■WILD FLOWERS. 177 
glass will s-ee there something besides itself, and 
acquire something of a religious right to respect i 
itself, in thinking by how many objects in the * 
creation the bloom of beauty is shared.” And 
again, speaking of “ Breakfast in Summer,” j 
he says :—Set flowers on your table, a whole | 
nosegay if you can get it,—or but two or three,— ' 
or a single flower,—a rose, a pink, nay, a daisy. 
Bring a few daisies and buttercups, from your 
last fleld walk, and keep them alive in a little ; 
water ; and preserve but a bunch of clover, or , 
a handful of flowering grass, one of the most I 
elegant, as well as cheap, of nature’s productions, | 
—and you have something on your table that ^ 
reminds you of the beauty of God’s creation, 
and gives you a link with the poets and sages ! 
that have done it most honour. Put but a rose, 
or a lily, or a violet, on your table, and you and 
Lord Bacon ha'v'e a custom in common ; for 
that great and wise man was in the habit of 
having the flowers in season set upon his 
table,—morning, and, we believe, noon, and 
night; that is to say, at all his meals ; for din¬ 
ner, in his time, was taken at noon: and why 
