July 



one day afforded in seeing a flock of goldfinches 

 and indigo-birds running about over the grass. 

 An artist would find difficulty in projecting 

 indigo-blue on a congenial green background, 

 but nature hesitates at nothing, and is never at 

 fault as a colorist. 



The handsomest all-the-year-round bird in 

 this region is the cardinal grosbeak (one of the 

 finches), and it has a peculiar and interesting, 

 if not altogether commendable, individuality. 

 With a refined, courtly, and self-conscious air 

 in bearing and song, it seems to typify a sort 

 of aristocracy that feels the weight of inherited 

 consequence, revelling in the deep blessedness 

 of a prolonged and illustrious ancestry. A 

 person's relation to his ancestors is singular and 

 extremely convenient. It enables him to ap- 

 propriate their virtues and repudiate their vices, 

 and in many instances a large proportion of their 

 mental and moral assets are thus derived, as well 

 as their chief claim to recognition in society. 

 Ancestral greatness is capable of being a source 

 of perennial and inextinguishable joy, almost as 

 great as that of the lady who said that, in the 

 consciousness of being well dressed, she found a 

 satisfaction such as even the consolations of re- 

 ligion could not afford. 



217 



