Glaucus; Or, The Wonders of the Shore

Microscopy, meanwhile, and the whole study of “The Wonders of the Little,” have made vast strides in the last twenty years; and I was equally surprised and pleased, to find, three years ago, in each of two towns of a few thousand inhabitants, perhaps a dozen good microscopes, all but hidden away from the public, worked by men who knew how to handle them, and who knew what they were looking at; but who modestly refrained from telling anybody what they were doing so well. And it was this very discovery of unsuspected microscopists which made me more desirous than ever to see— as I see now in many places— scientific societies, by means of which the few, who otherwise would work apart, may communicate their knowledge to each other, and to the many. These “Microscopic,” “Naturalist,” “Geological,” or other societies, and the “Field Clubs” for excursions into the country, which are usually connected with them, form a most pleasant and hopeful new feature in English Society; bringing together, as they do, almost all ranks, all shades of opinion; and it has given me deep pleasure to see, in the case at least of the Country Clubs with which I am acquainted, the clergy of the Church of England taking an active, and often a leading, interest in their practical work. The town clergy are, for the most part, too utterly overworked to follow the example of their country brethren. But I have reason to know that they regard such societies, and Natural History in general, with no unfriendly eyes; and that there is less fear than ever that the clergy of the Church of England should have to relinquish their ancient boast— that since the formation of the Royal Society in the seventeenth century, they have done more for sound physical science than any other priesthood or ministry in the world. Let me advise anyone who may do me the honour of reading these pages, to discover whether such a Club or Society exists in his neighbourhood, and to join it forthwith, certain that— if his experience be at all like mine— he will gain most pleasant information and most pleasant acquaintances, and pass most pleasant days and evenings, among people whom he will be glad to know, and whom he never would have known save for the new— and now, I hope, rapidly spreading— freemasonry of Natural History.