tional, is most unsettling, and the human mind 

 has but little repose for quiet contemplation, in- 

 trospection, and growth in grace. That a garden 

 is no doubt itself a variety entertainment I will 

 not attempt to deny ; it is, however, a healthy and 

 calming one, moles notwithstanding. But many 

 people seemed discontented unless life generally 

 presents itself to them as a perpetual variety en- 

 tertainment, and have every appearance of con- 

 sidering it hardly worth living immediately it 

 ceases to be one. The lack of repose, like adver- 

 tisement, is the bane of the age. 



I always try to discern some true meaning and 

 ultimate moral trend in all social phenomena, and 

 I think that perhaps even variety entertainments 

 may serve some useful purpose, or at least be re- 

 garded as having some important or instructive 

 signification. 



Variety, or variation, as every horticulturist, 

 every student of Darwin, and every breeder of 

 animals knows, is the first necessary step toward 

 selection and improvement of the species, and 

 without it there could be no separation and se- 

 lection, either humanly designed or naturally 

 170 



