KINGSLEY AND NATURE 7 



You see a pond. You will want to know how 

 and when it was formed, what there is in it, and 

 how it got there. All these questions, and a great 

 many others, are bound to occur to you, especially 

 on your rambles in the country. In a way I, on 

 my part, promise to do my best to be of some ser- 

 vice to you, not so much in the way of instruction 

 as to show you how interesting Nature is, how her 

 children feed, how they live, how they build their 

 nests, how they sleep, and so on. When you have 

 become interested my task will be ended ; for bird, 

 and beast, and flower will speak to you; and you 

 on your part will, I feel sure, be more than ready 

 to listen. 



Charles Kingsley was a delightful Naturalist, and 

 the beautiful interpretations he gave us of Nature 

 will probably be known to you through his books 

 The Water Babies and Glaucus^ or the Wonders of 

 the Shore. Kingsley's Letters have among them 

 the following sentences, and I commend them to 

 your notice : — 



" Study Nature, not scientifically, that would 

 take eternity to do it so as to reap much moral 

 good from it. . . . Do not study matter for its 

 own sake, but as the countenance of God. Try to 

 extract every line of beauty, every association, 

 every moral reflection, every inexpressible feeling 

 from it. Study the forms and colours of leaves 

 and flowers, and the growth and habits of plants; 



