REMARKS ON THE C1PRESS. 171 



pronounced upon the earth for his sake ; have in them properties 

 of peculiar usefulness, and prove beneficial to the wants of man. 

 — God hath made nothing in vain ! — some are for use, others for 

 ornament, and not a few, perhaps all, are possessed of medicinal 

 properties. Properties ! without which, life itself would be a 

 burden ; and which, if utterly deprived of, it would be utterly 

 impossible for man to exist. 



Since then, there is such innocent amusement, such rational 

 pleasure, and such mental improvement in the cultivation of 

 plants, and flowers : and since it is so well calculated to enhance 

 our spiritual interests ; and render us more fitting for the society 

 of beings of a higher order than ourselves, and especially for the 

 society of our divine Maker. Let me, for one, disdain more ig- 

 noble and trifling pursuits. Let me fly from the deluded votaries 

 of mere sensual gratifications, and in 



"The calm retreat! 

 (Far from the noisy haunts of sordid men,) 

 Where Flora trains her lovely offspring Hp, 

 To captivate and charm ! there let me muse ! 

 Surrounded by her rich and dazzling train, 

 Till lost in ecstasy, my soul takes wing ; 

 And soars from nature up to nature's God ! 

 There may I lie, wrapped in the flowery vest 

 Of silent rapture, till my soul breaks forth, 

 And in the language of the immortal bard, 

 Who sung the fatal fall — transported cries, 

 •These are thy glorious works, Parent of good ! 

 To us invisible, or dimly seen 

 In there thy lowest works ; yet these declare 

 Thy goodness beyond thought, and power divine !' >' 



July, 1839. 



ARTICLE II. 



REMARKS ON THE CYPRESS. 



(Continued from page 154.) 

 The ancients, who had great faith in balsamic scents, supposed 

 tin rcfore that the cypress improved the air by its transpiration ; 

 and on which account, the eastern physicians sent all those who 

 had pulmonic disorders to the Isle of Candia, where these trees 



