(XXI) 
fully amid the seeming obscurity of occasional, passing spiritual dereliction; the 
respiratory organs of the human frame must take in the pure air of heaven; the 
responsible soul can rightly thrive only in a supernal atmosphere, must needs sip 
of the moisture supplied by Mercy’s all-embracing waters, must thirst after and 
drink in the dew-drops and the shower-drops of Divine Grace. And since that 
Grace supposes and effectively subsumes nature, it will demand, like the fair olive 
engrafting upon the wild, in some southland, as sound a native basis for success¬ 
ful operation as the relics of a fallen state and individual peculiarities can afford. 
—As the Flowers and various Plants constantly turn to advantage their endow¬ 
ments and surroundings, so man, striving for his physical and spiritual life- 
growth, should consistently and unintermittingly work along the lines of every 
grace vouchsafed him, internal and external. Yet, in this, is man as faithful 
as they? 
They are the harbingers of early spring, the living presence of summer, the 
still cheerful companions of advancing autumn, the abiding consolers within 
doors during winter—teaching, amid the change of seasons, hopefulness and help¬ 
fulness, ever and always; and, in their gradual unfolding, and from maturity to 
decadence or consummated purpose, they furnish familiarly instructive counter¬ 
parts of the successive stages in our mundane existence—the virescent bud of 
infancy, the nascent blossom of childhood, the bourgeoning promise of youth, the 
full-flower of manhood’s prime, the shriveling blade or leaf of pallid hue that 
represents declining years, or indicates the attainment of life’s objects. They 
inculcate that fraternal spirit by which, while wisely laboring for ourselves, we 
generously admit companionship and ungrudingly take part in mutual assist¬ 
ance, in work and its successes, even as the same seed-plot, the same flower-bed, 
and, at times, the same field, will allow, simultaneously, differing vegetations, in 
a sort of common sisterhood. 
The bashful plant and hiding flower preach of prudent reserve and modest 
merit; and the happy wild-flowers of varying worth that everywhere peep, from 
dawn till dusk, speak to us of Nature’s unstinting prodigality and urge us to 
deeds of beneficence exercised with no niggard hand; for, “Who soweth sparingly, 
shall also reap sparingly; and who soweth in blessings, shall also reap in bless¬ 
ings.” 
All healthful vines, creeping or climbing, with like-mannered shrubs, sol¬ 
emn ivies and cheering smilax, direct the often arduous way of just and lofty 
aspirations patiently satisfied, as long, in and out, up, round and over church and 
abbey, castle tower and wall, homes and latticed windows, upon and entwining 
