FLO WEES AND FOLKS. 215 



and men alike carry themselves according to 

 their birthright. Providence has not or- 

 dained a diversity of gifts for nothing, and 

 it is only a narrow philosophy that takes 

 offense at seeming contrarieties. The truer 

 method, and the happier as well, is to like 

 each according to its kind : to love that which 

 is amiable, to admire that which is admir- 

 able, and to study that which is curious. 



A few weeks ago, for example, I walked 

 again up the mountain road that climbs out 

 of the Franconia Valley into the Franconia 

 Notch. I had left home twenty-four hours 

 before, fresh from working upon the asters 

 and golden-rods (trying to straighten out my 

 local catalogue in accordance with Dr. Gray's 

 more recent classification of these large and 

 Difficult genera), and naturally enough had 

 asters and golden-rods still in my eye. The 

 first mile or two afforded nothing of particu- 

 lar note, but by and by I came to a cluster 

 of the sturdy and peculiar Solidago squar- 

 rosa, and was taking an admiring account 

 of its appearance and manner of growth, 

 when I caught sight of some lower blue 

 flower underneath, which on a second glance 

 proved to be the closed gentian. This grew 



