THE PRIVATE GARDEN 



that is surely mine, for the result was delight- 

 ful. 



I have ventured to make report of these two 

 or three gardens, not as in themselves worthy 

 of a great public's consideration and praise 

 but as happy instances of a fruitage we are 

 gathering among hundreds of homes in a little 

 city where it is proposed to give every home, if 

 possible, its utmost value. Many other pleas- 

 ing examples could be cited if further turnings 

 of the kaleidoscope were a real need, but this 

 slender discourse is as long now as it should be. 

 It seems droll to call grave attention to such 

 humble things in a world so rightly preoccupied 

 with great sciences and high arts, vast industries, 

 shining discoveries and international rivalries, 

 strifes and projects; yet what are all these for, 

 at last, but the simple citizen, his family and his 

 home, and for him and them in the cottage as 

 well as in the palace? The poor man's home 

 may shine dimly but it is one of the stars by 

 which civilization must guide its onward course. 



It may well be supposed that those whose 

 office it is to award the twenty-one prizes of our 



151 



