gifts which Valentine's day used to impose are no longer in vogue; yet we cannot quite escape the sentiment of the feast. As in so many instances, we may impart new interpretations to old forms. Is not life itself as we have to live it merely the art of expressing ourselves in fresh ways in the old customs already at hand? All our daily avocations may be as trite as the alphabet itself; it is always possible to rearrange them in new and alluring and articulate combinations.

The day of St. Valentine may well stand, even for us common, sensible folk, for the festival of friends and lovers. On this morning when first the reviving sun comes back to gray streets and snowy fields, we may well encourage tender thoughts, resolve and hope and aspire. The touch of the warm sunlight on our shoulder may well seem like a hint to bestir ourselves about the greatest business of the universe, the old, engrossing, imperishable, never-ended affair of love. It will remind us of the perennial goodness of

living, the unaging wholesomeness of earth, the fond yet delightful infatuations of the world, and all the entrancing possibilities which lie hidden in the path of adventure. Tainted with the madness of the lover, we may even embrace that supremest of human follies, the delusion that heights of excellence, of unselfishness, of kindness, and devotion have never yet been exemplified as we shall practise them. Is not that a generous aspiration worth experiencing, even though we should not realize a tenth of it? Will you not join the light but not frivolous band of St. Valentine's followers, bethink you of your youth to-day with all its radiant expectations, and resolve to make some one more happy by your love? It may be a sweetheart or a child or an old lady; love is good for everybody; and it is good for us to love, for in loving we are only giving free play to the soul in its natural occupation. Make your vows on St. Valentine's morn, gentlemen and friends! I promise you great joy from

their fulfilment. You may not be able to keep them with all the nobility of intention in which they are made, but in the effort there will be exaltation and sober gain. For one day more the youthful poet within you may walk the earth in gay supremacy, to better this life for the beloved with a gift of verses or violets and renewals of gentle friendship. See to it that some fresh joy takes up its lodging in the heart of the little friend, and sorrow and weariness and disappointment be turned from her door. Take care that laughter comes back to her lips and the flush of delight to her cheeks, for perhaps you have been a neglectful Valentine, and your vows ́sadly need to be renewed. Be not ashamed,

therefore, of the fanatical enthusiasms of love, and make your penance for sins of negligence, of thoughtlessness, of unkindness, preparatory to the golden hours of spring.

For on St. Valentine's morning, if you will take my word for it, our venerable Mother Nature goes to her closet and takes

down her green cloak, which before many weeks she will resume for the festivals of April. Had we not better look over our own wardrobe of the heart, also? The dust of familiarity and the moth of doubt play sad havoc with the soul's garment of love. And when the appointed day arrives, and the feast of Spring-time is instituted once more,when the sap comes back to the hills, and the madness of love to the heart of man, — we must not be found unprepared. Every heart must have in readiness its scarlet tunic and its golden coat, for how more appropriately can it be clothed than with love and joy?

The March Hare's

Madness

PERHAPS one of the maddest things in a mad world is to inquire the cause of madness, just as it seems to be one of the requisites of happiness that we should not set our heart upon it. The Angel of Life is evasive, reticent, not to be cornered, yet abounding in generous revelations of the truth upon occasion; and that mortal is likely to learn most about the mysteries of being who does not pry into them too industriously. Curiosity is the fundamental passion of the mind, and to satisfy curiosity with knowledge is one of the three great sources of happiness. At the same time it is forbidden to know everything. At least this is so for the time being, whatever