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NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 



magnolia, the thorn, the dogwood, the hazel, 

 tangled with sweet-brier, grape, and clumps 

 of berry-bearing bushes may be seen in one 

 landscape. There is no stint to the variety 

 nor to the beauty of these growths, but simply 

 because they spring up close beside us, and 

 may be seen from almost any country door- 

 yard, we are disposed to think them too com- 

 mon for admiration. Such a conclusion is of 

 almost universal acceptance, but it is not the 

 less shallow for that. It is the old error of 

 thinking happiness in Eome or Athens or Bag- 

 dad rather than in our own heart and home. 

 The unusual in nature is not by any means the 

 most enjoyable. There is a greater charm in 

 the commonplace, the humble things of the 

 earth, if we have but the eyes to see them and 

 the soul to feel them. A clump of hazel on the 

 upland meadow, around which the daisies grow 

 and through which the blackberry twines its 

 white blossoms, may be a wonder-world of beauty 

 if we study it in its form and color, its setting, 

 light, and relation to the whole meadow. And 

 the wild rose the common wild rose grow- 

 ing along the woodland road, unseen by the farm- 

 er's boy and the summer tourist, is a vision of 

 loveliness beyond all description. How many 



