Excerpt from Hortus Inclusus: In Montibus Sanctis; Coeli Enarrant Notes on Various Pictures

Often during those visits to the Thwaite which have grown to be the best-spent hours of my later years, I have urged my dear friend, Miss Reever, to open to the larger world the pleas ant paths Of this her Garden Enclosed. The inner circle Of her friends knew that she had a goodly store of Mr. Ruskin's let ters, extending over many years. She for her part had long desired to share with others the pleasure these letters had given her, but she shrank from the fatigue Of selecting and arranging them. It was, therefore, with no small feeling of satisfaction that I drove home from the Thwaite one day in February last with a parcel containing nearly two thousand of these treasured letters. I was gladdened also by generous permission, both from Brantwood and the Thwaite, to choose what I liked best for publication. The letters themselves are the fruit of the most beautiful friendship I have ever been permitted to witness, a friendship so unique in some aspects Of it, so sacred in all, that I may only give it the praise Of si lence. I count myself happy to have been allowed to throw open to all wise and quiet souls the portals of this Ar mida's Garden, where there are no Spells save those woven by love, and no magic save that of grace and kindliness. Here my pleasant share in this little book would have ended, but Mr. Ruskin has desired me to add a few words, giving my own description of Susie, and speaking of my relationship to them both. TO him I owe the guidance of my life-all its best impulses, all its worthiest efforts; to her some of its happiest hours, and the blessings alike of incentive and reproof. In reading over Mr. Ruskin's Preface, I note that.

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