IV 
PREFACE. 
i he murmurs of many voices—we shall thereby enlarge the circle 
of our emotions, and quicken our sense of appreciation for things 
which lie around and above us. 
This ministration of dew-drops and red sunsets is not appointed 
in vain ; it is a ministration to the heart rather than to the brain 
of man, and teaches him the lesson of his moral life, of which, 
under the excitement of worldly avocations, he too often becomes 
oblivious. 
These papers, such as they are, are expressions of thoughts 
arising out of the observation of natural changes and simple 
things, all of which, viewed through the imagination with the help 
of thought, afford us an insight into the poetical uses of natural 
forms and phenomena, and add to our life solaces and resources, 
for the augmentation of our earthly joy, 
The merits and demerits of “ Brambles and Bay Leaves ” are 
equally to be attributed to enthusiasm; and should my enthusiasm, 
as expressed herein, prove welcome to a few congenial spirits, I 
shall have the satisfaction of having added to the enjoyments of 
those who see in a wavside pebble, or a green leaf, a suDject for 
meditation not to be exhausted at one effort. 
