11 



woman's heart, with every returning Spring, might gather 

 and weave them into her rustic coronal. But to fulfil 

 their highest ministry they must have become blended 

 with their kindred associations. They must have linked 

 themselves, as they have done, with the domestic, and 

 public and religious story of the world. Their sweet and 

 gentle names must have floated upon the voice of song. 

 They must have given language of eloquent significance 

 to the passionate impulses of the human heart. They 

 must have spoken of the fragility of life under that 

 sweetest and most soothing of all sad similitudes, — " a 

 fading flower." They must have crowned the wine- 

 cup amidst the revels of " towered cities," and mingled 

 with the sunny locks of the queen of May upon the vil- 

 lage green. They must have waved upon the brow of 

 the returning victor, wreathed their modest tints amongst 

 the tresses of the blushing bride, and reposed in pale and 

 tranquil beauty upon the marble bosom of death. They 

 must have proved their power to sound the secret well- 

 springs of our hearts, and to draw up the sweeter waters 

 beneath, hidden, as with a veil, by the intertangled sophis- 

 tications and falsehoods of the world. They must have 

 been won from their wild and unseen solitudes, and nur- 

 tured and cherished with a dear and reverent love. 



But much as we love to meet them in their green re- 

 treats, on the fragrant meadow, by the rural road-side, or 

 in the wild recesses of the rocks, it is as the friends and 

 companions of our daily duties that we most welcome 

 their sweet and holy ministry. Nurtured by our own 

 hands, they become indeed the faithful solace of our cares, 

 and the rich reward of all our pleasant toil. And then 

 how more than strange is this wonderful result with 

 which beneficent Nature repays our fostering charge ! 

 What miracle so marvellous, as this mysterious develop- 



