LESSON CXXXIII. The needless alarm:-A Tale.-Cowper. THERE is a field through which I often pass, A narrow brook, by rushy banks concealed, Not yet the hawthorn bore her berries red, Though ears she gave me two, gave me no ear. And heedless whither, to that field I came, Ere yet, with ruthless joy, the happy hound Told hill and dale that Reynard's track was found, Or with the high-raised horn's melodious clang All Kilwick* and all Dinglederry* rang. Sheep grazed the field: some with soft bosom pressed The herb, as soft, while nibbling strayed the rest: Nor noise was heard, save of the hasty brook, * Two woods belonging to J. Throckmorton, Esq. Struggling, detained in many a petty nook. But when the huntsman, with distended cheek, Then coursed the field around, and coursed it round again; That flight, in circles urged, advanced them nought, Birds of all feather, beasts of every name, This truth premised was needful as a text, A while they mused; surveying every face, Sure ne'er to want them, mathematic truths; *Pron. drout. "Friends! we have lived too long.-I never heard Sounds such as these, so worthy to be feared. Could I believe that winds, for ages pent In earth's dark womb, have found at last a vent Him answered then his loving mate and true, And rush those other sounds, that seem by tongues Sounds are but sounds; and, till the cause appear, The flock grew calm again, and I, the road So sweet to huntsman, gentleman, and hound. MORAL. Beware of desperate steps. The darkest day, LESSON CXXXIV. Forest Trees.-W. IRVING. I HAVE paused more than once in the wilderness of Ame rica, to contemplate the traces of some blast of wind, which seemed to have rushed down from the clouds, and ripped its way through the bosom of the woodlands; rooting up, shivering, and splintering the stoutest trees, and leaving a long track of desolation. There is something awful in the vast havoc made among these gigantic plants; and in considering their magnificent remains, so rudely torn and mangled, hurled down to perish prematurely on their native soil, I was conscious of a strong movement of sympathy with the wood-nymphs, grieving to be dispossessed of their ancient habitations. I recollect also hearing a traveller of poetical temperament, expressing the kind of horror which he felt in beholding, on the banks of the Missouri, an oak of prodigious size, which had been in a manner overpowered by an enormous wild grape-vine. The vine had clasped its huge folds round the trunk, and from thence had wound about every branch and twig, until the mighty tree had withered in its embrace. It seemed like Lao'coön struggling ineffectually in the hideous coils of the monster Python. It was the lion of trees perishing in the embraces of a vegetable Boa. I am fond of listening to the conversation of English gentlemen on rural concerns, and of noticing with what taste and discrimination, and what strong, unaffected interest, they will discuss topics, which, in other countries, are abandoned to mere woodmen or rustic cultivators. I have heard a noble earl descant' on park and forest scenery, with the science and feeling of a painter. He dwelt on the shape and beauty of particular trees on his estate, with as much pride and technical precision as though he had been discussing the merits of statues in his collection. I found that he had gone considerable distances to examine trees which were celebrated among rural amateurs'; for it seems that trees, like horses, have their established points of excellence, and that there are some in England which enjoy very extensive celebrity from being perfect in their kind. There is something nobly simple and pure in such a taste. It argues, I think, a sweet and generous nature, to have this strong relish for the beauties of vegetation, and this friendship for the hardy and glorious sons of the forest. There is a grandeur of thought connected with this part of rural economy. It is, if I may be allowed the figure, the heroic line of husbandry. It is worthy of liberal, and freeborn, and aspiring men. He who plants an oak looks forward to future ages, and plants for posterity. Nothing can be less selfish than this. He cannot expect to sit in its shade nor enjoy its shelter; but he exults in the idea that the acorn which he has buried in the earth shall grow up into a lofty pile, and shall keep on flourishing, and increasing, and benefiting mankind, long after he shall have ceased to tread his paternal fields. Indeed, it is the nature of such occupations to ift the thought above mere worldliness. As the leaves of trees are said to absorb all noxious qualities of the air, and breathe forth a purer atmosphere, so it seems to me as if they drew from us all sordid and angry passions, and breathed forth peace and philanthropy. There is a serene and settled majesty in woodland scenery that enters into the soul, and dilates and elevates it, and fills it with noble inclinations. The ancient and hereditary groves, too, that embower this island,* are most of them full of story. They are haunted by the recollections of the great spirits of past ages, who have sought for relaxation among them, from the tumult of arms, or the toils of state, or have wooed the muse beneath their shade. It is becoming, then, for the high and generous spirits of an ancient nation to cherish these sacred groves that sur round their ancestral mansions, and to perpetuate them to their descendants. Brought up, as I have been, in republican habits and principles, I can feel nothing of the servile reverence for titled rank, merely because it is titled. But *This piece, though it is the production of an American, was written i England. |