Madam How and Lady Why; Or, First Lessons in Earth Lore for Children

ong the railroads the new rocks and soils lie above the older, and yet

esson that lies nearest to us. After all, it is more to my old mind, and perhaps to your young mind too, to look at things which are young and fresh and living, rather than things which are old and worn and dead. Let us leave the old stones, and the old bones, and the old shells, the wrecks of ancient worlds which have gone down into the kingdom of death, to teach us their grand lessons some other day; and let us look now at the

n, and yet get no more? And why (for this is a question of Why, and not of How) does he labour all day long, hunting for worms and insects for his children, while his wife nurses them in the nest? Why, too, did he help her to build that nest with toil and care this spring, for the sake of a set of nestlings who can be of no gain or use to him, but only take the food out of his mouth? Simply out of-what shall I call it, my child?-Love; that same sense of love and

ight-pencils; for in them, remember, and not in the things themselves the colour lies. See how, where the hay has been already carried, he floods all the slopes with yellow light, making th

rel itself red, an

hey at night, whe

a

The very grass is

f you look at i

to be strong enough to make the leaves look green, tho

t

look black, while the leaves look gree

hy is

best ask Professor Tyndall, if you

see how swift and smooth it shears the long grass down, so that in the middle of the swathe it

oo; for the mowing-machine goes so much nearer to the ground than the scythe, that we gain by it two hundredweight of hay on every acre. And see, too, how persevering old Madam How will not stop her work, though the machine has cut off all the grass which

l the grass, the poor mowe

besides because it does good, and nothing but good, where it is used, according to the laws of Lady Why, with care, moderation, and mercy, and fair-play between man and man. For example: just as the mowing-machine saves the mowers, the threshing-machine saves the threshers from rheumatism and chest complaints,-which they used to catch in the draught and dust of the unhealthiest place in the whole parish, wh

manur

! Oh that Lady Why would teach them that a woman is the most precious thing on earth, and that if she be turned into a beast of burden, Lady Why-and Madam How likewise-will surely avenge the wrongs of their human sister!" There, you do not quite know what I mean, and I do not care that you should. It is good for little folk that big folk should now and then "talk over their heads," as the saying is, and make them feel how ign

o

ants her work to succeed, and

ing

re you laugh and shout, the more pure air will pass into your blood, and make it red and healthy; and the more you romp and play-unless

ady Why like t

gh, they are often tempted to do many wrong deeds, and to think many wrong thoughts: and if by God's grace they know the laws of Lady Why, and keep from sin, still unhappiness, if it

ve; for they grow up weak. Their minds do not thrive; for they grow up dull. Their souls do not thrive; for they learn mean, sly, slavish

o please Lady Why, and Lady Why's Lord and King likewise, you will never pass a little child without trying to mak

*

foot of this old oak, a

is that humming all round us, now tha

Madam How is a very skilful workwoman, and has eyes which see deeper and clearer than all microscopes; as you would find,

nly the gnat

ew how they move those tiny wings of theirs-a thousand times in a second, I dare say, some of them. I wish I knew how far they know that they are happy-for ha

inds? Thre

rty or forty roun

inds of living things? Would not

only one sort of butterfly, and he only of

he garden at once? Thrushes, and blackbirds, and sparrows, an

r men than we have asked the same question: but Lady Why will not answer them yet. However, there is ano

h

rent kinds of thing

o tel

ng, before you can end at the end, o

do yo

ts is, Species, Kinds of things. You must see which are like, and which unlike; what they are like in, and what they are unlike in. You are beginning to do that with your collection of butterflies. You like to arran

so much time an

must learn the alphabet if you mean to read. And you must learn the value of the figures before you can do a sum. Why, what would you think of any one who sat do

e would be

how it was made, before they have found out what the world is made of. You might as well tr

as made? Was it not

arth always just what it is now? Let us see for

o

plants and flowers you can find round u

em to be fo

nds of flies in the air. Pick them,

What! a do

and another. Why, I have

ers and vetches; and besides, dandelion, and rattle, and oxeye, and sorrel, and plantain, and

h

ot a good farmer enough, and have n

do yo

re forest, Wild-"Wald," as the Germans would call it. Inside th

e trees inside h

ut now go over the fence, and see how many

now. I am so of

e kinds outside than you f

are hardly any grasses on the moor save deer's hair and glade-

e plants beside on the moor than you fancy. But we will look into that another time.

makes the field look g

over the fence is like scrambling out of Europe into Australia. Now, how was that difference made? Th

cause it can

eds, and the birds carry them? They do get o

do they

in

erence in the soi

ut guesses are no us

f the field is brown, like the garden; an

l find the soils of the moor and the field just the

kn

t every one to look and think. Half the misery in the world comes first from

if I do not find out su

ll not be able to understand great things when you meet them. Children who are not trained

h

gots, and fanatics, causing misery to themselves an

ust have altered the

But why do

e made the bank; and the br

u will not say any more, as the cows or the butte

d men chan

ugh, to sweeten it, and ma

e beautiful grasses g

ey most likely did not. Y

e

es come up on them, now

but groundsel,

for corn, for hundreds of years, I believe. And just about one hundre

men get the gr

ny other parts of England. And then they saved the seeds of those fattening wild grasses, and sowed them in fresh spots. Often they made mistakes. They were careless, and got weeds among the seed-like the buttercups, which do so much harm to this pasture. Or they sowed on soil which would not suit the seed,

is it ke

arried off the field. Do you think you can take a

y

of the churn, what must I d

re cre

row, I must put on the soil m

don't grow, and

the gras

so

ff continually into the soil, as you put fresh cream into the churn. You ha

e

by Christmas? Can't you tell? Into milk, of course, which

flesh? No

uses up so much muscle; and that muscle he must get back again by eating hay and corn; and that hay and corn must be put back again into the land b

and mortar, with a tall chimney pouring out smoke and evil smells, wit

y ever said it was. Y

as well as infinitely more crafty, than any manufactory of man's building. It is beautiful to behold, and hea

nufactor

k and meat. But if we don't give Madam How material to work on, we cannot expect her to work for us. And what do you think will happen then? She will set to work for herself. The rich grasses will dwindle for want of ammonia (that is smelling salts), and the rich clovers for want of phosphates (that is bone-earth): and in their places will come over the bank th

etween the Field and the Wild is the difference between the old England of Madam How's making, and the ne

n aspen or a buckthorn (berry-bearing alder as you call it), and everywhere-where he could thrust down his long root, and thrust up his long shoots-that intruding conqueror and insolent tyrant, the bramble. There were sedges and rushes, too, in the bogs, and coarse grass on the forest pastures-or "leas" as we call them to this day round here-but no real green fields; and, I suspect, very few gay flowers, save in spring the shee

le and furze coming up so fast beneath them, that we have to cut the paths clear again year by year. Why, even the little cow-wheat, a very old-world plant, which only grows in ancient woods, has found its way back again, I know not whence, and covers the open spaces with its pretty yellow and white flowers. Man had conquered this mount, you see, from Madam How, hundreds of years ago. And she always lets man conquer her, because Lady Why wishes man to conquer: only he must have a fair fight with Madam How first, and try his strength against hers to the utmost. So

g up from below? Whe

along the brook, and every drain and grip

, and some with

dred years, would not those alders increase into a wood? Would they not kill the grass, and spread right and left, seeding themselves more and more as the grass died, and left t

ould they move or beat eac

he storms come often enough, kill them. But among these trees in a sheltered valley the larger and stronger would kill the weaker and smaller by simply overshadowing their tops, and starving their roots; starving them, indeed,

o

where they grow. So they would fight their way down into the wet ground among the alders and willows, till they came to where their enemies were so thick and tall, that the acorns as they fell could not sprout in the darkness. And so you would have at last, al

is

es every living thing fight for its life, and earn its bread, from its birth till i

has to compete against the things round it; and to see which is the stron

t is ve

uences, is her mistress, and orders her about for ever. And Lady Why is, I believe, as loving as she is wise; and therefore we must trust that she guides this great war between living things, and takes care that Madam How kills nothing which ought not to die, and takes nothing awa

k too: and bids them to put beautiful and useful things in the place of ugly and useless ones; so that now it is men's own fault if they do not use their wits, and do by all the world what they have d

scramble for what they can get from each other

fter all these things do the heathen seek, and your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and

as that to

ing thing, you say

o

u an a

I am. I eat, and drink, and sl

them. But St. Paul told them-of course he was not the first to say so, for all the wise heathens have known that-that there was something more in us, wh

hat I have a

in us, in short, which is made in the likeness of God, is to conquer the animal in us, which is made in the likeness of the dog and the

ours

mpeting and struggling for e

do yo

r watch the

other's noses out of the trough, and even bite each o

thers away, and would starve them while he got f

es; I

ell you, my child, that that is the true philosophy, and the true wisdom; that competition is the natural law of society, and the source of wealth and prosperity. Do not you listen to t

wise as

e is ten times as big as Victor, and could kill him in a m

rings it and lays i

, and be praised for it, than to eat t

ho taught him to be generou

know not how. But see what has happened-that just because dogs have learnt not to be selfish and to compete-that is, have become civilised and tame-therefore we let them live with us, and

ot all animals

here are. I see a very wise animal there, who never competes; for she has learned something of the golden

mean? Why,

e is storing up the wax under her stomach, and bee-bread in her thighs-for whom? Not for herself only, or even for her own children: but for the children of another bee, her queen. For them she labours all day long, builds for them, feeds them, nurses them, spends her love and cun

er each other's nests. And once we saw two hives of

f patriotism, they have not yet learnt that of humanity? We must not blame the bees and ants if they are no wiser than men. At least they

s that make

the banks. How few of them there are; and they never seem to increase in numbers. Then look at the hive bees, how, just because they are civilised,-that is, because they help each other, and feed eac

e them their hi

es, where trees decay and grow

the bee tree i

s, driving the very wild beasts before them, while the ants and white ants eat up all gardens, and plantations, and clothes, and furniture; till it is a serious question w

ete for prizes aga

e, while trying for the prize; and so will you, even if you don't get it. But I tell you fairly, trying for prizes

better and wiser and more l

as you can, and if you find any man, or ten thousand men, superior to you,

should like to be t

the heaviest burden of

h

God all the Lord's people did prophesy!" Yes; it would have saved Moses many a heartache, and many a sleepless night, if all the Jews had been wise as he was, and wiser still. So do not you compet

h

disappoint and disgust you, my child, with that greedy, selfish, vain animal life, till you turn round and see your mistake, and try to live the true human life, which also is divine;-to be just and honourable, gentle and forgiving, generous and useful-in one word, to fear God, and keep His commandments: and as you live that life, you will find that, by the eternal laws of Lady Why, all other things will be added to you; that people will be glad to know you, glad to help you, glad to employ you, because they see that you will be of use to them, and will do them no harm. And if you meet (as y

t of looking at the hay-

pper hand, all your character will fall back into wild useless moor; if the man gets th

is getting low, and the shadows long. Come home, and go to bed while the house is fragrant with the smell of hay,