nature's school-room. 348 



with any certainty what that power is or when 

 the last curtain over it will fall, what fate it really 

 is that awaits the insects who claim themselves 

 an exclusive heaveuj or whether or not ^'clust 

 and ashes " are to be the final meed of Vice and 

 Virtue, and thus that ^^ Chaos" shall be king 

 again. 



Among the splendid places which so lavish 

 their charms in tlie varied sites of the United 

 Kingdom, I scarce know where to select one 

 which would best illustrate the lesson to be seen 

 and read in the months of April and May ; but 

 as it has so liappened that in this, the spring of 

 1874, I have again had leisure to study and 

 dream in the beautiful wilds of England, ^^ the 

 vale where the wild waters meet" and the 

 mountains and lakes of Ireland and Scotland, 

 with all tlieir far-famed grandeur and grace, must 

 be left untouched, and niy pen must once more 

 dwell on the tranquil scene set before me 1)}' 

 the lake and woods of Grichel. It is a curious 

 study afforded by the almost domesticated wild 

 fowl, who, sheltered there unmolested all tlio 

 winter, are induced, numbers of them, to stay on 

 throughout the summer, and to lay bare their 



