ED UCA TIONA L I NFL UENCE. 
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very far from the infatuated, windy institution which from their 
point of view it seems to be. This false idea would be often 
dissipated, I believe, if the principles upon which the Society 
works were more understood, and for this reason I shall try to 
state plainly what I understand these principles to be. Before 
I do this, I must mention briefly what are the recognised 
objects of the Society, as the principles may seem vague and 
intangible without some practical realisation of this kind. It 
is our endeavour: — (1) To preserve from unnecessary destruction 
such wild birds, animals, and plants as are harmless, beautiful, 
or rare. (2) To discourage the wearing, and use for ornament, of 
birds and their plumage ; except when the birds are killed for food 
or reared for their plumage. (3) To protect places and objects 
of natural beauty or antiquarian interest from ill-treatment or 
destruction ; and (4) to promote the study of Natural History. 
The need and advantages of the Society for the Prevention 
of Cruelty to Animals, the Commons Preservation Society, and 
other kindred institutions, are disputed by few even of those 
who pride themselves on their sound common-sense and freedom 
from sentimentality ; but it is not at all so easy to realise that 
there is a gap between these which needs to be filled, and 
which, if less evident, is hardly less important. The work 
of these Societies often consists in defending legal rights and 
claims ; whereas it is the small pieces of thoughtlessness and 
Philistinism — which are too insignificant in themselves to be 
punishable by law, and which yet, combined, constitute a real 
(though too often unappreciated) evil — to which the Selborne 
Society chiefly devotes its attention. It strives to supplement 
and amplify the work of others by arousing a sense of indi- 
vidual responsibility, care, and consideration. 
In this nineteenth century in which we live, the world is too 
full of men and only too empty of all that man needs and 
desires ; and it is a mere truism to say that this state of things 
is becoming daily more oppressively apparent and universal. 
Unless we, who are able to enjoy Nature — still more or less 
perfect and unspoiled — can make up our minds to forego those 
strange pleasures of destruction and possession (which latter 
pleasure, unfortunately, frequently necessitates the former) we 
must acknowledge to ourselves the sad fact that every succeed- 
ing generation will have less to enjoy and more for which to 
blame those who have preceded them. Against this blindly 
selfish tendency of human nature the Selborne Society 
earnestly protests. Much of its work in this direction is con- 
fessedly prophetic — if I may coin such an expression — and aims 
at preserving to later times some of the pleasures of our 
own. It is evident that this work of preservation must be very 
largely due to individual effort, for no Society as such can 
ever produce the desired effect ; and therefore it is that each 
member of the Selborne Society is in himself and by himself 
a distinct addition to the power of the Society for good. 
