BRITISH FERTILITY. 



215 



Nature is not stingy of them, but fills her lap with 

 each in its turn. Rare and delicate plants, like our 

 arbutus, certain of our orchids and violets, that hide 

 in the woods and are very fastidious and restricted in 

 their range, probably have no parallel in England. 

 The island is small, is well assorted and compacted, 

 and is thoroughly homogeneous in its soil and cli- 

 mate ; the conditions of field and forest and stream 

 that exist have long existed ; a settled permanence 

 and equipoise prevail ; every creature has found its 

 place, every plant its home. There are no new ex- 

 periments to be made, no new risks to be run ; life 

 in all its forms is established, and its current main- 

 tains a steady strength and fullness that an observer 

 from our spasmodic hemisphere is sure to appreciate. 



