gives firmness, shape, and solidity, to the various productions of Nature. It is ponderous, dull, unanimated, ever seeking the lowest place; and, except moved by some external impulse, prone to rest in one sluggish mass. Yet, when fermented into life, by the quickening power of vegetation, in how many forms of grace and beauty does it rise to the admiring eye! How gay, how vivid with colors! how fragrant with smells! how rich with tastes, luscious, poignant, mild, pungent, or saccharine! Into what delicate textures is it spread out, in the thin leaf of the rose, or the light film of the floating gossamer!* How curious, in the elegant ramifications of trees and shrubs, or the light dust which the microscope discovers to contain the seed of future plants. Nor has Earth less of magnificence, in the various appearances with which, upon a larger scale, its broad surface is diversified; whether we behold it stretched out into immense plains and vast savannas,† whose level green is only bounded by the horizon; or moulded into those gentle risings and easy declivities, whose soft and undulating lines court the pencil of the landscape-painter; or whether, swelled into bulk enormous, it astonishes the eye with vast masses of solid rock and long-continued bulwarks of stone. Such are the * A fine, filmy substance, like a cobweb, which is often seen in the fields or floating in the air, on clear days, and which is supposed to be spun by the field or flying spider. J. W. I. † A savanna is destitute of trees. a large, open meadow, or pasture-ground, -J. W. I. Pyrenees, the Alps, the Andes,* the everlasting boundaries of nations; which, while kingdoms rise and fall, and the lesser works of Nature change their appearance all around them, stand, immovable, on their broad basis, and strike the mind with an idea of stability, little short of eternal duration. If, from the mountains which possess the middle of Earth, we bend our course to the green verge of her dominions, the utmost limits of her shores, where land and water, like two neighboring potentates, wage eternal war, with what steady majesty does she repel the encroachments of the ever-restless ocean, and dash the turbulence of waves from her strong-ribbed sides! Nor do thy praises end here :-With a kind of filial veneration, I hail thee, O universal mother of all the elements,-to man the most mild, the most beneficent, the most congenial! Man himself is formed from thee; on thy maternal breast he reposes, when weary; thy teeming lap supplies him with never-failing plenty; and when, for a few years he has moved about upon thy surface, he is gathered again to thy peaceful bosom, at once his nurse, his cradle, and his grave. Who can reckon up the benefits supplied to us by this parent Earth,-ever serviceable, ever indulgent! with how many productions does she *Celebrated ranges or chains of mountains. The Pyrenees divide France from Spain. The Alps are the highest mountains in Europe, and separate Italy from France, Switzerland, and Germany. The Andes are an immense chain, which run through the whole continent of America. — J. W. I. reward the labor of the cultivator! how many more does she pour out spontaneously! How faithfully does she keep, with what large interest does she restore, the seed committed to her by the husbandman! What an abundance does she yield, of food for the poor, of delicacies for the rich! Her wealth is inexhaustible; and all that is called riches amongst men consists, in possessing a small portion of her surface. How patiently does she support the various burdens laid upon her! We tear her with ploughs and harrows, we crush her with castles and palaces; nay, we penetrate her very bowels, and bring to light the veined marble, the pointed crystal, the ponderous ores, and sparkling gems, deep hid in darkness, the more to excite the industry of man. Yet, torn and harassed as she might seem to be, our mother Earth is still fresh and young, as if she but now came out of the hands of her Creator. Her harvests are as abundant, her horn of plenty as overflowing, her robe as green, her unshorn tresses (the waving foliage of brown forests) as luxuriant; and all her charms as blooming, and full of vigor. Such she remains, and such, we trust, she will remain, till, in some fated hour, the more devouring element of fire, having broken the bonds of harmonious union, shall seize upon its destined prey, and all Nature sink beneath the mighty ruin. THE PINE AND THE OLIVE. * A FABLE. A STOIC, swelling with the proud consciousness of his own worth, took a solitary walk; and, straying amongst the groves of Academus,† he sat down between an Olive and a Pine tree. His * One of a sect, founded by the philosopher Zeno, who died about the year 264 B. C., in the ninety-sixth year of his age. He was born in the Island of Cyprus, and spent the early part of his life in commercial pursuits. He afterwards spent many years in attending the instructions of the different philosophers of Athens, and, when he had become perfect in every branch of knowledge, and improved from experience as well as observation, he opened a school in Athens, which he taught for forty-eight years. His life was an example, worthy of imitation, of soberness, and moderation; his manners were austere; and to his temperance and regularity, he was indebted for a continual flow of health, which he always enjoyed. He wished to live in the world, as if nothing was properly his own; he loved others, and his affections were extended even to his enemies. He felt a pleasure in being kind, benevolent, and attentive, and taught as a duty, patience and resignation under trials, and an indifference to pain and suffering. His instructions were given in a portico, or stoa, as it is called in Greek; hence his followers were termed Stoics. They did not always imitate their master's example. — J. W. I. †The groves of Academus were in the vicinity of Athens, about one eighth of a mile from the city. Here the philosopher Plato resided, and gave his instructions; and the name has been appropriated to other places of instruction. Our English word Academy is derived from it. J. W. I. attention was soon excited by a murmur, which he heard among the leaves. The whispers increased; and, listening attentively, he plainly heard the Pine say to the Olive, as follows: "Poor tree! I pity thee; thou now spreadest thy green leaves, and exultest in all the pride of youth and Spring; but how soon will thy beauty be tarnished! The fruit, which thou exhaustest thyself to bear, shall hardly be shaken from thy boughs, before thou shalt grow dry and withered; thy green veins, now so full of juice, shall be frozen; naked and bare, thou wilt stand exposed to all the storms of Winter, whilst my firmer leaf shall resist the change of the seaUnchangeable is my motto; and, through the various vicissitudes of the year, I shall continue equally green and vigorous as I am at pres sons. ent." The Olive, with a graceful wave of her boughs, replied, "It is true thou wilt always continue as thou art at present. Thy leaves will keep that sullen and gloomy green, in which they are now arrayed, and the stiff regularity of thy branches will not yield to those storms which will bow down many of the feebler tenants of the grove. Yet, I wish not to be like thee. I rejoice, when Nature rejoices; and when I am desolate, Nature mourns with me. I fully enjoy pleasure in its season, and I am contented to be subject to the influences of those seasons, and that economy of Nature, by which I flourish. When the Spring approaches, I feel the kindly warmth; my branches swell with young buds, and my leaves unfold; crowds of |