8o FROM A NEW ENGLAND HILLSIDE. 



shut off too long and straight a line of wall, 

 and mark the border of the &quot; home-place.&quot; 



On the two mornings immediately pre 

 ceding the rain it was interesting to observe 

 the casts of the earthworms thickly strewn 

 everywhere alongside the paths, and in the 

 pathways themselves, excepting where they 

 had become most solid. Not a worm itself 

 did I see, but there was scarcely a space of 

 five inches anywhere which did not show 

 its little curlicue of fresh soil from beneath. 

 Not more marvellous are the great oaks that 

 grow from the little acorns than are the 

 stupendous changes that are effected upon 

 the surface of the earth by these soft, limp, 

 almost structureless bodies, as Darwin has 

 shown. If any one has a lingering doubt 

 as to the value of individual effort on the 

 part of the ordinary mortal, albeit uncon 

 scious effort, and without conscious pur 

 pose, let him read the &quot; Earthworms and 

 Vegetable Mould,&quot; and be encouraged and 

 consoled. 



Undoubtedly it is the exceptional mor 

 tals, the thinkers, the giant workers, the 

 strong, the great, that mark epochs and 

 lead the race forward. We see them above 

 others as we look back over the past, like 

 vigorous trees in the forest, like mountain 



