Nature is everywhere beautiful. Why should she not be? 

 The touch of the Divine Master is over and upon all her places, 

 however grand or humble. The blending of His colors have no 

 uncertain value but harmonious relations always. The surpas- 

 sing loveliness of His valleys and streams, with their exquisite 

 tones of light and shade; the delicious atmosphere pervading His 

 tropical landscapes; the luxurience of His impressive forests; the 

 magnificence of His marvelous seas; the grandeur of His moun- 

 tain forms, and, above all, the splendor of His glorious skies 

 appeal to the devout mind and soul with a force which culminates 

 in an enduring and reverent love tor the Supreme Spirit pervad- 

 ing all. 



"The men whom Nature's works can charm, 



With God himself hold converse ; grow familiar 

 Day by day with his conceptions ; act upon his plan, 

 And form to his the relish of their souls." 



It is doubtful if anywhere else can be found in such close 

 proximity to a great city, a more attractive region than that which 

 surrounds the city of Boston, stretching in the form of a crescent 

 from the Blue Hills of Quincy and Milton, to the hills and woods 

 of Saugus and Lynn. The extreme points of this territory reach 

 out on either side to Nantasket and Nahant, with an opening sea- 

 ward through (vhich the white sails go out to the great ocean be- 

 yond. 



In the basin-like enclosure, between the hills and the water, 

 sits the Queen City, with her bays and tributaries, and outlying 

 annexes, resplendent in her beauty and glorious in her deeds and 

 fame. 



The great basin-like depression back of the city, which gives 

 so sharply defined an outline to the hilly country beyond, is 

 believed to be the result of volcanic action, and this belief is 

 strengthened by the fact that evidences of a submerged forest 

 have been found underneath the marshes at Revere, a fact which 

 goes far towards explaining the presence in that wonderful 

 natural botanic garden, Oak Island, of plants known to grow 

 only in higher regions further away from the sea. 



In the central portion of the outlying belt of hilly country, lies 

 the special tract of wild uncultivated land, now known as the 

 Middlesex Fells. 



This tract of country has long attracted lovers of natural scen- 

 ery, on account of its wildness and wonderfully picturesque love- 



