LUTHER BURBANK 



wealth of detail than could be hoped for in a 

 glossary or an appendix to these volumes. 



***** 



"A few years after I came to Santa Rosa," said 

 Mr. Burbank as he was sitting on his porch one 

 evening, "I was invited to hear a new minister 

 preach on a subject which, I was assured, would 

 be of interest to me. 



"It was not my own church, so I tried to find 

 my way to an unobtrusive seat in the rear, where 

 I should disturb no one. But, as if by prearrange- 

 ment, the usher would not have it that way I was 

 led to the front center, where I was given a pew to 

 myself. 



"As soon as the sermon began, I saw the reason 

 for it all. That preacher, with a zeal in his heart 

 worthy of a better cause, had evidently planned 

 a sermon for my own particular benefit. He was 

 determined to show me the error of my ways. 



"He began by describing 'God's complete 

 arrangements' as evidenced in the plants about 

 us, and rebuked me openly for trying to improve 

 on the creations of Omnipotence. He held me to 

 ridicule as one who believed he could improve 

 perfection; he predicted dire punishment for 

 attempting to thwart Nature and tried to persuade 

 me, before that audience, to leave God's plants 

 alone. 



[226] 



