THE JEFFERIES MEMORIAL. 
89 
feel, as they peruse The Gamekeeper at Home and The Life of the 
Fields, that a new pleasure has been imparted to every-day 
existence, and, to use Mr. Besant’s words, ‘ the author has 
written down the response of the soul to the phenomena 
of Nature, and has interpreted the voice of Nature speak- 
ing to the soul.’ 
“ There is a charm and a distinction in these writings per- 
fectly unique. English literature is not without many and 
many a page reflecting the fulness and beauty of Nature in 
her varied moods. But there has not been in our own time, 
with the exception perhaps of Charles Kingsley, such a combi- 
nation of minuteness and fldelity, such a power of producing the 
sense of beauty, and the deep calm which, to use the author’s 
words, ‘ is the ideal of Nature.’ He who could look on Nature 
with such eyes, desired above all things to see the life of litera- 
ture and the friendship of books carried into Wiltshire villages as 
a means of elevation and delight. The chapter on ‘ Country Lite- 
rature ’ in The Life of the Fields ought to be prized and valued 
by all who are seeking to make the lives of our labourers more 
bright and happy. 
“ The story of his life must always be a sad one. We can- 
not help wishing that there had been some one like the great 
Edmund Burke, who appeared like a good genius at the most 
critical time of the poet Crabbe’s career, to lead and console 
a sorely tried spirit in the way to health, success, and fame. 
A stern teaching, hours of sorrow and poverty, vain attempts 
to solve the problems of existence, days of doubt and wild 
expression, utterances, too, of thoughts best left unsaid, were 
his portion and his burden. But at eventide there came 
light, and the hours spent in prayer and reading the gospel of 
St. Luke, the gospel which enshrines for ever the words of 
return and hope. ‘ I will arise and go to my Father,’ remind us 
that in this temple of reconciliation and peace we can think of 
Richard Jefferies, and tell to the many children who from time 
to time may come to worship, that there is here a memorial of 
one who died ‘ listening with faith and love to the words con- 
tained in the old Book.’ 
“ A gulf of generations lies between us and the morning 
star of English song, Chaucer, but the spirit which moved 
that great genius has never departed from the sons of Eng- 
land, who have entered into the secrets, the open secrets of 
Nature, and like William Barnes in poetry and Richard 
Jefferies in prose, have moulded into noble and enduring forms 
the sights and sounds of the pure and elevating life of the 
country. These men have added to the lasting pleasures of life, 
and while they lead us onward and upward, they cheer and con- 
sole — to use the words of a great historian, Alexander Kinglake, 
— ‘ men militant here upon earth, enduring quiet, content with 
strife and longing for peace hereafter.’ ” 
