the glory of the scene reached its climax when 

 the sun came out and the thicket scintillated 

 from the center as well as from its external sur- 

 face. 



Its dazzling splendor, however, could not last, 

 and the glistening and enchanted spectacle grad- 

 ually melted away before the greater and more 

 glorious life-giving presence of " God's lidless 

 Eye." This gorgeous scene, however, has always 

 dwelt in my memory, and figures as the most 

 glowing aspect a garden can assume at any sea- 

 son of the year. 



But, even without such adventitious aids as 

 snow or frost, the garden is engaging in its 

 winter attire. Beauty unadorned is adorned the 

 most ; but then it must be beauty. I do not wish 

 to go to extremes and worship the bare straight 

 wands of a scraggy unclothed bush whose naked- 

 ness is only tolerable because of the alluring 

 toilettes it dons at other seasons. What, how- 

 ever, can be more fascinating than many a nude 

 tree, the sturdy strength of the anatomy of the 

 oak and the lithe grace of the beech and the 

 birch? I have in my mind's eye two other splen- 



14 



