INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 5 



that do not rush or roar, but distil as the 

 dew. 



The love of rural life, the habit of finding 

 joyment in familiar things, that susceptibility 

 to Nature which keeps the nerve gently thrilled 

 in her homeliest nooks and by her commonest 

 sounds, is worth a thousand fortunes of money, 

 or its equivalents. 



Every book which interprets the secret lore of 

 fields and gardens, every essay that brings men 

 nearer to the understanding of the mysteries 

 which every tree whispers, every brook murmurs, 

 every weed, even, hints, is a contribution to the 

 wealth and the happiness of our kind. And if 

 the lines of the writer shall be traced in quaint 

 characters, and be filled with a grave humor, or 

 break out at times into merriment, all this will 

 be no presumption against their wisdom or his 

 goodness. Is the oak less strong and tough be- 

 cause the mosses and weather-stains stick in al] 



