New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-03-26
THE LOVE OF NATURE.

correspondent made some inquiries recent
" al out the alleged indulgence of the late Rev.
J. G. Woods family. The current report is
that the distinguished naturalist and delightful
writer referred to was so i'll rewarded for life
of incessant literary production that his death
left his wife and children nearly destitute. Our
correspondent marvelled at this, and sought
an explanation 1t certainly does appear strange
that the author OF so many standard and world
renowned books as the Rev. j. G.. Wood should
have profited by them 50 little, yet there may
be facts throwing light on the case. For one
thing, it must be remembered that in the abb
sence Of international copyright it is common
experience for authors to acquire fame which
represents little or no material compensation.
We do not know that Mr.. Wood suffered in
This way. but his books were of a character to
tempt the pirates, and it is altogether probable
that they put much more money in other peo-
ple's pockets than in his own. In the next
place, he may have sold his books to publishers
from necessity, as they we're written; in which
case he would have derived a bare pttance
from them and the bulk of the profit would
have gone to the mechanical mlddemen who
give body to thought, and in the process con-
yey" the lions share of it's value in the market.
These reasons have sufiiced to prevent lit
era,ure from becoming more than crutch save
to the few. staff it cannot be under the pre-
vailing system, and it must be remembered that
differences from the popularity Of book to
the wealth Of its author are never justiiable
at least outside Of France But in the case of
Dr. Wood there is another consideration, and
the most important of all, to be taken into ac-
count. The fact is that the love OF nature
which is necessary condition to deep interest,"
in the subjects he wrote upon, is uncommon
and perhaps becoming rarcr continually. Klch-
ard JeffereS, whose biography Mr.. Besant wrote
the other day. found this out. 1t is true that tho
magazines would take all he could give them
In that one ephemeral form the public seems
willing to read about nature. But his books
were rated heavy" by the trade. and though
they contain the most charming and beautlIW
writing, the most careful and accurate observa-
ton, the most entertaining description, to be
found in literature almost, so far as his special
topcs are concerned, the reading public have
generally avoided these works. DR.. Wood was
one Of the most instructive, trustworthy and
entertaining of writer's on natural history, zoolo-
Qy, anthropology, etc. His Natural History"
his Savage Races his books about creatures
that build and delve and construct in various
ways, are as fascinating as fairy tales and az
exact as scientific textbooks Yet they do not
appear to have become really popular in his
own country, and strange as this may seem, It
is not an uncommon experience.
The love of nature is hardly cultivated at all.
That is the principal reason such healthy and
elevatng literature as JetfereSS and Woods
is neglected. Indirectly, through poetry and
through imaginative literature, our boys and
girls acquire a feeble feeling for nature but 1t
is feeble, and it withers as life advances, chOked
and smothered by the superior attractions and
interests which urban life presents. 1t is only
in the country that nature can be studied, and
who studies it there? The least sympathetic
people are always those who live nearest to
nature; the agrcuturSts, that is to say. Tho
hard labor Of farming stunts the imagination.
dulls the fancy, and materializes everything.
But the general educational methods also prac-
tcally discourage, or fail to encourage, tho
study of nature. 1t is only when Art Is IN
question that theories Of aesthetics are usually
thought worthy Of examination, and the mo-
tives underlying such research are such as to
reverse the true order Of education and TO de-
grade the study Of phenomenal beauty and va
ricty. 1.-The world is too much with u.s." as
Wordsworth has 1t. We are too much absorbed
in the purely material aspect of things to de-
vote moro than porfunctory and passing at
tention to those familiar yet ever mysterious
subjects which, if duly pOndered and Observed
might countcract the rampant scepticism and
Grass materiaiSm Of the time, by producing con-
victon OF a soul in nature-of that immemorlal
manifestation whose silent revelation intimateS
the facility with which tho Great Artiiicer
mngleS Spirit and Matter, from the lowest even
to the highest But at present we observe the
face of nature so little that the few enthusiasts
who have come 10 know her speak to lis, when
they would describe her beauties, in an I'M
known tongue.