ALL NATURE. 



W. E. WATT. 



IAS, one of the seven sages 

 of Greece, was a noted 

 political and legal orator. 

 His most famous utterance 

 was, " I carry all my 

 wealth with me." His store of 

 learning and power of speech were 

 always at hand, and his life had been 

 such that all his investments*were in 

 the man, rather than in property which 

 might or might not afterwards belong 

 to the man. 



He who knows nature and has a 

 habit of seeing things carries with 

 him a fruitful source of happiness. 

 It requires technical knowledge to 

 use any of the mechanical appliances 

 with which civilized life is crowded. It 

 requires artistic training to appreciate 

 any of the great productions of the 

 leaders in the fields of ideal pleasure. 

 But there is no preparation demanded 

 by nature herself of those who would 

 enjoy her feasts. Whosoever will may 

 be her guest. 



But because she is so free with the 

 race in giving pleasure to all her 

 guests, it must not be inferred that 

 cultivation and systematic pursuit will 

 not be rewarded. All eyes are blind 

 until they have been opened, and all 

 ears deaf till they have learned desire. 

 Just why I am delighted with the 

 landscape before me is beyond my 

 power to tell, and the reasons for the 

 varying feelings that course through 

 me are too numerous for recognition. 

 But with all these thronging sensations 

 and reflections that occupy me, there 

 is a multitude of others that escape 

 me because I have not had my soul 

 opened in their directions. 



Every new item of nature's news 

 that breaks upon the consciousness 

 increases capacity for pleasure for all 

 time. He who meets nature with 

 enlightened senses is rewarded every 



day of his life for the pains taken in 

 delightful study by way of preparation. 

 A landscape is infinitely enhanced to 

 him who has pursued the science of 

 color with some diligence. The sounds 

 of the forest speak tenderly to all ; but 

 he who knows the secrets of melody 

 and harmony, and the limits of human 

 skill in music, has worlds of delight 

 in the forest that others may not enter. 

 And so has the swain whose childhood 

 was spent among the voices of the 

 trees. The sense of smell has a 

 thousand raptures for the man whose 

 nose has lived up to its possibilities. 



To look upon all nature broadly 

 with the familiarity which comes only 

 from long acquaintance and scientific 

 investigation of her various aspects is 

 the highest type of living. While 

 this is not possible to all, yet, much of 

 it may be experienced by every one 

 who has the desire and follows it. The 

 leading facts of all the sciences are 

 open to all who care to know them. 

 The beauties and mysteries of the 

 world are constantly inviting us. And 

 the rapid developments of knowledge 

 in all directions give us all the exciting 

 motives one can desire. 



Looking out over the face of the 

 world, we note that there are two sorts 

 of material to be considered. One is 

 alive or was produced by the action of 

 life, and the other is material which 

 has never known a want. We are 

 drawn most to that which has pulsed 

 with sap or blood — that which has 

 made a struggle of some sort. 



All things that live are made up 

 chemically principally of four of the 

 elements of the universe which are 

 best adapted by their characteristics 

 for the purposes of life. Three are 

 gases, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen; 

 one is a solid, carbon. All these have 

 what is technically known as affinities 



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