GARDENING FOR WOMEN 85 



beauty being unattainable without splendour of 

 activity and of delicate strength. To perfect her 

 beauty, I say, and increase its power, it cannot be 

 too powerful, nor shed its sacred light too far ; only 

 remember that all physical freedom is vain to 

 produce beauty without a corresponding freedom 

 of heart." Then follows the quotation which we 

 all know so well, and which shows us the " vital 

 feeling of delight " which true love of nature, and 

 all the lovely things in nature, give us — " Thus, 

 then, you have first to mould her physical frame, 

 and then, as the strength she gains will permit you, 

 to fill and temper her mind with all knowledge and 

 thoughts which tend to confirm its natural in- 

 stincts of justice, and refine its natural taste of 

 love." 



I ask what can more readily lead to the ful- 

 filment of this ideal than a life of quiet, peaceful 

 interests in the company of the pure and lovable 

 companionship of flowers ? What can bring 

 healthier happiness than watching for those har- 

 bingers of the new flower year, the little green 

 heads of Winter Aconite that come pushing so 

 determinedly through the brown earth, and are 

 followed later by little golden heads of flower ? 

 What can give greater intellectual and artistic 

 pleasure and scope for imagination than planning 

 the herbaceous border which is to be bright with 



