5 



of the seashore, the very dust at our feet, tell of action 

 and change. 



The child will grasp the thought, will reach after the 

 over-thought. To the child the book of nature is a book, 

 of revelation. Will you close it to him or will you open 

 it wide before his eager eyes ? The child has been 

 given eyes to see with ; while yet in the school of Dame 

 Nature, before he came to you, he used his eyes with 

 wonderful effect. They were the gateway to his world. 

 Will you now limit his vision to the book, keep his 

 eye fixed on the teacher, until the sight is dimmed for 

 all else ? The child came to you with expression in 

 every movement, because every sense was alert and 

 through every avenue he was receiving impressions. 

 Will you limit his telling to that which he has not seen, 

 to that which has been simply absorbed from book or 

 teacher ? The child entered your school full of curious 

 " whys " and quaint " hows." Nature suggests them. 

 That is nature's way of leading him to investigate and 

 think for himself. You will not deaden this interest 

 and stitle this curiosity, because it is n't in your book, 

 because your scheme of education does not include 

 thinking about that which is nearest to him, his envi- 

 ronment. To this child of ours, whose training and 

 education are entrusted to us, mother nature has given 

 the sympathy and enthusiasm of the naturalist coupled 

 with the spirit and imagination of the poet. Surely 

 you will seize this opportunity which nature provides 

 to keep the child turned toward higher and better 

 things. 



No, here, in such a place and before such a gather- 

 ing, nature needs no advocate ; she pleads for herself. 



