156 UNDER THE TREES. 



most dreaded that nearer acquaintance which might 

 dispel the illusion of superiority. How delighted 

 were we to discover that not only are great souls, 

 really understood, greater than all their works, 

 but that the works were forgotten and nothing was 

 remembered but the soul ! Not as those who are 

 fed by the bounty of the king, but as kings our 

 selves, were we received into this noble company. 

 Were we not born to the same inheritance ? Were 

 not Nature and life ours as truly as they were 

 Shakespeare s and Wordsworth s? As we sat at 

 rest under the great arms of the trees, or roamed 

 at will through the woodland paths, the one thought 

 that was common to us all was, not how nobly these 

 scenes had been pictured and spoken, but how far 

 above all language of art they were, and how shal 

 low runs the stream of speech when these mys 

 terious treasures of feeling and insight are launched 

 upon it ! 



IX. 



.... every day 

 Men of great worth resorted to this forest. 



THE friendship of Nature is matched in Arden 

 with human friendships, as sincere, as void of dis 

 guise and flattery, as stimulating and satisfying. 

 There are times when every sensitive person is 

 wounded by misunderstanding of motives, by lack 

 of sympathy, by indifference and coldness ; such 



