136 THE CHRISTIAN NATURALIST. 



its conquest by the Romans. It was a land of forests 

 and of bogs, whose inhabitants trusted to that scanty 

 and precarious mode of existence which was to be 

 obtained by the chace, or by the feeding of cattle, 

 upon some of the more luxurious spots. For the intro- 

 duction of all the more valuable arts of agriculture 

 they were indebted to the Roman Conquerors, who 

 to their praise left behind them here, as in other 

 lands, a knowledge of this and many other useful 

 arts. Thus by the overruling Providence of God, 

 that lovely plant, which is every where the symbol of 

 plenty and prosperity, was destined to spring up in the 

 iron footsteps of war. Rome was then the mistress of 

 the world, as Great Britain is now ; and it may well 

 become the latter to consider whether she has conferred 

 upon other lands where she has obtained an ascendancy, 

 the same advantages that her heathen conquerors of old 

 did. This is a question which has been too much for- 

 gotten among us in past times. It must be confessed, 

 that as a nation, no efforts have been made on a scale 

 commensurate with our national greatness, to benefit 

 those spiritually, who have been brought under our 

 yoke. Though professing a religion far superior to 

 every thing that ancient Rome could boast of, we have 



