THE MUSIC OF BROOKS 



THE birds and the brooks are the singers 

 in God's outdoor temple. Other things 

 praise God in other ways, the flowers by 

 their beauty and fragrance, the trees by their 

 strength and shelter, the showers by their 

 refreshing and fructifying power, the winds 

 by their purifying and seed-scattering min- 

 istries. But the birds and the brooks are 

 God's singers. This is their special service 

 and delight. 



The birds and their music have had many 

 loving and sympathetic interpreters. But 

 it is of the more neglected music of the 

 brooks that I would ask leave to speak a few 

 words here. 



When I go out into the woods in the 

 spring or early summer, one of the first 

 sounds I hear is the dashing or tinkling of 

 some happy brook; and it always seems to 

 me as if there were real musical tones, and 

 a song with living sweetness and meaning 

 in the sound. To many people, I know, 



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