308 STUDIES IN THE FIELD AND FOREST. 



blank. Some objects are intrinsically beautiful, others 

 are beautiful by suggestion, others again by contrast. 

 This latter principle causes many things to appear de- 

 lightful to the eye at one period, which at other times 

 would, by comparison with brighter objects, seem dull 

 and lifeless. Hence on a winter's ramble, when there 

 is no snow upon the ground, our attention is fixed, not 

 only upon the lichens and evergreens, but likewise on 

 the bright purple glow that proceeds from every plat of 

 living shrubbery which is spread out in the wild. This 

 appearance is beautiful by contrast with the dull sombre 

 hues of the surrounding faded herbage, and it is like- 

 wise strongly suggestive of the life and vigor of nature. 

 It is the vivid hue of health, and entirely unlike the hue 

 of the same plants i,f they were dead or dying. It is 

 not necessary that we should have meditated upon this 

 idea, in order to be affected by it. We are all uncon- 

 scious physiognomists of the face of nature ; and over 

 a wide tract of country, were the vegetation blasted in 

 autumn, by some secret pestilence that had destroyed 

 its vitality, its whole aspect would be such as to sadden 

 every beholder, though una\^are of the fatal event. As 

 the human face in sleep wears the glow, if not the 

 animation of waking life — so the face of nature, in her 

 hyemal sleep, has a glow that harmonizes with our feel- 

 ings and with our sense of universal beauty. 



The wild wood is always full of instruction for those 

 who are mindful cither of its general aspects or its 

 minuter details ; and a ramble on a pleasant winter's 

 day produces on the mind an invigorating effect that 

 might be used as a safeguard against mental depres- 

 sion. The landscape, when undisfigured by art, is 

 never without beauty, and the woods are always redo- 

 lent of sweet odors that assist in perfecting the illusions 



