,,recreation  ,,by  ,,viscount ,,grey   
,,of ,,fallodon1 ,k4,g4  ,,boston ,,and 
,,new ,,york ,,houghton ,,mifflin       
,,company ,the ,riverside ,press        
,cambridge  ,,copyright1 #aibj1 ,,by    
,,houghton ,,mifflin ,,company  ,,all   
,,rights ,,reserved       99    99    99
    99    99  ,the ,riverside ,press    
,,cambridge - ,,massachusetts ,,printed 
,,in ,,the ,u4,s4,a4    ,,address       
,,delivered ,,at ,,the ,,harvard ,,union
 ,,december #h1 #aiai    ,,recreation   
,it is sometimes said that this is a    
pleasure-seeking age4 ,whether it be a  
pleasure-seeking age or not1 ,i doubt   
whether it is a pleasure-finding age4   
,we are supposed to have great          
advantages in many ways over our        
predecessors4 ,there is1 on the whole1  
less poverty and more wealth4 ,there are
 supposed to be more opportunities for  
enjoyment3 there are moving pictures1   
motor-cars1 and many other things which 
are now considered means of enjoyment   
and which our ancestors did not possess1

 but ,i do not judge from what ,i read  
in the newspapers that there is more    
content4 ,indeed1 we seem to be living  
in an age of discontent4 ,it seems to be
 rather on the increase than otherwise  
and is a subject of general complaint4  
,if so it is worth while considering    
what it is that makes people happy1 what
 they can do to make themselves happy1  
and it is from that point of view that  
,i wish to speak on recreation4  ,let it
 be admitted that recreation is only one
 of the things that make for happiness  
in life4 ,i do not even recommend it as 
the most important4 ,there are at least 
four other things which are more or less
 under our own control and which are    
essential to happiness4 ,the first is   
some moral standard by which to guide   
our actions4 ,the second is some        
satisfactory home life in the form of   
good relations with family or friends4  
,the third is some form of work which   
justifies our existence to our own      
country and makes us good citizens4 ,the

 fourth thing is some degree of leisure 
and the use of it in some way that makes
 us happy4 ,to succeed in making a good 
use of our leisure will not compensate  
for failure in any one of the other     
three things to which ,i have referred1 
but a reasonable amount of leisure and a
 good use of it is an important         
contribution to a happy life4 ,how is   
this happy use of leisure to be ensured8
 ,we sometimes meet people who do not   
seem to know what to do with their spare
 time4 ,they are like the man of whom it
 was said1 ,he doesn't know what he     
wants1 and he won't be happy till he    
gets it4 ,the first thing1 therefore1 is
 to take ourselves out of that category1
 to know definitely what we want1 and to
 make sure it is something that will    
make us happy when we get it2 and that  
is the beginning of recreation4 ,you are
 entitled to say to me1 ,that is all    
very well as a general piece of advice1 
but tell us how you have followed and   
applied it yourself2 and it would not be

 fair for me to shrink from answering   
that question4 ,in one respect ,i must  
plead failure4 ,i have been a failure as
 regards golf1 not because ,i did not   
succeed1 but because ,i did not want to 
succeed4 ,i have a great respect for    
golf4 ,i am sure it is very good for    
many people2 ,i know very many good     
people who play golf2 but it so happens 
that it does not give me a good time1   
and so ,i leave the recommendation of it
 to people who can speak of it with more
 appreciation4  ,but ,i do recommend    
some game or games as a part of         
recreation4 ,as long as ,i could see to 
play and had sufficient leisure1 ,i     
enjoyed immensely the game of real or   
court tennis1 a very ancient game1      
requiring activity as well as skill1 a  
game in which ,americans may take       
interest and some pride1 because for the
 first time1 at any rate1 in the recent 
history of the game1 an amateur is      
champion of the world and that amateur  
is an ,american4 ,the ,english are      

sometimes criticised for paying too much
 attention to games4 ,a ,british officer
 whom ,i know well1 who happened to be  
in ,africa at the outbreak of the war   
and took part in the fighting there1    
tells me that in one of the ,german     
posts captured by the ,british there was
 found a map made by the ,germans and   
showing ,africa as it was to be when the
 war was over4 ,the greater part of     
,africa had become ,german1 and there   
was nothing left for the ,british       
excepting a small patch in the middle of
 the ,sahara ,desert which was marked   
,footballplatz for the ,english4        
,football is a national game in ,america
 as well as in ,england1 but ,i do not  
suppose that either you or we think that
 our soldiers fought any worse in the   
war for having been fond of football4 ,i
 put games definitely as a desirable    
part of recreation1 and ,i would say    
have one or more games of which you are 
fond1 but let them1 at any rate in      
youth1 be games which test the wind1 the

 staying power1 and the activity of the 
whole body1 as well as skill4  ,sport   
shall be mentioned next4 ,i have had a  
liking for more than one form of sport1 
but an actual passion for salmon and    
trout fishing4 ,perhaps the following   
little confidence will give some idea   
how keen the passion has been4 ,the best
 salmon and trout fishing in ,great     
,britain ends in ,september4 ,the best  
salmon fishing begins again in ,march4  
,in my opinion the very best of all is  
to be had in ,march and ,april4 ,in     
,october ,i used to find myself looking 
forward to salmon fishing in the next   
,march and beginning to spend my spare  
time thinking about it4 ,i lay awake in 
bed fishing in imagination the pools    
which ,i was not going to see before    
,march at the earliest1 till ,i felt ,i 
was spending too much time1 not in      
actual fishing1 but in sheer looking    
forward to it4 ,i made a rule1          
therefore1 that ,i would not fish pools 
in imagination before the first of      

,january1 so that ,i might not spend    
more than two months of spare time in   
anticipation alone4 ,salmon fishing as  
,i have enjoyed it1 fishing not from a  
boat1 but from one's feet1 either on the
 bank or wading deep in the stream1 is a
 glorious and sustained exercise for the
 whole body1 as well as being an        
exciting sport2 but many of my friends  
do not care for it4 ,to them ,i say1 as 
one who was fond of ,george ,meredith's 
novels once said to a man who complained
 that he could not read them1 ,why      
should you8 ,if you do not care for     
fishing1 do not fish4 ,why should you8  
,but if we are to be quits and you are  
to be on the same happy level as ,i have
 been1 then find something for yourself 
which you like as much as ,i like       
fishing4  ,there are many other subjects
 for recreation4 ,i cannot even mention 
them all1 much less discuss any of them 
adequately4 ,but ,i must mention for a  
high place in recreation the pleasure of
 gardening1 if you are fond of it4      

,bacon says1 ,god ,almighty first       
planted a garden1 and indeed it is the  
purest of human pleasures4 ,it is one of
 those pleasures which follow the law of
 increasing and not of diminishing      
returns4 ,the more you develop it and   
the more you know about it1 the more    
absorbing is the interest of it4 ,there 
is no season of the year at which the   
interest ceases and no time of life1 so 
long as sight remains1 at which we are  
too old to enjoy it4  ,i have now       
mentioned games1 sport1 and gardening4  
,no one perhaps has time or opportunity 
to enjoy all three to the full4 ,a few  
people may have sufficient range of     
temperament to care for all three1 but  
many people--,i would say most          
people--who have opportunity may find1  
at any rate in one of them1 something   
that will contribute to their happiness4
 ,i will pass now to a subject which is 
more important still4  ,books are the   
greatest and the most satisfactory of   
recreations4 ,i mean the use of books   

for pleasure4 ,without books1 without   
having acquired the power of reading for
 pleasure1 none of us can be            
independent1 but if we can read we have 
a sure defence against boredom in       
solitude4 ,if we have not that defence1 
we are dependent on the charity of      
family1 friends1 or even strangers1 to  
save us from boredom2 but if we can find
 delight in reading1 even a long railway
 journey alone ceases to be tedious1 and
 long winter evenings to ourselves are  
an inexhaustible opportunity for        
pleasure4  ,poetry is the greatest      
literature1 and pleasure in poetry is   
the greatest of literary pleasures4 ,it 
is also the least easy to attain and    
there are some people who never do      
attain it4 ,i met some one the other day
 who did not care for poetry at all2 it 
gave her no pleasure1 no satisfaction1  
and only caused her to reflect how much 
better the thought1 so it seemed to her1
 could be expressed in prose4 ,in the   
same way there are people who care      

nothing for music4 ,i knew one          
,englishman of whom it was said that he 
knew only two tunes3 one was the        
national anthem1 ,god ,save the ,king1  
and the other wasn't4 ,we cannot help   
these people if they do not care for    
poetry or music1 but ,i may offer you   
one or two suggestions founded on my own
 experience with regard to poetry4      
,there is much poetry for which most of 
us do not care1 but with a little       
trouble when we are young we may find   
one or two poets whose poetry1 if we get
 to know it well1 will mean very much to
 us and become part of ourselves4       
,poetry does not become intimate to us  
through the intellect alone2 it comes to
 us through temperament1 one might      
almost say enters us through the pores  
of the skin1 and it is as if when we get
 older our skin becomes dry and our     
temperament hard and we can read only   
with the head4 ,it is when we are young1
 before we reach the age of thirty-five1
 that we must find out the great poet or

 poets who have really written specially
 for us2 and if we are happy enough to  
find one poet who seems to express      
things which we have consciously felt in
 our own personal experience1 or to have
 revealed to us things within ourselves 
of which we were unconscious until we   
found them expressed in poetry1 we have 
indeed got a great possession4 ,the love
 for such poetry which comes to us when 
we are young will not disappear as we   
get older2 it will remain in us1        
becoming an intimate part of our own    
being1 and will be an assured source of 
strength1 consolation1 and delight4     
,there is another branch of literature  
to which ,i must make a passing         
reference3 it is that of philosophy4 ,i 
am bound to refer to it here because ,i 
know two men1 both of them distinguished
 in public life1 who find real          
recreation and spend leisure time when  
they have it in reading and writing     
philosophy4 ,they are both living and ,i
 have not their permission to mention   

their names1 but as ,i admire them ,i   
mention their recreation1 though with an
 admiration entirely untinged by envy4  
,an ,oxford professor is alleged to have
 said that every one should know enough 
philosophy to find that he can do       
without it4 ,i do not go quite so far as
 that4 ,when ,i was an undergraduate at 
,oxford ,i read ,plato because ,i was   
made to read it4 ,after ,i left ,oxford 
,i read ,plato again to see if ,i liked 
it4 ,i did like it so much that ,i have 
never found the same pleasure in other  
philosophical writers4 ,i hope you will 
not think that ,i am talking flippantly4
 ,i am talking very seriously--about    
recreation1 and ,i feel bound to mention
 philosophy in connection with it out of
 respect to my friends1 but ,i do not   
lay much stress upon it as a means of   
recreation4  ,i come now to the main    
source of literary recreation in        
reading3 the great books of all time on 
which one generation after another has  
set the seal of excellence so that we   

know them certainly to be worth reading4
 ,there is a wide and varied choice1 and
 it is amongst the old books that the   
surest and most lasting recreation is to
 be found4 ,some one has said1 ,whenever
 a new book comes out read an old one4  
,we need not take that too literally1   
but we should give the old and proved   
books the preference4 ,some one1 ,i     
think it was ,isaac ,disraeli1 said that
 he who did not make himself acquainted 
with the best thoughts of the greatest  
writers would one day be mortified to   
observe that his best thoughts are their
 indifferent ones1 and it is from the   
great books that have stood the test of 
time that we shall get1 not only the    
most lasting pleasure1 but a standard by
 which to measure our own thoughts1 the 
thoughts of others1 and the excellence  
of the literature of our own day4 ,some 
years ago1 when ,i was ,secretary for   
,foreign ,affairs in ,england1 when     
holidays were often long in coming1     
short and precious when they did come1  

when work was hard and exhausting and   
disagreeable1 ,i found it a good plan   
when ,i got home to my library in the   
country to have three books on hand for 
recreation4 ,one of them used to be one 
of those great books of all time dealing
 with great events or great thoughts of 
past generations4 ,i mention ,gibbon's  
,decline and ,fall of the ,roman ,empire
 as an instance of one such book1 which 
had an atmosphere of greatness into     
which one passed right out of the       
worries of party politics and official  
work4 ,such books take one away to      
another world where one finds not only  
pleasure1 but rest4 ,i like large still 
books1 ,tennyson is reported to have    
said4 ,and great books not only give    
pleasure and rest1 but better           
perspective of the events of our own    
time4 ,i must warn you that ,gibbon has 
been called dull4 ,it is alleged that   
,sheridan1 a man of brilliant wit1 said 
so1 and when a friend reminded him that 
in a famous speech he had paid ,gibbon  

the compliment of speaking of the       
luminous page of ,gibbon1 ,sheridan said
 he must have meant to say voluminous4  
,if you take the same view of ,gibbon1  
find some other great author whom you do
 not find dull4 ,there is a host of     
great writers to choose from4 ,there are
 plenty of signposts to direct us to old
 books of interest and value4 ,they have
 well-known names1 and so they stand out
 and are known like great peaks in      
mountain ranges of the human intellect4 
,the second of my books would also be an
 old book1 a novel which had been       
approved by successive generations4 ,the
 third would be some modern book1       
whether serious or light1 and in modern 
books the choice is not so easy4 ,there 
are many that are excellent1 but there  
are many in which we may find neither   
pleasure nor profit4 ,if our leisure is 
short we have not much time to          
experiment4 ,the less spare time we     
have1 the more precious it is1 and we do
 not want to waste any of it in         

experimenting with modern books which we
 do not find profitable4 ,it is worth   
while to cultivate a few friends whose  
intelligence we can respect and whose   
taste is sympathetic and who read1 and  
to get from them from time to time the  
names of modern books which they have   
read and found good4 ,i have had too    
little time for reading1 but that my    
advice may not be entirely academic ,i  
will recommend you1 at any rate1 one    
good modern novel4 ,its name is ,the    
,bent ,twig1 the authoress is ,dorothy  
,canfield1 and ,i can tell you nothing  
except that she is an ,american1 but the
 book seems to me one of the best pieces
 of work in novel writing that has      
happened to come under my own           
observation recently4 ,there are others1
 no doubt1 in plenty1 and if you get    
half a dozen friends who are fond of    
reading each to recommend you one book  
as ,i have done1 you will have provision
 for a little time to come4  ,to        
conclude my suggestions about reading ,i

 would urge this4 ,like all the best    
things in life1 the recreation of       
reading needs a little planning4 ,when  
we have a holiday in prospect we make   
plans beforehand so that when the time  
comes we may know exactly where we want 
to go1 what we want to do1 how the      
holiday is to be spent1 and have all our
 preparations ready4 ,if we do not do   
that the holiday finds us unprepared and
 the greater part of it is wasted4 ,so  
with our spare time1 our casual leisure4
 ,do not let it find us unprepared4 ,it 
is a good plan to make a list of books  
which either from our own thought1 our  
own experience1 or the recommendation of
 friends1 we feel a desire to read4 ,we 
should have one or two of these books   
always at hand1 and have them in mind1  
too1 as something which we are longing  
to read at the first opportunity4 ,i    
think some people lose the habit and    
pleasure of reading because they do not 
take this trouble and make no plan1 and 
when the spare evening or the long      

railway journey or the wet day comes it 
finds them without any book in          
anticipation1 and they pick up a        
newspaper or a magazine1 not because    
they specially want to read it1 but     
because they have nothing present to    
their minds or at hand which they really
 care for4 ,the habit of planning ahead 
is essential to real cultivation of the 
pleasure of reading1 just as essential  
as planning is for sport or travel or   
games or any of the other pleasures of  
life4 ,i know friends who are fond of   
sport4 ,they choose a long time         
beforehand the river they will fish or  
the sort of shooting they will pursue4  
,another friend likes travel and plans  
months in advance where he will go and  
what he will see4 ,without this         
fore-thought and planning they would not
 get their pleasure1 and so it is with  
reading4 ,if we once acquire the habit  
of planning1 we find out increasingly   
what it is that we like1 and our        
difficulty at any spare moment is not to

 find some book that we are longing to  
read1 but to choose which book of those 
to which we are looking forward in      
anticipation we shall take first4  ,i   
have spoken about planning for a        
holiday1 and ,i will give an instance of
 how thoroughly ,president ,roosevelt   
planned for a holiday4 ,several years   
ago when ,i was at the ,foreign ,office 
in ,london1 ,i got a letter from ,mr4   
,bryce1 who was then ,british           
,ambassador at ,washington1 saying that 
,president ,roosevelt intended to travel
 as soon as he was out of office4 ,he   
was going to travel in ,africa1 to visit
 ,europe1 and to come to ,england1 and  
he was planning his holiday so minutely 
as to time his visit to ,england for the
 spring1 when the birds would be in full
 song and he could hear them4 ,for this 
purpose he wanted it to be arranged that
 somebody who knew the songs of the     
,english birds should go for a walk with
 him in the country1 and as the songs   
were heard tell him what the birds were4

 ,that is a pretty good instance of     
thorough planning in advance for a      
holiday4 ,it seemed to me very          
attractive that the executive head of   
the most powerful country in the world  
should have this simple1 healthy1       
touching desire to hear the songs of    
birds1 and ,i wrote back at once to ,mr4
 ,bryce to say that when ,president     
,roosevelt came to ,england ,i should be
 delighted to do for him what he wanted4
 ,it is no more a necessary             
qualification for the ,secretary for    
,foreign ,affairs in ,london than it is 
for the ,president of the ,united       
,states that he should know the songs of
 the birds1 and it is an amusing        
coincidence that we should have been    
able to arrange this little matter      
satisfactorily between us as if it were 
part of our official duties1 without    
feeling obliged to call in experts4     
,time passed1 and when the ,president   
retired from office he went to ,africa  
and had much big-game shooting and      

travel there4 ,then he came by way of   
the ,sudan and ,egypt to ,europe4 ,the  
leading countries of ,europe were       
stirred to do him honour1 ,england not  
less than others4 ,he had a great       
reception and everywhere a programme of 
great and dignified character was       
arranged for him4 ,european newspapers  
were full of it long before he got to   
,england1 and ,i thought this little    
walk to hear the songs of ,english birds
 suggested some two years previously    
would be forgotten and crowded out by   
greater matters4 ,but it was not so4    
,without any reminder on my part ,i got 
an intimation from the ,english friend  
who was to be ,colonel ,roosevelt's host
 in ,london that ,colonel ,roosevelt had
 written to him to say that this promise
 had been made and that he wished time  
to be found for the fulfilment of it4 ,i
 saw ,colonel ,roosevelt once soon after
 he came to ,london4 ,the day was       
arranged and at the appointed time we   
met at ,waterloo ,station4 ,we had to   

ask the newspaper reporters not to go   
with us1 not because it made any        
difference to ,colonel ,roosevelt1 but  
because birds are not so tame1 or       
perhaps ,i should say are more          
self-conscious than public men and do   
not like to be photographed or even     
interviewed at close quarters1 and it   
was necessary1 not only that ,colonel   
,roosevelt and ,i should be alone1 but  
that we should make ourselves as        
inconspicuous and unobtrusive as        
possible4  ,so we went alone1 and for   
some twenty hours we were lost to the   
world4 ,we went by train to a country   
station where a motor was awaiting us4  
,thence we drove to the little village  
of ,titchborne in ,hampshire1 and got   
there soon after midday4 ,in the village
 of ,titchborne there lives also the    
family of ,titchborne1 and in the old   
village church there is a tomb with     
recumbent figures of one of the         
,titchbornes and his wife who lived in  
the time of ,james the ,first2 on it is 

inscribed the statement that he chose to
 be buried with his wife in this chapel1
 which was built by his ancestor in the 
time of ,henry the ,first4 ,that shows a
 continuous record of one family in one 
place for some eight hundred years4 ,i  
forget whether we had time to go into   
the church and look at it1 but the songs
 of the birds which we had come to hear 
are far more ancient4 ,they must be the 
same songs that were heard by the       
inhabitants of ,england before the      
,romans came1 for the songs of birds    
come down unchanged through great       
antiquity1 and we are listening to-day1 
in whatever part of the world we may be1
 to songs which must have been familiar 
to races of men of which history has no 
knowledge and no record4  ,i was a      
little apprehensive about this walk4 ,i 
had had no personal acquaintance with   
,colonel ,roosevelt before he came to   
,england in #aiaj1 and ,i thought to    
myself1 ,perhaps1 after all1 he will not
 care so very much about birds1 and     

possibly after an hour or so he will    
have had enough of them4 ,if that be so 
and he does not care for birds1 he will 
have nothing but my society1 which he   
will not find sufficiently interesting  
for so long a time4 ,i had relied upon  
the birds to provide entertainment for  
him4 ,if that failed1 ,i doubted my own 
resources4 ,i need have had no fear     
about his liking for birds4 ,i found1   
not only that he had a remarkable and   
abiding interest in birds1 but a        
wonderful knowledge of them4 ,though ,i 
know something about ,british birds ,i  
should have been lost and confused among
 ,american birds1 of which unhappily ,i 
know little or nothing4 ,colonel        
,roosevelt not only knew more about     
,american birds than ,i did about       
,british birds1 but he knew about       
,british birds also4 ,what he had lacked
 was an opportunity of hearing their    
songs1 and you cannot get a knowledge of
 the songs of birds in any other way    
than by listening to them4  ,we began   

our walk1 and when a song was heard ,i  
told him the name of the bird4 ,i       
noticed that as soon as ,i mentioned the
 name it was unnecessary to tell him    
more4 ,he knew what the bird was like4  
,it was not necessary for him to see it4
 ,he knew the kind of bird it was1 its  
habits and appearance4 ,he just wanted  
to complete his knowledge by hearing the
 song4 ,he had1 too1 a very trained ear 
for bird songs1 which cannot be acquired
 without having spent much time in      
listening to them4 ,how he had found    
time in that busy life to acquire this  
knowledge so thoroughly it is almost    
impossible to imagine1 but there the    
knowledge and training undoubtedly were4
 ,he had one of the most perfectly      
trained ears for bird songs that ,i have
 ever known1 so that if three or four   
birds were singing together he would    
pick out their songs1 distinguish each1 
and ask to be told each separate name2  
and when farther on we heard any bird   
for a second time1 he would remember the

 song from the first telling and be able
 to name the bird himself4  ,he had not 
only a trained ear1 but keen feeling and
 taste for bird songs4 ,he was quick to 
express preferences1 and at once picked 
out the song of the ,english blackbird  
as being the best of the bird songs we  
heard4 ,i have always had the same      
feeling about the blackbird's song4 ,i  
do not say it is better than the songs  
of ,american birds1 which ,i have not   
heard1 and ,i think ,colonel ,roosevelt 
thought one or two of the ,american bird
 songs were better than anything we had 
in ,england2 but his feeling for the    
,english blackbird's song ,i found      
confirmed the other day in a book       
published by ,dr4 ,chapman1 of the      
,natural ,history ,museum at ,new ,york4
 ,he has written a chapter on ,english  
birds and picks out the song of the     
blackbird for excellence because of its 
spiritual quality4 ,colonel ,roosevelt  
liked the song of the blackbird so much 
that he was almost indignant that he had

 not heard more of its reputation       
before4 ,he said everybody talked about 
the song of the thrush2 it had a great  
reputation1 but the song of the         
blackbird1 though less often mentioned1 
was much better than that of the thrush4
 ,he wanted to know the reason of this  
injustice and kept asking the question  
of himself and me4 ,at last he suggested
 that the name of the bird must have    
injured its reputation4 ,i suppose the  
real reason is that the thrush sings for
 a longer period of the year than the   
blackbird and is a more obtrusive       
singer1 and that so few people have     
sufficient feeling about bird songs to  
care to discriminate4  ,one more        
instance ,i will give of his interest   
and his knowledge4 ,we were passing     
under a fir tree when we heard a small  
song in the tree above us4 ,we stopped  
and ,i said that was the song of a      
golden-crested wren4 ,he listened very  
attentively while the bird repeated its 
little song1 as its habit is4 ,then he  

said1 ,i think that is exactly the same 
song as that of a bird that we have in  
,america2 and that was the only ,english
 song that he recognized as being the   
same as any bird song in ,america4 ,some
 time afterwards ,i met a bird expert in
 the ,natural ,history ,museum in       
,london and told him this incident1 and 
he confirmed what ,colonel ,roosevelt   
had said1 that the song of this bird    
would be about the only song that the   
two countries had in common4 ,i think   
that a very remarkable instance of      
minute and accurate knowledge on the    
part of ,colonel ,roosevelt4 ,it was the
 business of the bird expert in ,london 
to know about birds4 ,colonel           
,roosevelt's knowledge was a mere       
incident acquired1 not as part of the   
work of his life1 but entirely outside  
it4 ,i remember thinking at the time how
 strange it seemed that the             
golden-crested wren1 which is the very  
smallest bird which we have in ,england1
 should be the only song bird which the 

great continent of ,north ,america has  
in common with us4  ,but points of view 
are different in different countries4   
,we may find ourselves looking1 not only
 at political questions1 but at         
incidents in natural history from a     
different point of view when we are on  
different sides of an ocean4 ,the other 
day ,i was in a contemplative mood not  
far from ,washington4 ,i was thinking   
what a great country ,i was in1 how much
 larger the rivers were and how vast the
 distances1 and generally working up in 
my own mind an impression of the great  
size of the country4 ,then ,i happened  
to recall this incident of the          
golden-crested wren1 and ,i found myself
 thinking1 of course1 in a tiny little  
island like ,great ,britain1 where one  
cannot go in an express train at fifty  
miles an hour from east to west or from 
north to south in a straight line for   
more than fifteen hours without falling 
into the sea1 the only song we could    
have in common with a great continent   

like this would be the song of the      
smallest bird4  ,one trivial incident   
there was in our walk which gave us some
 amusement4 ,we were going by footpaths 
down a river valley1 a very beautiful1  
but a very tame and settled country1    
where anything like an adventure seemed 
impossible4 ,we were on a path which ,i 
had known for many years1 and along     
which ,i had walked many times1 not only
 without adventure1 but without even    
incident4 ,suddenly we found ourselves  
stopped--the path was flooded1 some     
weeds had blocked the river close by1   
and instead of a dry path we had about  
twenty yards of water in front of us4   
,the water was not very deep1 certainly 
not above our knees1 but ,i had not     
intended that there should be any wading
 in our walk nor had ,i prepared for it4
 ,i asked if he would mind going through
 the water1 to which1 of course1 he     
replied that he would not4 ,so we went  
through1 got wet1 and in the course of  
the afternoon got dry again as we       

walked4 ,nothing of the same kind had   
happened there before2 nothing has      
happened since4 ,i think there was some 
magnetism about ,colonel ,roosevelt's   
personality which created incidents4    
,after going a few miles down the valley
 we got into our motor1 which was       
waiting at a village inn1 and drove to  
what is called the ,new ,forest1 though 
it is more than eight hundred years old4
 ,we were now in a country of wild      
heath1 quite uncultivated1 and the part 
we went through was mostly natural      
forest4 ,here we heard some birds       
different from any we had heard in the  
valley of the ,itchen1 and got to a     
little inn standing on the open heath   
about nine o'clock in the evening4 ,we  
had dinner1 and next morning we         
breakfasted together and went to        
,southampton1 whence ,colonel ,roosevelt
 returned to ,america4  ,i am not       
attempting here a full appreciation of  
,colonel ,roosevelt4 ,he will be known  
for all time as one of the great men of 

,america4 ,i am only giving you this    
personal recollection as a little       
contribution to his memory1 as one that 
,i can make from personal knowledge and 
which is now known only to myself4 ,his 
conversation about birds was made       
interesting by quotations from poets4   
,he talked also about politics1 and in  
the whole of his conversation about them
 there was nothing but the motive of    
public spirit and patriotism4 ,i saw    
enough of him to know that to be with   
him was to be stimulated in the best    
sense of the word for the work of life4 
,perhaps it is not yet realised how     
great he was in the matter of knowledge 
as well as in action4 ,everybody knows  
that he was a great man of action in the
 fullest sense of the word4 ,the ,press 
has always proclaimed that4 ,it is less 
often that a tribute is paid to him as a
 man of knowledge as well as a man of   
action4 ,two of your greatest experts in
 natural history told me the other day  
that ,colonel ,roosevelt could1 in that 

department of knowledge1 hold his own   
with experts4 ,his knowledge of         
literature was also very great1 and it  
was knowledge of the best4 ,it is seldom
 that you find so great a man of action 
who was also a man of such wide and     
accurate knowledge4 ,i happened to be   
impressed by his knowledge of natural   
history and literature and to have had  
first-hand evidence of both1 but ,i     
gather from others that there were other
 fields of knowledge in which he was    
also remarkable4 ,not long ago when an  
,english friend of mine was dying1 his  
business agent came over to see him4    
,one of the family asked the agent      
whether he had come on important        
business4 ,no1 he said1 ,i have come for
 a little conversation because ,i was   
feeling depressed this morning and ,i   
wanted to be made to feel two inches    
taller4 ,that saying would1 ,i think1   
have been specially applicable to       
,colonel ,roosevelt also4 ,he could make
 people feel bigger and stronger and    

better4  ,and now my last discourse     
shall be on one sentence from ,colonel  
,roosevelt which ,i saw quoted the other
 day4 ,it is this3 ,he is not fit to    
live who is not fit to die1 and he is   
not fit to die who shrinks from the joy 
of life or from the duty of life4       
,observe that the joy of life and the   
duty of life are put side by side4 ,many
 people preach the doctrine of the duty 
of life4 ,it is comparatively seldom    
that you find one who puts the joy of   
life as something to be cultivated1 to  
be encouraged on an equal footing with  
the duty of life4 ,and of all the joys  
of life which may fairly come under the 
head of recreation there is nothing more
 great1 more refreshing1 more beneficial
 in the widest sense of the word1 than a
 real love of the beauty of the world4  
,some people cannot feel it4 ,to such   
people ,i can only say1 as ,turner once 
said to a lady who complained that she  
could not see sunsets as he painted     
them1 ,don't you wish you could1 madam8 

,but to those who have some feeling that
 the natural world has beauty in it ,i  
would say1 ,cultivate this feeling and  
encourage it in every way you can4      
,consider the seasons1 the joy of the   
spring1 the splendour of the summer1 the
 sunset colours of the autumn1 the      
delicate and graceful bareness of winter
 trees1 the beauty of snow1 the beauty  
of light upon water1 what the old ,greek
 called the unnumbered smiling of the   
sea4  ,in the feeling for that beauty1  
if we have it1 we possess a pearl of    
great price4 ,i say of great price1 but 
it is something which costs us nothing  
because it is all a part of the joy     
which is in the world for everybody who 
cares for it4 ,it is the joy in widest  
commonalty spread2 it is a rich         
possession for us if we care for it1 but
 in possessing it we deprive nobody     
else4 ,the enjoyment of it1 the         
possession of it1 excites neither greed 
nor envy1 and it is something which is  
always there for us and which may take  

us out of the small worries of life4    
,when we are bored1 when we are out of  
tune1 when we have little worries1 it   
clears our feelings and changes our mood
 if we can get in touch with the beauty 
of the natural world4 ,there is a quaint
 but apposite quotation from an old     
writer which runs as follows3 ,i sleep1 
,i drink and eat1 ,i read and meditate1 
,i walk in my neighbour's pleasant      
fields and see all the varieties of     
natural beauty 444 and he who hath so   
many forms of joy must needs be very    
much in love with sorrow and            
peevishness1 who loseth all these       
pleasures and chooseth to sit upon his  
little handful of thorns4  ,there is a  
story of a man whom others called poor1 
and who had just enough fortune to      
support himself in going about the      
country in the simplest way and studying
 and enjoying the life and beauty of it4
 ,he was once in the company of a great 
millionaire who was engaged in business1
 working at it daily and getting richer 

every year1 and the poor man said to the
 millionaire1 ,i am a richer man than   
you are4 ,how do you make that out8 said
 the millionaire4 ,why1 he replied1 ,i  
have got as much money as ,i want and   
you haven't4  ,but it is not only in the
 small worries of life that we may be   
saved by a right use of recreation4 ,we 
all realize how in the ,great ,war your 
nation and our nation and others engaged
 in the war were taken out of           
themselves1 ,i was going to say lost    
themselves1 but ,i ought rather to say  
found themselves4 ,it was a fine thing  
on your part to send two million        
soldiers across the sea in so short a   
time to risk their lives for an ideal4  
,it was even more impressive to us when 
we heard that in this country you had   
adopted conscription1 and that your     
millions of people1 distributed over so 
vast an extent of continent1 were so    
moved by one public spirit and one      
patriotism and one desire to help the   
,allies in the war that they were       

rationing themselves voluntarily with   
food and fuel4 ,that voluntary action by
 so many millions over so great an      
extent of country was a tremendous      
example1 showing what an ideal and a    
public spirit and a call to action can  
do for people in making them forget     
private interests and convenience and   
making them great4  ,that was an example
 of what could be done by not shrinking 
from the duty of life2 but you can get  
greatness1 too1 from some of the joys of
 life1 and from none more than from a   
keen sense of the beauty of the world   
and a love for it4 ,i found it so during
 the war4 ,our feelings were indeed     
roused by the heroism of our people1 but
 they were also depressed by the        
suffering4 ,in ,england every village   
was stricken1 there was grief in almost 
every house4 ,the thought of the        
suffering1 the anxiety for the future1  
destroyed all pleasure4 ,it came even   
between one's self and the page of the  
book one tried to read4 ,in those dark  

days ,i found some support in the steady
 progress unchanged of the beauty of the
 seasons4 ,every year1 as spring came   
back unfailing and unfaltering1 the     
leaves came out with the same tender    
green1 the birds sang1 the flowers came 
up and opened1 and ,i felt that a great 
power of nature for beauty was not      
affected by the war4 ,it was like a     
great sanctuary into which we could go  
and find refuge for a time from even the
 greatest trouble of the world1 finding 
there not enervating ease1 but something
 which gave optimism1 confidence1 and   
security4 ,the progress of the seasons  
unchecked1 the continuance of the beauty
 of nature1 was a manifestation of      
something great and splendid which not  
all the crimes and follies and          
misfortunes of mankind can abolish or   
destroy4 ,if1 as years go on1 we can    
feel the beauty of the world as         
,wordsworth felt it and get from it     
,authentic tidings of invisible things1 
,of ebb and flow and ever during power1 

,and central peace subsisting at the    
heart     ,of endless agitation1  then  
we have1 indeed1 a recreation which will
 give us1 not merely pleasure1 but      
strength1 refreshment1 and confidence4  
,something of the same feeling we may   
get from an appreciation of great music1
 beautiful pictures1 splendid           
architecture1 and other things that stir
 us with an impression of everlasting   
greatness4 ,enjoy these and cultivate   
the appreciation of them1 but           
especially1 if you can1 cultivate the   
enjoyment of the beauty of nature1      
because it costs nothing and is         
everywhere for everybody2 and if we can 
find recreation in such things as these1
 then1 indeed1 we may make the joy of   
life great as well as the duty of life1 
and we may find that the joy of life and
 the duty of life are not things adverse
 or even to be contrasted1 but may be1  
as ,colonel ,roosevelt puts them1       
companions and complements of each      
other4