312 VOICES FROM THE WOODLANDS. 



shepherds to decorate their flocks on occasions of rustic 

 festivity. And yet,, 



" Arbutus, that with scarlet grain 

 Doth richly crowii Irene's plain," 



is found in the most dissimilar localities : at one time, 

 beneath a glowing sky ; at another, amid the sternness of 

 the Lapland Alps, in company with the solitary mountain 

 willow, beside cold rivulets, and on the margin of dismal 

 bogs, where even the hardy birch refuses to vegetate. 

 Linnseus reports, that my tribe covered the ground, pre- 

 senting oases of verdure amid the sterility of those stern 

 regions, and that nestling beneath our shelter were seen 

 the rich blue Alpine veronica and the two-flowered violet, 

 sister flowers, and the loveliest of Flora's offspring. 



With this the friendly contention ended; and then a matron 

 beech took up her strain, and said You, my children, have 

 spoken well and wisely concerning the good gifts which 

 your Creator has assigned you. To one he has imparted 



