70 



NATURE'S BENEFICENCE 



Fellowship with nature is not denied to dwellers 

 in the city. Though it may seem far away and lost 

 in impossible distance, it is really crowding in on 

 every hand. Some animals may have long since 

 departed, the wisest being first to go. The Beaver 

 leaves with the earliest indications of permanent 

 human settlement, as a prudent man foreseeth the 

 evil and hideth himself. One by one his forest friends 

 depart, as wisdom gives them understanding, until a 

 few degenerates like the Muskrat and the Skunk fall 

 into habits of domestication. Birds may avoid the 

 city, with its fumes and exhalations, as a place 

 unclean. Still the inviting fellowship is at our doors. 

 In every neglected field, in every swampy indentation, 

 under every clump of Witch-hazel or Dogwood, 

 among the seedling Oaks, Maples, and Elms, by 

 every muddy stream not yet diverted to a culvert, 

 and even along the open roadways, the varied colours 

 and fantastic shapes of the wild flora show that 

 nature's lamp still holds out to burn. It is not neces- 

 sary to make a long pilgrimage to the primeval forest, 

 nor to envy those blessed with the privilege of a 

 private audience with the spirit of solitude in her 



