264 THE EULOGY OF RICHARD JEFFERIES. 



" Straight go the white petals to the heart ; 

 straight the mind's glance goes back to how 

 many other pageants of summer in old times 1 

 When perchance the sunny days were even 

 more sunny ; when the stilly oaks were full of 

 mystery, lurking like the Druid's mistletoe in 

 the midst of their mighty branches. A glamour 

 in the heart came back to it again from every 

 flower ; as the sunshine was reflected from 

 them, so the feeling in the heart returned ten- 

 fold. To the dreamy summer haze love gave 

 a deep enchantment, the colours were fairer, 

 the blue more lovely in the lucid sky. Each 

 leaf finer, and the gross earth enamelled be- 

 neath the feet. A sweet breath on the air, a 

 soft warm hand in the touch of the sunshine, 

 a glance in the gleam of the rippled waters, a 

 whisper in the dance of the shadows. The 

 ethereal haze lifted the heavy oaks and they 

 were buoyant on the mead, the rugged bark 

 was chastened and no longer rough, each 

 slender flower beneath them again refined. 

 There was a presence everywhere though un- 

 seen, on the open hills, and not shut out 

 under the dark pines. Dear were the June 



