The clouds might give abundant rain; The nightly dews might fall; And the herb that keepeth life in man Might yet have drunk them all. Then wherefore, wherefore were they made, All dyed with rainbow-light, All fashioned with supremest grace Upspringing day and night; Springing in valleys green and low, And on the mountains high, And in the silent wilderness, Where no man passes by? Our outward life requires them not-- Then wherefore had they birth? To minister delight to man, To beautify the earth. To comfort man--to whisper hope, Whene'er his faith is dim, For who so careth for the flowers Will much more care for him! --MARY HOWITT. [Illustration: APPLE BLOSSOMS. From Nature by Chicago Colortype Co.] ALL NATURE. W. E. WATT. Bias, one of the seven sages of Greece, was a noted political and legal orator. His most famous utterance was, "I carry all my wealth with me." His store of learning and power of speech were always at hand, and his life had been such that all his investments were in the man, rather than in property which might or might not afterwards belong to the man. He who knows nature and has a habit of seeing things carries with him a fruitful source of happiness. It requires technical knowledge to use any of the mechanical appliances with which civilized life is crowded. It requires artistic training to appreciate any of the great productions of the leaders in the fields of ideal pleasure. But there is no preparation demanded by nature herself of those who would enjoy her feasts. Whosoever will may be her guest. But because she is so free with the race in giving pleasure to all her guests, it must not be inferred that cultivation and systematic pursuit will not be rewarded. All eyes are blind until they have been opened, and all ears deaf till they have learned desire. Just why I am delighted with the landscape before me is beyond my power to tell, and the reasons for the varying feelings that course through me are too numerous for recognition. But with all these thronging sensations and reflections that occupy me, there is a multitude of others that escape me because I have not had my soul opened in their directions.