THE NATURALIST AND THE BIRD. 
505 
being, and arrange each according to the faith he 
professes; we look upon the whole human race only as 
an order of animals—animals, as a kingdom of the earth, 
and the earth only as one of the countless atoms which 
compose the mighty whole. They may do priestly ser¬ 
vice to a congregation; we are priests, however, devoted 
to the whole of humanity. They stand isolated, each for 
himself; we strive, while closely united, to teach the one 
aim:—Light and Truth! For our science does not 
acquaint us solely with our home—the earth; does not 
only make one of us acquainted with birds, as above 
stated, but unites man to man. The naturalist is a 
cosmopolitan: he has no home; belongs to no especial 
country; is of no nationality. His work is for the 
common weal, as he ever belongs to the whole world. 
He finds friends everywhere; acquaintances amongst 
men, and gathers from his intercourse with them new 
material for knowledge, new life : for knowledge is life to 
him. Whichever branch of science the enquirer may 
seek out for himself, it always belongs to the great 
confederation of humanity, whose motto is—“ Enquiry 
is holier than belief! ” 
