A BOTANICAL RAMBLE. 269 



were conflicting interests of man competing with his fellow-man, and though 

 they had begun to learn the new commandment, each was striving 'to o'ertop 

 his neighbour' in the unhallowed lust of gain. 



Behold that merchant hurrying along the quay, attended by a crowd of clients 

 and slaves. — He is a citizen of the 'mighty mistress of the world,' he hastens 

 to learn the fate of his 'Argosies' that are expected from Rome, Sicily, or 

 Alexandria, laden with corn or the rich spices of the East. You would think 

 the world's fate depended on the success of his speculations; and yet this 

 man with all his fellow-citizens, the very town itself, nay the vast empire, 

 of which it was but an insignificant part, the whole framework of society 

 and form of civilization that existed in his time, and which was deemed 

 imperishable, have all disappeared; — -they have been swallowed up in the 

 centuries as the flake of snow is dissolved in the ocean: nothing remains but 

 that eternal precept, "Do unto others as you would have others do unto 



you." 



Yet again, after thirteen centuries, a similar scene is about to be enacted 

 on the very same spot; the same conflicting interests; the same vices, follies, 

 and miseries, all however destined to perish as before, leaving behind nothing 

 but that everlasting principle of charity, until it, and it alone, be acknowledged 

 in every act of life to be the ruling principle of man; and all the while, as 

 the ages roll on in their steady, silent course, these little flowers come forth 

 every season to perform their humble part in the great scheme of the uni- 

 verse, admonishing us mortals to perform each our allotted work with all 

 humility and faithfulness. 



But here we are at the foot of the cliffs, let us scramble up the sides and 

 gather the Wild English Clary or Sage, (Salvia verhenaca^ which, with the 

 flowers already mentioned, has found a settled habitation on this bank. It 

 belongs to the order Labiatce, but diflPers from all the other British genera 

 of this order except Lycopus, in having only two stamens. The other Labiatce, 

 growing in the neighbourhood, are Ballota nigra, not yet in flower, Lamiuin 

 album and purpureum, Thymus serpyllum, (Wild Thyme,) and Stachya sylvatica; 

 and of the allied order, Scrophularice, we shall find Veronica chamoedvi/s, 

 Serpyllifolia officinalis, agrestis, and arvensis. The first is called Bird's-eye: 

 it is that beautiful blue flower so brilliant in the hedges during May and 

 June. The name Vewjiica, according to Hooker, is derived from two Greek 

 words, signifying the sacred picture, as the flowers, like St. Veronica's hand- 

 kerchief, were supposed to bear a representation of our Saviour's counte- 

 nance. From this spot we may see growing in the mud, together with Atriplex 

 portulacoides, the green leaves of Aster tripolium, a plant that, according to 

 Linnaeus, is eaten by horses and goats, but not by other cattle; it belongs to 

 the order Gomposit(e, a very extensive and most natural order, containing the 

 Dandelion, Hawkweed, Centaurea, and many others too numerous to be 

 mentioned. 



Having now enjoyed the fresh sea-breeze, the enlivening prospect, the 



