14 THE ALERT EYE. 



ought we not to reserve at least one apartment in 

 our hearts for her to dwell in without a rival ? 

 Does it seem right — I speak now from an ethical 

 point of view — to allow other things to crowd 

 her wholly out of our affection ? Were she but a 

 small fragment of the universe, the case would be 

 far different; but do not her vastness and ubiquity 

 prove that she occupies a large place in the Crea- 

 tor's thought? Outside of the thickly tenanted 

 portions of our great cities 3^ou find more of her, 

 if I may so speak, than of anything else. In quan- 

 tity (and I should also say in attractiveness) she 

 far excels all the vast accumulations of art. It is 

 with something like a thrill of triumph that I 

 make the declaration : The country is larger than 

 the city. 



And even in the great metropolis art has not 

 been able wholly to eliminate nature. Here and 

 there are touches of her gentle fingers to remind 

 us of the vast domain where she reigns almost 

 without a rival, and adorns her possessions at her 

 own sweet will. To my mind these quiet, unob- 

 trusive boudoirs of nature in the midst of the toil 

 and turmoil of metropolitan life, are like the 

 shadow of a great rock in a weary land. 



As before intimated, nature is lavish of her so- 



