205 
and plant us wherever he chooses. Some little 
change in the form of our leaves will remedy the 
evils to which we are subject in being torn from 
our native lands. But though we can do our ap¬ 
pointed task, and bring forth the seeds that nour¬ 
ish, it is true that we are happier and more vig¬ 
orous at home, in our native soil, and among the 
friends of our childhood, than when transported over 
seas and mountains. No sky is so fair as our own, 
no breezes so grateful, no sun so bright. But it is 
also true that there are many plants whose country 
is the world. Their winged seeds gaily float on the 
breezes and the tempests, and it is their joy to 
make the ‘ desert blossom as the rose,’ and clothe 
the mountain tops with verdure. When the little 
coral builders have raised their grottoes in mid¬ 
ocean so high that the waves can no longer cover 
them, the birds of the air, or the winds of heaven, 
