The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-06-27

to look alive. They gather deep pur
 pie tints, rich and dark; against th'
 mists and the lighter hills. At theil
 feet the turf has suddenly grown origin 1 emerald, and their shadows point like long, slim fingers, the dial hands oi 1 the year, outward, thin, tapering, as
 the sun gets low.
 Then the shrubs take up the sym phony-a flame of red, burst of sun bright yellow, a whiteness as of angel robes and seraphic choirs. The trees in orchard and garden are in a mysti-
 cal maze, melting into the blue Of the
 sky like curls of white smoke or b1l-
 lowy clouds tinged with violet. or
 they rest against the brown of plowed
 land, their delicate branches in fine
 contrast. The brown clod with it's
 good earth smell. the blossomed apple
 tree, the bluebird on the limb-What
 richer gift has spring to offer?
 But now the bare forest asserts it.
 self, the boughs flame, and orange and
 purple tipped nestle together in the
 child likeness of playtine. They open
 their tiny rolled and spiral and folded
 budgets they shake out the tresses Of
 their blossoms and show soft color on
 the aerial background where the
 branches accentuate them with dark
 lines. So they thicken and fill the
 world, passing from gauzy films to dense shades, deeping their shadows, strengthening their lights; but still there is no mechanism revealed, no grinding of wheels, no revolving of
 l.; ;e Jnc silence and God are at work in the laboratory.
 The same great laws extend to the spiritual world, the same operations are carried out in the growth of a soul; for souls do grow, and they grow si- lently from prepared conditions, even like the grass of the field or the leaf upon the tree They grow both by talk ing in and giving forth, by receptive ness and generosity. Their channels are the open mind and heart. In the night time as well as in the busy life, influences are at work for expansion and enlargement. We do not see the we awake to it's results. A beauty has appeared we know not of. It comes as the violet puts forth. and the lily of the valley.
 The fragrance of the flower is no ac- cident; we know not the process, long and patient, by which it was evolved, In dark places it was distilled in win ter and rough weather, In storms and cold, it was perfected; and at last 1t lives and breathes out of the cup of blossom.
 Such are the hidden ways of the soul. Purity, patience, faith, love, obedience, have distilled a precious quality-not intellect, not brilliancy, not morality, out the charm of soufulness, of being alive, of having grown by Gods beau- .iful laws of having imbibed the secret md silent influences that permeate the universe.
 We know there can he arrest of growth, that some spirits that once grew and developed to certain point, md gave promise of fine springtime lnd a rich harvest have stopped grow ng, have stiffened into rigid form, | rave closed their heatrs and minds to | lew truths and the fresh revelations | if God have narrowed their affections | my sympathies, and allowed an trophy of enthusiasm, faith and hope. Where has the fault lain? Not assur- dly with God, and Nature whose ways re all highways open to all human be- ngs. The sad fact steals upon us that | ve must put ourselves in the attitude f growth if we would profit by the fvine breezes, the dew and sun of in mite love- We can certainly shut our elves away from these influences, we an lose the impulse of growth. The oul may shut itself like an oyster, nd say T will not see or hear or feel, nd perhaps God himself cannot force he passage"
 The dead tree puts forth no new leaf. stands stark and grim amid it's rust ng mates. The sap rises no longer , it's twigs It has lost its opportunity 1r life But there are some very bad d trees that are still alive, still grow lg, still crowning themselves with a. 1aplet of flowers each May. They are { 9minders of those, aged in years, but { oung and ardent in spirit, who make ew blossoms of the soul yearly with re divine fragrance breathing out and , ave kept the eternal freshness and ( igor that loves and worships and spires, and gets ever deeper and deep '