tion and strength of the wind, and you have a subject upon 

 which well arranged facts are of the highest importance. The 

 course of the clouds, one would hardly suppose, observed any 

 approach to regularity ; and yet you will find that the upper 

 strata are wonderfully constant, and that when two or three 

 distinct strata can be seen, which is frequently the case, you 

 have exhibited to you the strange phenomenon of different 

 strata of the air above us, moving at the same time in oppo- 

 site directions. The times of flowering of different trees and 

 plants ; the periods of the annual departure and return of birds, 

 and numerous other similar subjects might be suggested, but 

 I shall content myself with referring to White's Natural His- 

 tory of Selborne, one of the most delightful books in our lan- 

 guage, as an evidence of how much agreeable and useful in- 

 formation may be collected by any one who chooses to' attempt 

 itj with even more moderate scientific attainments than any of 

 you can acquire with scarcely an effort. It is the constant ex- 

 ercise of this habit which gives such a charm to the narratives 

 of intelligent travellers ; that renders every spot, however bar- 

 ren and devoid of interest it may appear to another, rich in 

 objects of interest and wonder to him who has cultivated it. 

 It almost adds another sense to those with which man has 

 been endowed, or rather it is the perfecting and improving 

 them, instead of suffering them to Ue torpid and to decay 

 through want of use. 



I have said that this habit will interfere with no pursuit or 

 profession to which you may be bound, and I repeat it ; be- 

 cause I know that the objection is often urged, that it is incom- 

 patible with an attention to business, and more frequently per- 

 haps believed and acted upon, than expressed. But the objec- 

 tion is not founded in reason, and experience does not disprove 

 the conclusion to which reason inevitably conducts us. There 

 is no knowledge or information, however trifling and unimpor- 

 tant it may at the moment seem, that will not, if we make it 

 our own, sooner or later stand us in good stead. Such is the 

 assertion of age and experience repeated^ over and over again, 

 by the most learned and wisest men. And he must be fortu- 

 nate indeed, who has never felt regret at being unable to re- 



