawning dog," — 

 and to bid him and the retriever to sit by my 

 side, and to. be quiet in their search for death. 

 Then, dm^ing this temporary rest, to see the 

 varied hues on the boughs of the forest trees, 

 to inhale the sweet scent of the earliest withering 

 leaves, and to feel that art lies still, and all else 

 lives to praise creation, and to bless the strange, 

 unexplained, and still promisingly mysterious 

 power, that in some hours of a happy life makes 

 mere existence quite a mortal heaven. 



What man of any observation is there that has 

 not observed and wondered at the universal 

 mind exhibited from the largest animal, the 

 elephant, down to the smallest ant; if reason — 

 if instinct, still it is mind; and we trace the 

 pervading gift as possessed by everything in 

 life, station, clime, and habits, obedient to a 

 providential will, that prompts the obtaining of 

 food, and teaches the needful attention and care 

 to guard against the dangers of the life into which 

 each living being is called. 



Strange things meet the eyes of the naturalist 



