122 
NATURE NOTES 
in gentle love tend a solitary plant or a poor cageling and 
dream of fields and hedgerows. Richard Jefferies was no ruler 
of many acres, and yet his love for Nature has rarely been sur- 
passed. It is the Nature-hunger of the man, not his environment, 
which induces him to detach himself from the treadmill of life 
and pass into that “ better ” land of thought and contempla- 
tion. He has no part in what Dickens called the “ Gradgrind 
School ” ; in his realm each one seeks peace and ensues it. The 
millionaire can no more, and usually can far less. The sky, the 
air, the parks, if he be a town dweller, the hill-side and hedge- 
rows, if his lot has fallen in the pleasant lines of suburban or 
country places, are his, and it depends upon himself whether they 
inspire him with greater thoughts or ^ire merely commonplace. 
I take it that we, as Selbornians, aim at finding this inspiration. 
It is true our opportunities are different, still our goal should be 
the same ; we should have much, if not all things, in common. 
The laws of Nature are cruel, no doubt, from the standpoint 
of our philosophy; although this observation is probably not 
accurate, laws of Nature are immutable, never capriciously 
cruel. Man may invoke man’s law to injure or annoy his neigh- 
bour ; Nature never does so. We find in Nature no place for 
petty squabbles, the fights of missel thrushes are Homeric, and 
generally two slain heroes are left to witness of the prowess of 
the combatants. The Selbornian notes these things and tries 
to introduce into his life not only the poetry and calm of Nature, 
but see in its due proportion the ego, the poor weedling, which 
is simply self and self-seeking, even though we give it grandiose 
names, and deck it out as amour propre, or respect due to “social 
position.” The potato, bereft of light and without conditions 
favourable to growth, makes a much better struggle for life in a 
dark cellar than many a man attempts in his struggle for exis- 
tence in adverse circumstances. 
Then, again, it has always appeared to me that the true 
Selbornian should and must be influenced by his simple joys and 
peaceful communings with Nature, he must show a less angular 
side to his neighbours. It is a misnomer for one to be called a 
Selbornian and yet be ready to violate the harmony of the lives 
of others by thoughtless or ill-judged action. The Selborne 
Society is not merely a Natural History Society, nor is it merely 
a Field Club ; it is, as I understand it, an association of men and 
women who have learned that life has a lovelier side than mere 
office or professional routine. This lovelier side may be seen 
and studied in leisure moments, and these men and women learn 
the power of Nature worship, which enables them to profit 
by their field rambles, and become broader, gentler, more 
harmonious members in the scheme of life. 
Unless my belief is right I cannot think the Selborne Society 
will ever be the power it ought to be. It must work as a whole, 
not have divided counsels or be given to schisms. As I finish 
these lines I look about me and see an azure sky flecked with 
