HOW I BECAME A NATURALIST 



21 



and, I may parenthetically add, no true friendship is made which 

 does not help one along life's oscillating highway. Every moment 

 instructs, elevates, refines, ennobles. Our knowledge, even after 

 a lifetime of devotion, may not be encyclopaedic ; our philosophy 

 may, perchance, be of the simplest, but there are certain maxims 



FIG. 8. THE MERE IN SPRING. 



that may well be taken to heart. Sir George Birdwood has 

 succinctly stated a few of these, thus : 



" Cultivate kindness ; be lavish of your praise, and sparing 

 with your blame. If you cannot praise a thing, or a man, leave 

 it or him alone. Keep your mouth shut, and your eyes and 

 ears open. Go out of your way to say a kind thing ; shun the 

 devil of temptation to be smart or unkind at the expense of a 

 friend, or even an enemy, and sooner or later you will find your 

 reward. Eat what you like, and drink what you like in modera- 

 tion, and you will never regret it." 



And as time goes on we may all cultivate these maxims. We 

 may seek to learn something even of ;fche past and present history 

 of our own parish, for a local survey helps to build up a system 

 for the nation. 



