viii Gilbert White of Selborne 205 



toiling through grimy suburbs where the problems 

 of economic science force themselves at every turn 

 on his mind. In those days men loved the country 

 simply as their home, not because they were shut 

 away from it ; they took it as a matter of course, 

 and seldom wrote about it. Now we mingle a touch 

 of self- consciousness in our passion for it, which 

 finds its expression in a multitude of books. 



What a literature of the fields has sprung up 

 since the Natural History of Selborne was first 

 published! Not to mention the poets, from our 

 novelists we seem almost to demand the familiar 

 descriptive background, careless too often whether 

 it be a mere daub, or the work of a master such 

 as Mr. Blackmore or Mr. Hardy. And then again, 

 there is an ever - increasing call for books whose 

 whole intention is to open our wayward eyes to 

 country sights and sounds. Since the days of White 

 we have had Knapp, Howitt, Jesse, Knox, Wood, 

 and others who are still readable and still read ; 

 and later, and in a higher region of literature, we 

 have had Kingsley, Jefferies, and Mr. Hamerton. 

 To-day a score of books of the same type are pub- 

 lished every year ; and good and bad alike seem 

 to find abundant readers. The Selborne Society has 

 spread all over the land ; in most of our public schools 

 there is a Natural History Society, which has taken 

 root in the very citadel of athleticism, and effectually 



