Paradise was Never Lost 1 89 



their texture will be found as firm. It is the buds 

 of the leaves of next year that push beneath them 

 and gently thrust them from their summer thrones, 

 in their bright blossoming. 



On Sunday the earth was so rich in its tran 

 scendent beauty that it made the heart to ache 

 with joy but to look upon it, but to breath the 

 delicious fragrance of the forest, and those wild, 

 mysterious scents that are borne from the ferns ; 

 besides the lingering wealth of the odora golden- 

 rod, the life-everlasting, the traveler s-joy ; and. trie 

 bouquet of wild grapes in the wayside thickets, 

 while ever and anon one suspires deeply to take in 

 the magic of witch hazel. At every turn of the 

 road there is a new wonder. Now one pauses at a 

 large outlook over the low hills to consume in a 

 glance the gorgeous harmony of every forest hue 

 spread over miles of spectacle, as if all the earth 

 were crying in this visible utterance: &quot;Glory to 

 God in the Highest! on earth peace, good-will to 

 men!&quot; 



All now is solemn and restful in the woods and 

 fields ; work is over, repose has come ; and yet 

 in this there is nothing that depresses, nothing 

 that bears the emphasis of gloom or melancholy. 

 It is what should be, and so we recognize it, and 

 find in these days of glowing colour and pervad 

 ing fragrance great store of comfort and consola- 



