






















252 SEPARATION. 
lishes the rose ; the nightingale sings in our 
groves; and the industrious bee enlivens the 
flower which yields it sweet treasures. Through- 
out nature, the insect is associated with the 
flower; the bird with the tree; and the qua- 
druped with plants. Man alone is able to enjoy 
all these things; and he alone can break the 
chain of concord and of love, by which the 
whole universe is bound together. His greedy 
hand bears off an animal from its native clime 
without thinking of its habits and its wants; 
and yet more unfrequently neglects the plant, 
which is made to forget in its new slavery the 
attractions of its own country. Does he import 
a plant? He neglects the insect which animates 
it, the bird which adorns it, and the quadruped 
which is nourished by its leaves and reposes 
under its shade. Behold the Virginian jessa- 
mine, with its beautiful verdure and purple 
flowers ; it always remains a stranger amongst 
us. We always prefer our lovely honeysuckle 
before it; from the woodbine the bee gathers 
honey, the goat browses its verdure, and its fruit 
is the food of legions of the feathered tribe. 
Could we see the humming bird of Florida 
hopping about its slender branches (for in the 
vast forests of the new world it prefers its beau- 
tiful foliage to that of every other shrub), we 
should doubtless regard with greater admiration 
and pleasure the rich Virginian jessamine. The 
humming bird makes its nest in one of the 

