crushed by poverty, will feel the thrill of a noble manhood when they take their places in the rank of citizens, and help, as a yeoman band, to swell the strength of that loyalty to law and order on which the peace and prosperity of the nation find their surest foundation.

J. W. LAKE.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE ATTRACTIONS OF A LIFE IN THE COUNTRY.

By T. L. ALGER, LL.D., F.R. Hist. Soc.

Few fully know, or if they know do not rightly consider, the necessity that presses upon all of us to find out, each for himself or herself, the fundamental functions of the health-giving and health-preserving localities which lie in many instances either close to our view or within a short distance of our places of business; if we did, we should not be so fond of fixing ourselves where little else than bricks and mortar are to be seen.

In a word, the attractions of country life are so irrevocably mixed up with our very existence, that not to seek them, be led by them, or have them daily at our own doors, is to draw a large draft upon the main sources of health, and foster the seeds of unhappiness, sickness and disease.

If we ask how this is possible, how it can be brought about, to see, feel, and perchance to taste the country pleasures that are constantly at our command, do we only know where to find them-I answer that in these days of cheap locomotion the thing is not only quite practicable, but comparatively easy, and that thousands already avail themselves of these advantages, and go daily from their places of business to rural homes at distances varying from five to thirty miles from the metropolis.

It is, however, not to these relatively few that these lines are directed, but to a part of the majority who still hover in and about the large towns, and who seldom leave them, except for a day or so, and then hurry back as if their lives depended upon the exertion. The other part of the majority are the rich, able to keep both town and country houses, and whose ample means enable them to follow their own inclinations.

In the country near to London, in the counties of Surrey, Kent, Middlesex, Hertford, Bedford and Buckingham, or to go farther afield, Hampshire, Sussex, Suffolk, or as far north as Lincoln, there are hundreds and hundreds of houses suited not only to wealthy families, but to those of modest annual income.

In looking closely at the pleasures to be derived from living in the country, three standpoints appear prominently to our view-economy, wealth, health-all however, gradually merging into the one which is the basis of all human happiness-health.

On the score of economy there is a vast fund of information to be drawn from the book of Nature, in addition to the advantages of fresh fruit and vegetables, the farming of land, the rearing of flowers, the keeping of mammals, birds, and insects either for use or consumption.

There is no doubt, however, that country life is more fully appreciated by those who, having a taste for scientific or natural pursuits, find the material ready at hand wherewith to carry forward their experiments and researches. And is this not to be found in the country? Is there not material for the biologist, the geologist, the chemist and the artist? Look at our lovely hedgerows! where does the botanist find such charming collections of natural beauty? Among the wild flowers he can

examine the nature of the bracken, the black spleenwort, the larger veronicas, the anagallis arvensis-commonly called the weather glass, the cardamine pratensis, or the cuckoo flower, the more scarce grasses, and our ever familiar holly, the latter nowhere so plentiful as in our home county of Surrey. Indeed, the biologist generally has thousands of instances immediately to his view for observing the ways and studying the functions of living organisms, and the geologist in the majestic rocky cliffs, and the more approachable subsoil, can find evidences of worlds that existed in cycles of years gone by.

The ozone-laden fragrance of early morning can furnish the chemist with abundance of material for further investigating what was until comparatively lately, an unknown form of the most known of all elements—oxygen. The artist can revel in the majestic glory of foliage and the beautiful forms and soft pearly greys of the clouds, and can at all seasons of the year pitch upon some scenes suitable for reproduction as a picture or a model for his composition, and if he be also of a poetic turn of mindas every true artist is he can find joys everywhere. The poet also sees soul in almost every blade of grass, and is urged onward by the fire of his nature to pourtray in verse what the artist can put upon his canvas.

Hence we see why so many of scientific and artistic bent have been led countryward.

Among indoor attractions in this connection also, we must not forget our domestic pets. To study the ways and endeavour to understand the language of those animals that generally form part of the house, not to speak of the acute gifts they possess in being able to acknowledge most pointedly any little kindness or attention shown to them when suffering, is in itself sufficient happiness to many minds. The writer of these lines had

an opportunity not long ago of verifying this beautiful sentiment in a favourite female kitten just emerging into cathood. The poor animal evidently had the tooth-ache, or neuralgia, and to see how the little intelligent creature would come and ask to have the warm air fomentations re-applied to its face, after having had them once and received relief, would have been quite sufficient to silence for ever those who say, "What is the use of knowing all about these miserable animals? What bearing has it on human life?" And in the country there are not only cats and dogs, but to ascend the scale, cows and horses, or to descend again, hares, rabbits, moles, butterflies, beetles, and the like, in each of which the biologist can find plenty of scope for his most engrossing pastime or study. Indeed there is no limit to his store for acquiring knowledge. Who has not entered into the apparent mysteries of our migratory birds—those charming little visitors, who seem to come and twit "good morning, and then, as it were, suddenly disappear? To note thoroughly when they arrive and depart, and chronicle their doings in this respect takes years of study. The cuckoo, the martin, the nightingale, the swallow, not to forget the typical woodcock, have drawn volumes of wellwritten prose, and space will not permit me to enlarge upon any of them.

I will, however, just mention one feature in this birdeconomy that appears to be the most striking—it is that the birds arrive just at the time that their insect-food first appears; this, to say the least of it, shows not only one of "Nature's charms," but her wonderful economy. And is it not true that she teaches more science than all the universities put together?

Now that there is such a thirst for scientific knowledge and justly so, when such teachers as Tyndall,