JUNE 151 



have lost its first freshness, the early flowers have run to 

 seed, the pastures have taken on a tawny tinge, and the 

 evenings will be no longer dry and warm and fragrant, for 

 the night will be gaining ground ' by creeping minutes of 

 defacing time,' sending its chill, damp breath before it. 



Who that has had the good luck to spend the month of 

 June on the west coast can ever forget the charm of land 

 and sea. It had been a very late spring. April and May 

 (1906) had filled respectively the proverbial rdles of March 

 and April in the matter of winds and showers to produce, 

 not May, but June flowers. The flood of blossom, long 

 pent up, was worth waiting for. Every herb and shrub 

 and tree had done its utmost this year to brighten the 

 land, to gladden the heart of man, and to glorify the 

 Creator. 



Yes, yes ! I know that the scientific botanist has dis- 

 covered that the true function of blossom has nothing to 

 do with any of these results that flowers are only made 

 bright and fragrant to attract winged creatures so as to 

 ensure cross-fertilisation; but even he cannot deny that 

 the land is brightened and the heart gladdened by the 

 display, and, in common with students in other branches 

 of natural science, he is tending more and more to the 

 conclusion that there must be a great first cause, that 

 animated nature is not the outcome of a fortuitous con- 

 course of atoms, and that evolution and natural selection 

 are mere clauses in the law that changeth not. The 

 instinct of worship stirred by floral beauty may be vague 

 and tentative in its objective, but it is irresistible, and 

 ranks among the purest impulses of humanity. Did not 

 Linnaeus (or, as some men think, that other great 

 Scandinavian botanist, Dillenius) let his tears flow freely 



