OLD-FASH ION Kl) L'LOWKKS 



IX 



NOWADAYS, perhaps, there are no more 

 unknown flowers. We have found all, 

 or nearly all, the forms which nature 

 lends to the great dream of love, to the 

 yearning for beauty that stirs within her 

 bosom. We live, so to speak, in the 

 midst of her tenderest confidences, of 

 her most touching inventions. We take 

 an unhoped-for part in the most myste- 

 rious festivals of the invisible force that 

 animates us also. Doubtless, in appear- 

 ance, it is a small thing that a few more 

 flowers should adorn our beds. They 

 only scatter a few im potent sm iles along 

 the paths that lead to the grave. It is 

 none the less true that these are new 

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