6 
THE FERN PARADISE. 
surrounded by the wealth of glorious trees, soothed 
by the soft sounds of insect life, and charmed by 
the songs of birds. Given the sweet gifts of plants 
and shrubs, of grass and flowers, clothed each and 
all with rich and beautiful tints : gifts which the 
all-wise Creator has spread out upon the earth 
with a splendid liberality, offering them alike to 
rich and to poor. Given, we say, all these choice 
things, together with a healthy mind in a healthy 
body, and he who has them possesses the elements 
of physical enjoyment. 
But all cannot share such enjoyment. To some, 
Nature is like a sealed book ; and these cannot sip 
from the cup which, overflowing with pleasure, she 
holds up as a free gift to mankind. Pent up, 
perhaps, in the heart of a great city, walled in from 
all that is beautiful in Nature, their eyes are never 
gladdened by the sight of woods, green fields, and 
sweet wild-flowers ; their ears are never charmed 
by the songs of birds that roam free and untamed 
among their native covers. To them the fresh 
breeze laden with soft perfumes never comes. 
Hard toil in city workshops, squalid homes in city 
