into closer relation with us than the vast ex- 

 panse of earth and sky. It is this fact that 

 explains at least in part the peace and calm so 

 often found in the garden. 



I think we touch here one of the deepest 

 mysteries of nature. There is much in the ex- 

 ternal world that is terrible or unfriendly to 

 man. In her vast immensity nature seems 

 outside and beyond man, aloof from his hopes 

 and fears, his joy and sorrow, his strivings and 

 aspirations. How profoundly we realize this 

 when we look to the clouds or the stars above 

 us, in the wilderness where no man is, or in 

 the presence of the great mountains which 

 seem so impassable and unchangeable! At 

 such times nature seems altogether heedless 

 of our feelings or our destiny. This sense of 

 nature's infinite side often lies heavily on our 

 souls, and our increased knowledge of her 

 processes makes the contrast between the 

 warm and tender human heart and her cold 

 and impassive, almost relentless, elements 

 dominate our imagination. It is this aspect 



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