1862.] IN MEMORIAM, 81 



with in the records of a good man's life. Heroism has its proper 

 place in the history of niankind^ but not in the simple annals of 

 botany. Hero-worship is no part of the belief or the practice 

 of botanists. Their simple innocent labours and their peaceful 

 though useful lives require no trophies reared to transmit their 

 memories to posterity. Yet their memorials, though only a tree, 

 a shrub, or an herb, or even a shorter-lived object, are perma- 

 nent, perennial, evergreen, and everywhere present. The anti- 

 quity and the durability of their monuments far exceed those of 

 the ancient Egyptian kings, the Pharaohs, Cheops, and Sesostris, 

 who are commemorated by the famous Pyramids; they have 

 existed since the Creation, and, for anything we know to the 

 contrary, they may form an ornamental and useful part of the 

 earth when it is renovated and has again become the abode 

 of justice, peace, and blessedness. They will exist after the 

 proudest structures have crumbled into dust, and their names and 

 their very sites have disappeared from the memory of man and 

 from the face of the earth. 



Where are now the ancient cities of Babylon, Nineveh, 

 Memphis, Tyre, etc.? Where is ancient Troy, claimed by the 

 poet? The very sites of most of these monuments of greatness, 

 tyranny, and oppression are unknown. On the other hand, the 

 Linncea, the Borrera, the Woodsia, the Lonicera and Lavatera, 

 commemorative genera of shrubljy or herbaceous plants, have 

 existed since the Creation, and will exist to the end of time; 

 when statues, pillars, and monumental towers and palaces have 

 become as the baseless vision, and leave not a trace of their 

 former magnificence and beauty. The Pseonies, the Parsley, the 

 Lobelias, and the Stocks will be as attractive for their grace, 

 their forms, their colours, and their smell, as when they were 

 first scattered over the earth from the bountiful Creator's hf>nd. 



It is idle to expect that the world will ever go a-wondering 

 after simplers. Although there be more marvels concealed in the 

 cup of a flower, and in the pouch or pod Avhich contains the seed, 

 than in the most ingenious and complex human invention, few 

 will condescend to look into either. Wisdom speaks to people 

 from the stars, and from the deep recesses of the earth, and 

 from the humble floweret that grows and blushes unseen in the 

 lovely vale. How many listen to her, or learn the lesson she 

 is qualified to teach? 



N. S. VOL. YI, M 



