256 
THE EERN PARADISE. 
dance does but increase the cliarm which it flings 
over bill, woodland, and plain; and does but 
testify to the abounding goodness of the Creator 
in giving us so much to delight the eye and to 
please the mind. 
That the Bracken is put to vulgar uses may be 
granted; and that it represents to the vulgar 
eye—more completely, indeed, than any other 
member of the graceful family to which it belongs 
—the idea of c a Fern,’ we equally concede. But 
we indignantly repudiate the attempt to fasten the 
stigma of vulgarity upon the wild Brake. The 
reproach recoils upon those who invented it; and 
the beautiful plant will have its reward in the 
keen appreciation of the true Fern-lover. 
We have said that the Brake is to be found 
almost everywhere. The general fact is a suffi¬ 
cient indication of its hardiness. But under 
such conditions alone as Ferns love is it to be 
found growing in full spendour, and endowed with 
all its natural grace and beauty. Alike on the 
wild open common, in the dark shade of the 
woodland, by the glancing waters of our streams, 
perched on the hedge-tops, swathed in the deep 
