

IF a person whose life, from infancy to man- 

 hood, had been passed in some volcanic 

 island, where scarcely a lichen covered the rock, 

 should be suddenly removed into a region of 

 luxuriant vegetation, his wonder and admiration 

 could not fail to be excited by the scene around 

 him. The return of spring would indeed appear 

 to him as an " annual miracle," and he would 

 probably inquire earnestly into the causes by 

 which the vernal leaves and flowers were pro- 

 duced. Habit has so familiarized us with these 

 beautiful objects, that many of us forget to bestow 

 a thought upon them ; and we eat our bread, 

 wear our linen, or sail the ocean in our majestic 

 vessels, without a recollection of the growth of 

 the corn, the flax, or the oak. In this, as in 

 many other matters, King Solomon has set us a 

 wiser example. Monarch, statesman, and phi- 

 losopher as he was, he nevertheless found leisure 

 to make himself acquainted with " every plant," 

 " from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop on 



2091 037 



