138 GLOBE-FLOWER. 



under-current of corruption wliich flowed 

 beneath the flowers of old imagination. And 

 I can readily believe that many a young 

 mind rejoiced, while gathering bright gar- 

 lands for idol worship, in the fond hope 

 of performing a sacred duty. Those days 

 have passed by, and the shadowy forms of 

 pagan superstition haunt no longer the green 

 and flowery banks of streamlets, England's 

 fields of corn, or forest walks : the flowers 

 which grow beside our paths are no longer 

 consecrated to unhallowed rites, beneath 

 the blaze of golden temple-lamps. But 

 while forgetting these, and rejoicing in the 

 light of better days ; why are not sweet 

 odours from the flowers of thought, blended 

 with the beauty and the fragrance of na- 

 tural objects ? "Why are not those glimpses 

 of the wonders of creation, which seem to 

 shed a light and gladness in beholding them, 

 brought before the minds of youth ? As- 



