THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 47 



dim with early dew, or smooth in evening, warmth of sunshine; all 

 these are summed up in the simple words — " The Fields." 



Whatever course our thoughts may take, we must remember 

 that there is no plant, however humble, no flower or weed that 

 springeth from the earth, but is an organized and living mystery. 

 The secrets of the abyss are not more inscrutable than the work that 

 is wrought in its hidden germ. The goings on of the Heavens are 

 not more incomprehensible than the growth of a simple plant, as it 

 waves in the summer breeze. The functions that constitute its 

 growth, flower and fruit, the organs and affinities by which every part 

 receives the material that answers its purpose, who can unfold or 

 explain them ? As the fruit of one year falls, the seed of centuries 

 of growth is sown. By the mechanism of Nature, the stocking of 

 the earth with every kind of growth, from the oak of a thousand 

 years, to the weed of to-day, is carried on. The acorn falls into 

 moist earth, and is trodden in by man or beast, to become an oak in 

 course of years, whose timber may resound to and tremble under the 

 roar of warfare on the ocean ; berries are carried by birds, and 

 dropped on ledges of rock in any handful of soil that may be there, 

 to sprout and germinate and grow, and to reproduce in their turn, 

 seeds for future growth. Winged seeds, such as those of the thistle, 

 the dandelion, etc., are elevated by the winds till they stop in some 

 favoured places ; hooked seeds, such as are familiarly called "cleavers" 

 or " burrs," entangled on the dress of the passer-by, or hanging to the 

 hair or fleecy coverings of animals, may be carried miles away, and 

 find their resting place in even other lands. 



Whilst men, with due care, put seeds into the ground by miUions, 

 Nature plants and sows on a larger scale, surpassing man while he is 

 busy, and going on with her work while he is sleeping or m^aking 

 holiday. For every tree that falls thousands are sown ; for every 

 flower that fades millions are provided. What we do with pains and 

 care in our flower beds, is done silently all over the islands and con- 

 tinents of our globe. New life is provided before decay begins. 



How beautifully are the lights and shadows thrown abroad, and 

 the fine transparent haze diffused over the valleys and plains. The 

 shadows play all day long at silent games of beauty ; everything is 

 double if it stands in light. The tree has an unrevealed and muffled 

 self, lying darkly along the ground ; the slender stems of flowers, 



