The Jewish advance., 1881-05-13

the play of colors which they represent
the divine and eternal laws of light and
| its refractions are manifested; how in
the fragrance they exhale, other laws,
less known to science, but not less po-
tent and divine in the order of the uni
verse are perceived or anticipated
can not but feel e-assured of his own
immortality, of his own safety in the
sway of the ever living Wisdom, by
whose laws he was called into existence,
and will surely find life in what he calls
death.
A pupil of the Hebrew poet, Abraham
Baer Lebenssohn, once called upon him
at his summer resort, in the height Of
the spring season. 1t was late in the
afternoon, the declining sun sending his
last rays as parting kisses to the flowers
of the meadow, through the branches of
a light forest which surrounded it. The
aged poet, whose effusions against the
superstition, the corruption and follies
Of his people were like those of the pro-
phet Jeremiah, but whose songs of love,
youth, beauty, charity and noble senE-
ments breathed a tenderness and warm
sympathy which made the language Of
the Psalmist more harmonious than any
living tongue-the aged poet was sitting
in meadow with his snowy head uncov-
ered and PLAYING with lot of flowers
which he had culled.
Come here, H., the poet said, hav-
ing noticed his pupil IS see what lot
of flowers [ have gathered. | will send
them to my grand child
IF the master please, it will give me
pleasure to leave the message at the
house of your daughter, which [ must
pass on my way homeward."
mo" the poet said you are my
pupil. I shall not use you as a messen-
ger. If you had been acquainted with
my daughter and on visiting terms, the
matter might be different. I shall intro
duee you to her when opportunity offers,
But how do you like the flowers ?"
They are beautiful. They could be
assorted and wound up into charming
wreath. "
This would not do. Flowers are
good for the purpose of suggesting
thought and arousing tender sentiments.
Such an effect they produce rather when
they are promiscuously mixed up than
when assorted, according to the taste Of
man. Natural promiscuousness is sug-
gestive, imposing, and containing many
surprises, while selection and assort-
ment, according to certain taste, sug-
gests only the whin of the person who
winds the wreath the general and uni
versal then vanish behind the individual,
the natural behind the artificial" "
But is not art often employed to as
sist nature, as in the cultivation Of fowes
gardens, for instance p the pupil tim
idly asked.
Yes, this is done to a great extent,
but Inever liked it altogether. A beau
tiful garden should not be made to look
like well furnished parlor. The gray
elled and beautifully laid out pathways
are nothing but pieces of ground which
art or taste or convenience makes barren
to suit itself, and to deprive Nature of
| spot where she mi ght display her charms,
| 1t is nice, indeed, to have in large park
rugged rocks in imitation Of Nature,
waterfalls, caves, rivulets, etc. could
also appreciate the introduction of fine
statues amid a lot of shrubs whore a
person least expects to find such things,
| for they add to the surprises to the eye.
| But as soon as [ know that in this alley
| will find an array Of statues, this walk
! will lead me to a bower where | can be
| shielded from the rain, that bower again
will be adorned with pots of flowers
arranged according to the taste Of the
gardener-the garden loses all its natur-
| alness. 1t is then a sanitary institution
| where | go to take exercise in the air,
! the grayelled path keeps my feet dry,