THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION 45 



AN IDYL OF A RAMBLER. 



Read before the Hamilton Association, April roth, i8g^. 

 BY A. B. SMALL, OTTAWA. 



\Vhen Man was banished from the Garden of Eden he received 

 the dread sentence that " the ground should be cursed for his sake," 

 and that "in sorrow should he eat of it all the days of his life." But 

 we are all aware that this language, though true in its general appli- 

 cation, is not to be understood in a literal and exclusive sense. Man 

 was told that the earth should " bring forth thorns and thistles," but 

 it also produces flowers to gratify and fruits to nourish him. The 

 Infinite Being has said that " the days of our life shall be marked 

 with sorrow," and they are ; but the afflictions to which we are 

 subject are attended with blessed antidotes. Moral sources of enjoy- 

 ment are given us, as fruits and floAvers, for the Soul, and the 

 teachings of interest should lead us to consider with attention those 

 gifts which enlarge the capacities of the spirit, and call forth wonder- 

 ment at the mighty workings of all bounteous Nature. For instance, 

 who is insensible to the beauties of the rising or the setting of the 

 summer sun ? Who can behold the moonbeams reflected from 

 silent river, lake or sea, and not feel happy in the sight ? None, I 

 believe, in early life. But, when hardened in the ways of the world 

 and of man ; when the chief end pursued is the accumulation of 

 wealth, acquisition of power, or pursuit of pleasure, then mankind 

 loses sight of the beauties of Nature. Were the inherent love of 

 them cherished by early education, how seldom would it be destroyed 

 or become dormant, as it too often is. But the student of Nature 

 finds in every sphere of existence a means of rational enjoyment — 

 a pleasure so fascinating when grasped at, that the mind for the time 

 forgets the ills of life, and the glories of Eden spring up in imagina- 

 tion through the mists of troubles ; for in every bank and woodland, 

 and running stream, in every bird among the boughs, and every 

 cloud above his head, stores of interest abound, which enable him to 



