278 TREES IN NATURE, MYTH & ART 



cousin, favours me with a pathetic reminiscence. 

 She says : ' The last walk I ever took with 

 him was about a fortnight before he was finally 

 restricted to the house. It was late in the 

 afternoon of a spring day, the sun shining 

 brightly and a cold East wind. He told me 

 he would take and show me something beauti- 

 ful. We went into the Gardens to a spot 

 where there was a magnificent magnolia in 

 full blossom. This was what he wished to 

 show. He could not speak above a whisper, 

 but pointed constantly with his stick to those 

 flowers and the different spring blossoms that 

 he loved so well, making his usual remark of 

 the delight it was to have such gardens so 

 near at hand to walk in. I always associate 

 them with him now.'" 



The following passage from the biography 

 is also of great interest with respect to our 

 immediate subject : '' Says a well-known author, 

 'There is nothing good or God-like in this 

 world but has in it something of infinite sad- 

 ness '. Without necessarily endorsing this 

 sentiment, I may fairly point to 'The Old 

 Garden ' as a presentment of the pathos of 

 Nature under the garb of a homely landscape 



