68 FROM A MIDDLESEX GARDEN 



dappled leaves, sending them up from the brown earth like 

 to exquisitely carved cups of jade ! The ribbed leaves of the 

 plantain pierce the wintry slime beside the river, which stately 

 plant by its earliest coming foretells the many beautiful 

 children of Flora that will follow in its train and be its 

 companions the yellow iris, arrow-heads, and flowering rush, 

 to mention but a few. 



How grateful we are for the mild breeze after the keen 

 wind of a few days since. As it blows around us what happy 

 news it bears to the eager listener the note of the cuckoo 

 calling clearly through the April days, the nightingale making 

 the May midnight melodious with its song. It is but an 

 anticipatory possession of what will soon be realised. 



