THE FERN PARADISE. 



bright home a bird that sings cheerily in its 

 cage when a momentary sunbeam finds its way 

 even into a London court, and fresh green plants 

 in every corner is happier and calmer under the 

 influence of heavy troubles than he who has 

 nothing to relieve the crushing weight of poverty ! 

 In one point, to which it is well to call espe- 

 cial attention here, the pleasant writer in The 

 Spectator somewhat misunderstands the Author 

 of this volume. The Reviewer thinks that in 

 * THE FERN PARADISE ' ' one of the most important 

 adjuncts to beauty' namely contrast is left 

 out of consideration. He remarks : * Why do we 

 admire so greatly the ferny growths, wherever 

 we see them? Not merely on account of their 

 intrinsic beauty, but because of their surround- 

 ings. In the glowing heat of the tropics, it is a 

 delight to plunge into the stillness of the forest 

 and to repose the eye with the contemplation of 

 the lush greenery, that seems as if it revelled in 

 its own teeming vigorous life ; and in our woods 

 and lanes, and by our waterfalls, we admire the 

 tender hues of the grass and Ferns, caused by the 

 glinting of the sunlight through the trees ; or the 



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