RUINS. 41 



the grave, and their old mansion is crumbling with the 

 ravages of time, we lose all that invidious feeling which 

 often prevents us from sympathizing with the wealthy 

 when they are living. They are now on a level with 

 the humblest cottagers, and we look upon their ruined 

 abode with a feeling of regret for all the elegance and 

 greatness that have passed away. Indeed, the more 

 noble and magnificent the edifice in its original state, 

 the deeper is the emotion with which we contemplate 

 its ruins. This circumstance yields a singular charm to 

 the remains of the ancient Grecian temples, and to 

 those Gothic castles, that add such a romantic character 

 to certain European landscapes. 



Some of the interesting accompaniments of a ruined 

 building are the plants which are found clustering 

 around its old roof and walls. Nature always deco 

 rates what time has destroyed, and when the ornaments 

 of art have crumbled, she rears in their place garlands 

 from her own wilds, and the building, no longer beau 

 tiful, is adorned with the greenness of vegetation. 

 Hence certain plants have become intimately allied 

 with ruins, and derive from this alliance a peculiarly 

 romantic interest. Such are the mosses and lichens, 

 the evergreen ferns, the creeper, and the most of the 

 saxatile plants in America; and in Europe, the yellow 

 wall-flower, the chenopody, and the ivy. 



In every ruin, therefore, we see the commencement of 

 a new and beautiful creation. When a tree has fallen 

 and has begun to decay, an infinite host of curious and 

 delicate plants, of the simplest vegetable forms, are fos 

 tered upon the surface of its trunk. Mushrooms of 

 every description spring out from the inner bark, and 

 lichens and mosses, as various in their hues as they are 

 delicate in their forms, decorate all the outside. Insects 



4* 



