iousness within our own breasts. Nature and the
soul of man are children of the same Father. Nature is the
interpretation of the longings of our hearts. Hence when we are alone
with Nature in the woods and fields, by the seashore or on the moon-lit
lake, we feel at peace with ourselves, and at home in the world.

THE DUTY.

+The love of nature, like all love, cannot be forced.+--It is not
directly under the control of our will. We cannot set about it in
deliberate fashion, as we set about earning a living. Still it can be
cultivated. We can place ourselves in contact with Nature's more
impressive aspects. We can go away by ourselves; stroll through the
woods, watch the clouds; bask in the sunshine; brave the storm; listen
to the notes of birds; find out the haunts of living creatures; learn
the times and places in which to find the flowers; gaze upon the glowing
sunset, and look up into the starry skies. If we thus keep close to
Nature, she will draw us to herself, and whisper to us more and more of
her hidden meaning.

The eye--it cannot choose but see;
We cannot bid the year be still:
Our bodies feel, where'er they be,
Against or with our will.

Nor less I deem that there are powers
Which of themselves our minds impress;
That we can feed these minds of ours
In a wise passiveness.

THE VIRTUE.

+The more we feel of the beauty and significance of Nature the more we
become capable of feeling.+--And this capacity to feel the influences
which Nature is constantly throwing around us is an indispensable
element in noble and elevated character. Our thoughts, our acts, yes,
our very forms and features reflect the objects which we habitually
welcome to our minds and hearts. And if we will have these expressions
of ourselves noble and pure, we must drink constantly and deeply at
Nature's fountains of beauty and truth. Wordsworth, the greatest
interpreter of Nature, thus describes the effect of Nature's influence
upon a sensitive soul:

She shall be sportive as the fawn
That wild with glee across the lawn
Or up the mountain springs;
And hers shall be the breathing balm,
And hers the silence and the calm
Of mute, insensate things.

The floating clouds their state shall lend
To her; for her the willow bend:
Nor shall she fail to see,
Even in the motions of the storm,
Grace that shall mold the maiden's fo