MATERNAL LOVE. 
A TUFT OF Moss, 
J. J. Rousseau was ardently fond of the 
study of botany; and of all plants the family 
of mosses delighted him most. He would often 
remark that they gave an air of youth and fresh- 
ness to our fields, adorning nature when flowers 
had vanished. The stunted stems of dead 
and leafless trees are oft clad with a mossy 
verdure. Wordsworth reminds us of this in 
some lines entitled ‘ The Thorn ; ’— 
Not higher than a two year’s child 
It stands erect, this aged thorn. 
No leaves it has, no thorny points, 
It is a mass of knotted joints, 
A wretched thing forlorn. 
It stands erect, and like a stone 
With lichens it is overgrown, 
Like rock or stone, it is o’ergrown, 
With lichens to the very top, 
And hung with heavy tufts of moss. 
* x * * 
And, close behind this aged thorn, 
There is a fresh and lovely sight, 
A beauteous heap, a hill of moss, 
Just half a foot in height, 



















