40 MY LIFE AS A NATURALIST 



What a beautiful parable, what a remarkable conception ! I, 

 too, have run from the woods in very terror, for I could not 

 understand, or fully appreciate, the vastness of creation. I per- 

 ceived the tiny insect crawling underfoot, and straightway my 

 eyes sighted the giant tree of the forest towering above me. I 

 am no longer awed, but thrilled, with the marvels of the Universe, 

 and teachers, who wish for success with their young charges, must 

 undergo similar experience to attain any real measure of success. 

 Build up a lesson for the children on this fascinating story. They 

 revel in fairy tales of Nature. They glory in the radiating 

 romance of the country-side. I like those closing words " almost 

 at God's throne," for a Nature lover and student cannot possibly 

 be a sceptic. A master mind is portrayed in every flower that 

 blows, in every creature that cleaves the air, or scampers on the 

 earth beneath. I heard of a man recently who began life as an 

 atheist, and who died a spiritualist, a transformation indeed. 

 A Nature interpreter must be reverential, he must believe in 

 some All-wise, All-powerful, All-supreme power, planning, design- 

 ing, bringing into being, and controlling everything that lives. 

 I met a little boy the other day. He was from the slums of 

 London. He was not awed, nor terror-stricken, he did not 

 meet " Don't Care," or " Fear." True, he could not tell me the 

 colour of Grass, his senses were inalert, undeveloped, his mind 

 was only partly receptive to sight and sound. But he loved the 

 change from the squalor of Plaistow to the pleasant environment 

 of a Garden City. He shouted for very joy ; he suddenly realised 

 the meaning of liberty and life. I shall never forget that way- 

 ward little face, nor his simple benediction at the close of our 

 little country expedition together : " Please, Sir, will Heaven 

 be anything like this ? " Thus does Nature inspire and elevate, 

 both in thought and deed. What She has done to inspire men 

 and women in various departments of life Art, Science, Litera- 

 ture and the rest will probably never be told It is an un- 

 written story. 



Alexander Irvine was a half-starved Irish youth. One day, 

 when in the country he looked at the sunset, and had a vision. 

 Tears began to flow. Struggles ensued, bitter disappointment, 

 troubles unexpected cropped up. He became a soldier and the 

 evangel of his regiment, and eventually God's Good Man, for, 

 as a missionary among the Bowery Lodging Houses, under the 

 benign influence of the Y.M.C.A., he carried out a noble work 

 which will ever be remembered. Thus was his vision fulfilled, 



