The natives also use its wood for their canoes, and
extract a valuable resin from it.
extract a valuable resin from it.
Childrens - The Creation
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LETTER V.
63
have not yet exhausted the subject; there are two things which I must
take pains to explain to you; and these are not left to the last, because
of the least importance, but that they might be spoken of separately.
I mean Coal and Salt.
Coal. Some have said that Great Britain has reached her place of
eminence among the nations, because it possesses Coal. This is a large
statement, and requires a little qualification; yet there is some degree
of truth in it; but we must never forget that God has said, that
" Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is the bane of any people. "
But in a subordinate point of view, (I use this word in its fullest sense,)
no doubt England has reached her present position owing to her manu-
factures ; and what could they do without coal ? Yes, coal is a great
blessing--an invaluable blessing; and yet, when discovered in this
kingdom, after sixty-six years' use it was prohibited, because it injured
the sale of wood ! This was in 1306, but the interdict was soon taken off.
Coal is found in inexhaustible abundance in England, Scotland, and
Wales; it has also been discovered in America and India. Besides its
most grateful daily service to us, in warming our domestic hearths, it is,
as has been observed, the mainspring of our manufactories; and now
that the carburetted hydrogen gas, produced from coal, illumines our
streets, one wonders that, with a fire for nine months continually under
our eyes, it was not before discovered. Of the coal mines of England,
the purest are supposed to be Whitehaven; but the most important
to England are those at Newcastle and Sunderland. An amazing
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THE CREATION.
number of vessels daily leave these ports for all parts of the kingdom:
and thus the Northern coal trade has been called, with great point,
" The nursery of British seamen. " The commanders of some of our
present merchant ships had their earliest lessons in this home navi-
gation. Coals were early known in Scotland. Pope Pius II. , in his
description of Europe, mentions that he beheld with wonder in Scot-
land, black stones given to the poor as alms. This was in the fifteenth
century, but they may be traced back three centuries earlier. In
Somersetshire the Mendip coal-mines are distinguished for their pro-
ductiveness. The beds of coal are not horizontal, but sloping,
dipping towards the south-east, at the rate of twenty-two inches per
fathom. The description of the mines, and the manner of working
them, I may another time give you; but for the present my object is
to bring before you a general view of those mercies with which we
are perpetually surrounded; and coal is indeed a mercy whose value
cannot be told.
The common fuel of Ireland is Turf, which is a partially decom-
posed vegetable production, found just under the surface of the ground.
It is divided into slane turf, or that which is cut with a sharp instru-
ment, and hand turf, which is the common turf trodden down by
horses and men in water, until it becomes a thick clay like paste,
which is then moulded by hand and laid out to dry. The Irish peasant,
as you will remember, in the bogs of Roundwood, county Wicklow,
looks as much for a dry season for his turf, as we do for our wheat.
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LETTER V.
65
Salt. Of all the productions of the earth that call for man's thank-
fulness, salt ranks among the first; and as our wants are great and
continual, so the mighty storehouse of this mineral is perfectly inex-
haustible. But we will consider, 1st, rock salt, or salt found in solid
masses, and, 2nd, salt springs.
1. Rock Salt. Most countries have mines of this invaluable mineral,
but the most renowned are those of Cracow, Tyrol, Poland, Castile,
and Cheshire in our own country. The East also is not destitute of it,
as there is a mountain of Hindostan, in the province of Lahore, nearly
equal to the famous one of Cordova in Spain, which is 500 feet high,
and three miles in circumference, entirely composed of salt. The mines
of Cracow * being the best known, I will enlarge upon them. Our
poet Darwin thus beautifully speaks of the subterranean town formed
by the excavation of the salt:--
" Thus cavern'd round in Cracow's mighty mines,
With crystal walls a gorgeous city shines;
Scoop'd in the living rock long streets extend
Their hoary course, and glittering domes ascend.
? ? ? >>
Long lines of lustre pour their trembling rays,
And the bright vaults resound with dazzling blaze. "
One can hardly conceive of the exceeding beauty of this magic
scene. I think I have somewhere read, that when travellers go to view
this mine they are taken down blindfolded, and that when arrived in
? These mines are upwards of 6000 feet long; 2000 feet broad; 800 feet deep.
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? 6C
THE CREATION.
the midst of this most brilliant city, the bandage is removed. The
salt mines of Cheshire are very extensive, and supply the northern
parts of the empire.
2. Salt springs* Though the whole ocean is salt, yet compared with
the briny springs of Droitwich it is fresh; for I think I was told,
when examining them, that the springs were thirty times salter than
sea water. The process by which the salt is procured is most simple:
the springs have pumps applied to them, which, by means of an engine,
are continually kept worked, emptying the water into a large iron
reservoir, of a square form (like a large pan in which loaves are baked):
under this reservoir there are blazing fires, keeping the water at a
high temperature, which rapidly passes off in evaporation, leaving the
salt at the bottom of the pan; this is taken up by the workpeople with
scoops having long handles, (women are usually employed,) and placed
in large upright wooden vessels, rather larger at the top than the
base. The salt drains in these, and is soon hard and ready for expor-
tation. In some countries the same result is produced, though in a
much longer period, by the rays of the sun: in this case the pans are
superficial excavations, in general near the sea. There is an incident
in the history of Holland, which (though one shudders in reading it,
for it was a dark blot on the legislation of that country) shows us,
perhaps more than anything, the invaluable character of salt. The
food of prisoners, under condemnation for some particularly aggravated
* See Appendix.
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LETTEH V.
67
crimes, was bread unmixed with salt, and the effect was horrible to
relate,--these wretched criminals are said to have been devoured by
worms engendered in their own stomachs. This law no longer
exists!
But the various uses of salt are beyond description. * I have some-
times thought, if on getting up in the morning, salt in every form was
to be prohibited through the day, how miserable we should all be;--
the bread would be insipid,--the meat we could not touch; indeed,
we should in a thousand ways know its value by its loss. All the
Jewish sacrifices were salted with salt; and whilst, in the king
Artaxerxes's gift to Ezra the Scribe, all other things were measured,
concerning this it was said, " And salt, without prescribing how much. "
(Ezra vii. 22. ) The Arab keeps salt in his girdle, and when he has
given you some, there is a covenant of salt established, that nothing
may break. What salt is naturally, such should the Christian [he
spiritually; for remember His words that said," Ye are the salt of the
earth. " (Matt. v. 13. ) But on this I will enlarge in my next letter.
Having thus, my dear children, sought to explain to you, in a gene-
ral point of view, the mineral productions of the earth, as arranged
under the heads of Precious Stones, Metals, Rocks, Slate, Clays,
Chalks, Coal, and Salt, I will now endeavour to take up the second
? The whole animal creation seems to demand salt as a natural stimulant for
the digestive organs. Children that neglect the use of salt, have generally an
enemy at the doors, and a worm fever often follows such neglect.
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THE CREATION.
part I promised, and speak to you a little of the fruits of the earth--
(as Moses says) " for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and
for the precious things put forth by the moon, and for the chief things
of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting
hills, and for the precious things of the earth, and fulness thereof. "
(Deut . xxxiii. 14--16. ) This is the way that holy man of God spake
of God's gifts: to him they were all precious: and so they should be
to us. In one sense, dear children, never seek to be independent;
but depend on the Lord God--even the good-will of him that dwelt
in the bush--for every thing: so that every drop of water, and every
thread of raiment, and every grain of wheat, may all be received by
you, not as coming by chance--no, nor yet from nature--but from God,
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Father of all such as
flee to him as their alone Saviour; for in him, and in him only, they
can call God, Abba, Father. (Rom. viii. 15. )
Sweet is that Hymn, and happy the man or child that can from the
heart sing it (1 Cor. xiv. 15):--
" Abba, Father," Lord! we call thee,
(Hallow'd name! ) from day to day;--
"Pis thy children's right to know thee,
None but children " Abba " say.
This high glory we inherit,
Thy free gift, through Jesus' blood;
God the Spirit, with our spirit,
Witncsseth we're sons of God.
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LETTER V.
69
, The world, even in its fallen state, is fertile beyond calculation: and
when cultivated is capable of being covered with beauty: indeed, on
walking out on a summer's morning, when the sun is high enough to
have opened the flowers, and the birds are singing, and all seems happy
around, one can hardly imagine it to be the world of which it was said,
" Cursed be the ground for thy sake;" if so beautiful in its ruins, what
must it have been in its primeval beauty--what will it be in " the
times of the restitution of all things ! " (Acts iii. 21. )
FRUITS OF THE EARTH.
But I will now detail to you a little of the Lord's goodness, as shown
forth in that part of the vegetable kingdom which provides food for
man; and the first thing I will speak of, is Wheat.
" The Staff of Life. " This is the name given by common consent
to this most precious gift, put forth by the sun; wheat grows almost
in all quarters of the globe, and is pre-eminent for nutrition among all
the fruits of the earth. Sir Humphry Davy, the great naturalist, on
analyzing this grain, gave this as the result of his labour,--that of the
wheat he examined (grown in Middlesex) 955 parts of 1000 were
nutritive; 765 parts being starch, and 190 gluten. Gluten is a pecu-
liar substance that approaches nearer to animal matter than any other;
and wheat produces twofold more of this than any other grain. Be-
sides starch and gluten there is a small proportion of sugar in wheat
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70
THE CREATION.
I have spoken of Wheat* separately; but Barley, Oats, Rice,
Maize, Potatoes, Tea, Coffee, Cocoa, Sugar, and numberless low-grown
vegetables, called in the first of Genesis " Herbs," come in boundless
variety to supply the wants of man.
In Judea the barley harvest was the first reaped; and ere it was
gathered, there took place, according to Jewish historians, this most
solemn ceremony. The High Priest of Israel (God's family on earth)
went into the barley-field with a golden basket, reaped a sheaf of the
first-fruits, and then laid it up in the Tabernacle before and during
the sabbath; but on the morning after the sabbath, (Lev. xxiii. 10,)
he took the sheaf, and, standing at the brazen altar, waved it on high
before the Lord, to the four quarters of the land, acknowledging
thereby that all that sprang from the earth, in the north, east, south,
or west, was the Lord's; and theirs only by first being acknowledged
to be his--the great Lord of the harvest. The whole of this, in
its various parts, is applied in the New Testament spiritually ; but I
will tell you of it in the next letter.
If this order of vegetation is boundless, dear children, yet the trees
that are good for food, in variety at least, abound more; and man's
delight seems to be more contemplated in them than his sustenance;
for every stage of the fruit, on to maturity, is replete with interest--
? In Europe, wheat is the staff of life; in China and the East, rice; in Ireland,
potatoes seem with the poor almost to supersede all other food. The annual value
of grain grown in Britain in one year (1831) was 112,000,000/. sterling.
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? LETTER V.
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from the bud to the blossom, and from the blossom to the full-grown
fruit: indeed, it would be difficult to decide whether the orchard in its
blossoms of spring, or its fruits of autumn, is most beautiful; and then
the fruits are so adapted to the state of man in his peculiar localities.
In the West Indies, though the pine-apple and the rich melon have
both spread out their beauties before one's eyes, yet I have often found
the large green water melon, filled with its cold delicious nectar, far
more refreshing; and this abounds beyond the other fruits: but those
living there can alone appreciate this fruit.
But there is one peculiar order of vegetation that does so interest
me that I must not pass on before I describe it to you, as it does, as
with an angels voice, proclaim the exceeding goodness of our God.
The first in this order is the bread-fruit tree, which seems at once,
almost without any preparation or kneading, to provide us with bread
ready for the oven. Then, again, there is another tree which, in the
absence of the cow, comes to us with a delicious fluid like milk;
another with butter; and last of all, and perhaps the most to be
desired, are the water trees, which may be called vegetable springs con-
tinually flowing. There is something so very apparent in this order of
vegetation, that the hymn of praise spontaneously bursts from the
new man,--" The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over
all his works. The eyes of all wait upon Thee, and thou givest them
their meat in due season. " (Ps. cxlv. 9--15. )
Bread-fruit. --This vegetable was first brought to notice by Captain
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THE CREATION.
Cook, who discovered it at Otaheite. It grows about the height of a
middle-sized oak and yields three or four harvests in the year. Its
leaves resemble the fig-tree, and when broken, exude a juice like milk.
The fruit is about as large as a child's head, and is as white as
snow, and of the consistence of bread. The tree is propagated by
layers or suckers. It not only supplies a sort of bread for the table;
but the table itself is made from its trunk; and the cloth which covers
it from the bark.
The natives also use its wood for their canoes, and
extract a valuable resin from it.
Palo de vaca, or the Cow Tree, grows in the Caraccas and other parts
of South America, in rocky districts, where for months there is
no rain. It is also found in Demerara, and there called Hyahya :
its height is about one hundred feet. On piercing the trunk, a
sweet and nourishing milk springs forth, which the natives catch
in bowls. In coffee this milk cannot be distinguished from that in
common use.
The Butter Tree is described by Lander, the African traveller, as
yielding a vegetable marrow like butter, very pleasant to the taste.
In Jamaica, I have used the fruit of the alligator pear-tree on bread,
with pepper and salt, exactly in the same way as butter, and always
greatly preferred it.
And, lastly, the Water Trees, of which the three following are the
best known, must in no wise be omitted, manifesting, as they do, the
most marked contrivance to meet man's wants. Their names are:
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LETTER V.
73
(1st) the Wild Pine; (2nd) the Tillandsia, or Water Tree of Jamaica ;
and (3rd) the Nepenthis Distillatoria.
The Wild Pine is an inhabitant of South America, and the Carib-
bean or West Indian Islands. It grows on the branches of other
trees: its leaves grow folded round one another so compactly, that
the water which runs in at the top is preserved from evaporation;
and thus these reservoirs, holding from a pint to a quart of water,
produced and filled alike without the agency of man, wait on his
necessity.
The Tillandsia is like a vine in size and shape; and although it
grows in parched districts, is so full of clear sap, that by cutting a
piece two or three yards long, and holding it to the mouth, a
plentiful draught is obtained. The glass and the water alike from the
same tree.
The Nepenthis Distillatoria, found in the East Indies, is most
remarkable in its structure. It has literally leaf mugs, or tankards,
hanging from it, each holding from a pint to a quart of pure water.
The tankards have also a leaf cover, so closely fitted, that no evapo-
ration takes place. There is a little hook behind this lid, which, when
the vessel is full, extends and seizes some of the neighbouring tendrils,
and holds by them : and what is of the deepest interest, this tree grows
in a marshy unhealthy soil, where the water is most impure; but dis-
tilled through its veins, it comes clear as from a cooling fountain.
In leaving this first part of the vegetable kingdom that is good for
E
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? 74
THE CREATION.
food, remember also, my dear children, that the great mass of animal
life that comes to our aid, both for food and clothing--from the ox and
sheep down to the silk-worm that our young friends G. and F. keep
so carefully--all depend on the vegetable kingdom for support.
But now, secondly, we come to the great field of nature for our
Wardrobe: for though our ancestors, the early Britons, once painted
their bodies, like the poor African and New Zealander, and in winter
covered themselves with coats of skins, yet that is not the case now;
for if you look at your own clothes, dear children, from your little
straw hats to your cotton stockings, this third day's creation has sent
you the supply. The two great articles of clothing are linen and
cotton; and both of these are of vegetable production,--Flax and
Cotton.
Flax. You doubtless remember this plant in Ireland. Though
we grew but little, yet it was enough to explain its character to you,
both in its growth and manufacture. It is an annual, with a slender
stem two feet high which consists of fine fibres, and it is this which is
manufactured. The time of gathering the flax is in September; after
which it is soaked in water for a few days, until partially rotted in
the outer covering: then it is dried and beat hard with sticks, hackled,
(or combed,) and then dressed;--threads of different degrees of fine-
ness are afterwards spun from it, and these are manufactured into
cambric and lace, and linen of every kind: so that shirts, table-
cloths, sheets, trowsers, and a variety of other clothing, go to this pretty
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? LETTER V.
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little delicate blue-flowered plant for material. The seed of flax, called
Linseed, is also very valuable in medicine; and often, if taken in the
early stages of consumption, (as I know by experience,) by God's
blessing arrests it. The oil expressed from it is also much used in
painting; and with a preparation of other things, renders leather
waterproof. The North of Ireland is famous for the growth of flax,
and its manufacture into linen.
I introduce Hemp here, as it has such close affinity with Flax. It
is also prepared in much the same way. Hemp is altogether coarser
than Flax: but this is just the thing desired; for cambric would make
poor sails for a frigate, or indeed the strongest coarse linen would soon
go to ribbons in a storm ; but then Hemp just supplies this want; so
that if the second day's creation filled the snowy canvas with the
wind of Heaven, carrying our ships round the circuit of the globe, it
was the third day's creation that provided the wood for the hull, and
hemp for the sails; ropes also to strengthen the masts, and spread the
sails,--as well as ports and havens to shelter in. --Russia affords the
most hemp; though our own country also grows it. It flourishes
best in sandy soil.
The Cotton Plant. I have sometimes thought, when looking at one of
the currant bushes in our garden,--is it a little shrub like this that gives
such an amazing supply of clothing for people of every clime except
the higher regions of the North ? It is indeed so: for not only does
England itself consume an almost untold quantity for her own use;
e2
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? 76
THE CREATION.
but her annual exportation of cotton manufactures to other countries,
exceeds a sum of twenty millions sterling, and of cotton twist and
yarn alone, three millions: so that cultivation of flax* must be but
like a little flower-bed compared with the vast plantations of this lowly
shrub.
Cotton grows in the East and West Indies, and the southern part of
North America, in Turkey, and also in great quantities in Egypt.
The cotton plant is about the size of a tall currant bush, from four to
six feet high; and the pods which contain the cotton are of the size of
a large gooseberry, sometimes of a small apple; it is propagated by
seeds sown in March and April; and will bear pods three years in
succession.
The value of cotton one can hardly describe, as it is now used for
almost everything, being so much cheaper than linen, and by some
people preferred.
The Lace-bark Tree of Jamaica yields an extraordinary production:
the inner bark of it is like the finest lace; it grows almost twenty feet
in height. Caps, ruffles, and even whole suits may be made from it,
as curiosities.
The Cocoa-nut Tree. Ere I close the second division of the vegetable
kingdom, I must mention this tree. Most children know the cocoa-
* The last few years, Flax has been cultivated to a much greater extent, espe-
cially in Norfolk. Home-made oil-cake is now also in great demand for cattle, and
is preferred to that imported.
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LETTER V,
77
nut, and have watched with no little anxiety the last knock of the
hammer that has split it open and rendered the milk visible. This
tree grows erect in a stately column from fifty to ninety feet in height,
with a beautiful verdant crown of leaf-like branches, spirally disposed:
under this foliage you will see bunches of blossoms, clusters of green
fruit, and others in maturity (the blade--the ear--the full corn in the ear)
at one glance, in mingled beauty. The trunk, although porous, yet
makes beams and rafters for the native dwellings, and the broad leaves
serve for thatch;--of these also are made umbrellas, and mats, from those
in the dwellings of princes to the poorest cottage: and whilst ropes and
cloth are spun from the outer covering of the fruit, that nothing be
lost, the shell is cut into beautiful devices, and thus provides a goblet
to be filled with the palm wine, made from the young tree. The oil
also of this invaluable tree affords a subdued and pleasant light, and
of late years has become an article imported into this country for the
manufacture of candles. *
In addition to the trees and herbs that are good for food, the various
Spices should not be omitted: such as Cinnamon, which is the bark of
a tree bearing that name, and grows in Ceylon ; Nutmeg, a native of
the Molucca Islands--the fruit is inside four enclosures, the second
of which is Mace;--then there are Cloves -- Allspice--Cayenne
? The Sago Palm Tree of China and Japan; the Sugar Maple of North America;
the Tallow Tree of China; and the American Candle-berry Myrtle, yielding a fra-
grant wax, are also of this class of vegetation, which seems to produce, without the
manufacture of man, " food and light to cheer him on his way. " Ps. cxlv. 9.
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THE CREATION.
pepper pods, &c. ; all of which are beneficial and useful to man, when
used in moderation. These are found in the East, and so abundant
that the air is fragrant for miles and leagues at sea. * How sweetly
our poet Cowper alludes to the Spice Islands in that all-beautiful
poem on his mother's picture: speaking of her rest, he says --
" Thou, as a gallant bark from Albion's coast,
The storms all weathered and the ocean cross'd,
Shoots into port at some weli-haven'd isle,
Where spices breathe and brighter seasons smile ;
There sits quiescent on the floods that show
Her beauteous form, reflected clear below;
While airs impregnated with incense play
Around her, fanning light her streamers gay:
So thou, with sails how swift, hast reached the shore
Where tempests never blow, nor billows roar. "
In addition to the Eastern spices, our own gardens are not deficient
in fragrant herbs: and those who have nursed at the bed-side of some
dear relative or friend, will thankfully acknowledge the value of our
" sweet lavender," &c. , with numberless others, all and every one
of them telling us of the gracious and especial care of this third
day's creation; and whilst in the garden, before we pass to consider
the medicinal plants, let us look around on all the beautiful flowers
? When sailing to the leeward of the Island of Bermuda, where the Cedar so
abounds, I have distinctly inhaled its fragrance, even when no land was to be seen.
This I remember at one particular season most especially.
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? LETTER V.
79
that seem to demand our praise: and who that loves the Lord can gaze
on then- endless variety, from the lowly violet of the woods to the
full-blown rose of summer, without an adoring song of gratitude?
Perhaps of all the circumstances of creation, flowers most seem sent to
gratify the passing moment as we gaze upon them; and their beauty,
their exceeding beauty, how graciously did our blessed Lord describe,
when he said, " Consider the lilies, how they grow; they toil not,
they spin not; and yet I say unto you that Solomon, in all his glory,
was not arrayed like one of tliese. " And oh, the sweetness of that" if. "
" If God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-
morrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you,
O ye of little faith! " Thus the flowers, replete with beauty and fragrance,
also come to God's children full of instruction, and they are encou-
raged to remember that the hand that adorned and wrought the
beautiful texture of the lily and other flowers, will also provide food
and raiment for them. (Luke xii. 27--32. )
And now we come to consider, thirdly, that department of the
vegetable kingdom which may be called " Our field of herbs for medi-
cine. " The irrational creation, directed by the hand of that gracious
God that brought them into being, not only select the food good for
them, but also, in some diseases, by instinct, as it is called, for want
of a better name, have been observed to go to the field of herbs, and cull
from thence, with wonderful sagacity, the plant suited to their wants. *
* See Appendix.
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THE CREATION.
Who gave them this wisdom? To answer this question let us
turn to our favourite Book of Job on this subject, and look at
chapter xxxviii. 41: " Who provideth for the raven his food, when
his young ones cry unto God--they wander for lack of meat? " The
Lord did; even that God who, as Bishop Hopkins so beautifully says,
" provides the spray that the sparrow is to light upon, and the barley-
corn for its food. "
Who 'would have thought, on seeing the common red poppy glowing
in the wheat, (and there most undesirable,) that the seedy head of that
flower, or one of its family, should exude a juice whose value (though,
like every other gift of God, sadly perverted*) is not to be told.
Opium, which is the poppy-juice hardened into substance, and Lau-
danum, which is called the tincture or wine of Opium, is capable,
under God's blessing, of alleviating the sufferings of man to an amazing
extent;--millions and millions of the human family have been saved
from days and years of pain, just by the juice of this little flower.
Think of this, dear children, and the sight of the poppy will be more
than pretty to your eyes.
In South America, beneath the ground, there grows a little insig-
nificant root, of a brownish dingy colour, held in great estimation by
the natives, and called, in their tongue, Ipecacuanha, or vomiting root.
The blessing of this root also to man is very great. It has been known
in Europe more than two centuries. Louis XIV. king of France,
* The abuse of Opium is no argument against its use.
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? LETTER V.
81
rewarded Helvetius, who first used it in cases of dysentery, with
1000/. It ranks now very high in the medical practice of our own
country. But to give, at one glance, a general view of the herbary of
the vegetable kingdom, suppose you take a walk to our large chemist's
shop, at the house where the benevolent man of Ross used to live.
Now write down in your memorandum-book the names of all the
plants that have come from all quarters to furnish that window and
those drawers; from the costly and invaluable quinine, or salt of bark,
to the distilled fennel-water, and you will be astonished at the various
countries you would have to visit, if you had yourselves to cull the
flowers and leaves, or dig the roots with your own hands. You
doubtless remember the little window of our shop at B. in Somerset-
shire, that was filled with drugs; why even that little inventory called
upon Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, to make up its store: there
is the rhubarb from Asia, the aloes from the Cape in Africa, the bark
from America, and the red lavender from Europe.
But who gave the medicinal herbs their properties ? Even the
compassionate Lord that made them. And surely on this third day,
when the first parents of all the vegetable tribes came into existence
in all their maturity, man's benefit, whose fall and subsequent sickness
had been foreseen, was before the mind of the ever-blessed God; and
so he gave the herb of the field--some thereof to be food, and some
thereof for medicine.
And now we must consider, lastly, the vegetable kingdom as our
e 3.
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THE CREATION.
great forest, from whence may be hewn trees for the artificer, from
the mountain oak to the lowly willow of the brook.
Solomon's knowledge of natural history is strikingly brought before
us in that scripture, " He spake of trees, from the cedar that is in
Lebanon even to the hyssop that springeth from the wall," (1 Kings
iv. 33;) evidently marking the two extremes of vegetation--the cedar,
the kingly tree among the trees of the forest, and the hyssop, the
lowliest of shrubs--" a root out of a dry ground. " The mention of
the cedar and the hyssop also occurs together in two other parts of
scripture, and is most significant. The first in the cleansing of the
leper, (Lev. xiv. ;) the second in the purifying of the Israelite who had
touched the dead, (Numb. xix. ) In the first case, i. e. the leper's
cleansing, cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet, with a living bird, were
dipped in the blood of a bird, its fellow, just slain over living water,
without the camp; and then the blood was sprinkled on the leper, and
he was pronounced clean, and the living bird was let loose in the open
field. In the second case, cedar, hyssop, and scarlet were cast into
the devouring flame which consumed the unyoked spotless red heifer,
which was burned to ashes without the camp, and the ashes being
mingled with living water made the water of purification from sin,
which, with a bunch of hyssop, by the hands of a clean man, was
sprinkled, the third and the seventh day, on the one who had touched
the dead, and he was clean. In both these types or shadows, the cedar
and the hyssop set forth the glory and humiliation of that blessed
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LETTER V.
63
have not yet exhausted the subject; there are two things which I must
take pains to explain to you; and these are not left to the last, because
of the least importance, but that they might be spoken of separately.
I mean Coal and Salt.
Coal. Some have said that Great Britain has reached her place of
eminence among the nations, because it possesses Coal. This is a large
statement, and requires a little qualification; yet there is some degree
of truth in it; but we must never forget that God has said, that
" Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is the bane of any people. "
But in a subordinate point of view, (I use this word in its fullest sense,)
no doubt England has reached her present position owing to her manu-
factures ; and what could they do without coal ? Yes, coal is a great
blessing--an invaluable blessing; and yet, when discovered in this
kingdom, after sixty-six years' use it was prohibited, because it injured
the sale of wood ! This was in 1306, but the interdict was soon taken off.
Coal is found in inexhaustible abundance in England, Scotland, and
Wales; it has also been discovered in America and India. Besides its
most grateful daily service to us, in warming our domestic hearths, it is,
as has been observed, the mainspring of our manufactories; and now
that the carburetted hydrogen gas, produced from coal, illumines our
streets, one wonders that, with a fire for nine months continually under
our eyes, it was not before discovered. Of the coal mines of England,
the purest are supposed to be Whitehaven; but the most important
to England are those at Newcastle and Sunderland. An amazing
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THE CREATION.
number of vessels daily leave these ports for all parts of the kingdom:
and thus the Northern coal trade has been called, with great point,
" The nursery of British seamen. " The commanders of some of our
present merchant ships had their earliest lessons in this home navi-
gation. Coals were early known in Scotland. Pope Pius II. , in his
description of Europe, mentions that he beheld with wonder in Scot-
land, black stones given to the poor as alms. This was in the fifteenth
century, but they may be traced back three centuries earlier. In
Somersetshire the Mendip coal-mines are distinguished for their pro-
ductiveness. The beds of coal are not horizontal, but sloping,
dipping towards the south-east, at the rate of twenty-two inches per
fathom. The description of the mines, and the manner of working
them, I may another time give you; but for the present my object is
to bring before you a general view of those mercies with which we
are perpetually surrounded; and coal is indeed a mercy whose value
cannot be told.
The common fuel of Ireland is Turf, which is a partially decom-
posed vegetable production, found just under the surface of the ground.
It is divided into slane turf, or that which is cut with a sharp instru-
ment, and hand turf, which is the common turf trodden down by
horses and men in water, until it becomes a thick clay like paste,
which is then moulded by hand and laid out to dry. The Irish peasant,
as you will remember, in the bogs of Roundwood, county Wicklow,
looks as much for a dry season for his turf, as we do for our wheat.
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LETTER V.
65
Salt. Of all the productions of the earth that call for man's thank-
fulness, salt ranks among the first; and as our wants are great and
continual, so the mighty storehouse of this mineral is perfectly inex-
haustible. But we will consider, 1st, rock salt, or salt found in solid
masses, and, 2nd, salt springs.
1. Rock Salt. Most countries have mines of this invaluable mineral,
but the most renowned are those of Cracow, Tyrol, Poland, Castile,
and Cheshire in our own country. The East also is not destitute of it,
as there is a mountain of Hindostan, in the province of Lahore, nearly
equal to the famous one of Cordova in Spain, which is 500 feet high,
and three miles in circumference, entirely composed of salt. The mines
of Cracow * being the best known, I will enlarge upon them. Our
poet Darwin thus beautifully speaks of the subterranean town formed
by the excavation of the salt:--
" Thus cavern'd round in Cracow's mighty mines,
With crystal walls a gorgeous city shines;
Scoop'd in the living rock long streets extend
Their hoary course, and glittering domes ascend.
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Long lines of lustre pour their trembling rays,
And the bright vaults resound with dazzling blaze. "
One can hardly conceive of the exceeding beauty of this magic
scene. I think I have somewhere read, that when travellers go to view
this mine they are taken down blindfolded, and that when arrived in
? These mines are upwards of 6000 feet long; 2000 feet broad; 800 feet deep.
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? 6C
THE CREATION.
the midst of this most brilliant city, the bandage is removed. The
salt mines of Cheshire are very extensive, and supply the northern
parts of the empire.
2. Salt springs* Though the whole ocean is salt, yet compared with
the briny springs of Droitwich it is fresh; for I think I was told,
when examining them, that the springs were thirty times salter than
sea water. The process by which the salt is procured is most simple:
the springs have pumps applied to them, which, by means of an engine,
are continually kept worked, emptying the water into a large iron
reservoir, of a square form (like a large pan in which loaves are baked):
under this reservoir there are blazing fires, keeping the water at a
high temperature, which rapidly passes off in evaporation, leaving the
salt at the bottom of the pan; this is taken up by the workpeople with
scoops having long handles, (women are usually employed,) and placed
in large upright wooden vessels, rather larger at the top than the
base. The salt drains in these, and is soon hard and ready for expor-
tation. In some countries the same result is produced, though in a
much longer period, by the rays of the sun: in this case the pans are
superficial excavations, in general near the sea. There is an incident
in the history of Holland, which (though one shudders in reading it,
for it was a dark blot on the legislation of that country) shows us,
perhaps more than anything, the invaluable character of salt. The
food of prisoners, under condemnation for some particularly aggravated
* See Appendix.
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LETTEH V.
67
crimes, was bread unmixed with salt, and the effect was horrible to
relate,--these wretched criminals are said to have been devoured by
worms engendered in their own stomachs. This law no longer
exists!
But the various uses of salt are beyond description. * I have some-
times thought, if on getting up in the morning, salt in every form was
to be prohibited through the day, how miserable we should all be;--
the bread would be insipid,--the meat we could not touch; indeed,
we should in a thousand ways know its value by its loss. All the
Jewish sacrifices were salted with salt; and whilst, in the king
Artaxerxes's gift to Ezra the Scribe, all other things were measured,
concerning this it was said, " And salt, without prescribing how much. "
(Ezra vii. 22. ) The Arab keeps salt in his girdle, and when he has
given you some, there is a covenant of salt established, that nothing
may break. What salt is naturally, such should the Christian [he
spiritually; for remember His words that said," Ye are the salt of the
earth. " (Matt. v. 13. ) But on this I will enlarge in my next letter.
Having thus, my dear children, sought to explain to you, in a gene-
ral point of view, the mineral productions of the earth, as arranged
under the heads of Precious Stones, Metals, Rocks, Slate, Clays,
Chalks, Coal, and Salt, I will now endeavour to take up the second
? The whole animal creation seems to demand salt as a natural stimulant for
the digestive organs. Children that neglect the use of salt, have generally an
enemy at the doors, and a worm fever often follows such neglect.
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THE CREATION.
part I promised, and speak to you a little of the fruits of the earth--
(as Moses says) " for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and
for the precious things put forth by the moon, and for the chief things
of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting
hills, and for the precious things of the earth, and fulness thereof. "
(Deut . xxxiii. 14--16. ) This is the way that holy man of God spake
of God's gifts: to him they were all precious: and so they should be
to us. In one sense, dear children, never seek to be independent;
but depend on the Lord God--even the good-will of him that dwelt
in the bush--for every thing: so that every drop of water, and every
thread of raiment, and every grain of wheat, may all be received by
you, not as coming by chance--no, nor yet from nature--but from God,
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Father of all such as
flee to him as their alone Saviour; for in him, and in him only, they
can call God, Abba, Father. (Rom. viii. 15. )
Sweet is that Hymn, and happy the man or child that can from the
heart sing it (1 Cor. xiv. 15):--
" Abba, Father," Lord! we call thee,
(Hallow'd name! ) from day to day;--
"Pis thy children's right to know thee,
None but children " Abba " say.
This high glory we inherit,
Thy free gift, through Jesus' blood;
God the Spirit, with our spirit,
Witncsseth we're sons of God.
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LETTER V.
69
, The world, even in its fallen state, is fertile beyond calculation: and
when cultivated is capable of being covered with beauty: indeed, on
walking out on a summer's morning, when the sun is high enough to
have opened the flowers, and the birds are singing, and all seems happy
around, one can hardly imagine it to be the world of which it was said,
" Cursed be the ground for thy sake;" if so beautiful in its ruins, what
must it have been in its primeval beauty--what will it be in " the
times of the restitution of all things ! " (Acts iii. 21. )
FRUITS OF THE EARTH.
But I will now detail to you a little of the Lord's goodness, as shown
forth in that part of the vegetable kingdom which provides food for
man; and the first thing I will speak of, is Wheat.
" The Staff of Life. " This is the name given by common consent
to this most precious gift, put forth by the sun; wheat grows almost
in all quarters of the globe, and is pre-eminent for nutrition among all
the fruits of the earth. Sir Humphry Davy, the great naturalist, on
analyzing this grain, gave this as the result of his labour,--that of the
wheat he examined (grown in Middlesex) 955 parts of 1000 were
nutritive; 765 parts being starch, and 190 gluten. Gluten is a pecu-
liar substance that approaches nearer to animal matter than any other;
and wheat produces twofold more of this than any other grain. Be-
sides starch and gluten there is a small proportion of sugar in wheat
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70
THE CREATION.
I have spoken of Wheat* separately; but Barley, Oats, Rice,
Maize, Potatoes, Tea, Coffee, Cocoa, Sugar, and numberless low-grown
vegetables, called in the first of Genesis " Herbs," come in boundless
variety to supply the wants of man.
In Judea the barley harvest was the first reaped; and ere it was
gathered, there took place, according to Jewish historians, this most
solemn ceremony. The High Priest of Israel (God's family on earth)
went into the barley-field with a golden basket, reaped a sheaf of the
first-fruits, and then laid it up in the Tabernacle before and during
the sabbath; but on the morning after the sabbath, (Lev. xxiii. 10,)
he took the sheaf, and, standing at the brazen altar, waved it on high
before the Lord, to the four quarters of the land, acknowledging
thereby that all that sprang from the earth, in the north, east, south,
or west, was the Lord's; and theirs only by first being acknowledged
to be his--the great Lord of the harvest. The whole of this, in
its various parts, is applied in the New Testament spiritually ; but I
will tell you of it in the next letter.
If this order of vegetation is boundless, dear children, yet the trees
that are good for food, in variety at least, abound more; and man's
delight seems to be more contemplated in them than his sustenance;
for every stage of the fruit, on to maturity, is replete with interest--
? In Europe, wheat is the staff of life; in China and the East, rice; in Ireland,
potatoes seem with the poor almost to supersede all other food. The annual value
of grain grown in Britain in one year (1831) was 112,000,000/. sterling.
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? LETTER V.
71
from the bud to the blossom, and from the blossom to the full-grown
fruit: indeed, it would be difficult to decide whether the orchard in its
blossoms of spring, or its fruits of autumn, is most beautiful; and then
the fruits are so adapted to the state of man in his peculiar localities.
In the West Indies, though the pine-apple and the rich melon have
both spread out their beauties before one's eyes, yet I have often found
the large green water melon, filled with its cold delicious nectar, far
more refreshing; and this abounds beyond the other fruits: but those
living there can alone appreciate this fruit.
But there is one peculiar order of vegetation that does so interest
me that I must not pass on before I describe it to you, as it does, as
with an angels voice, proclaim the exceeding goodness of our God.
The first in this order is the bread-fruit tree, which seems at once,
almost without any preparation or kneading, to provide us with bread
ready for the oven. Then, again, there is another tree which, in the
absence of the cow, comes to us with a delicious fluid like milk;
another with butter; and last of all, and perhaps the most to be
desired, are the water trees, which may be called vegetable springs con-
tinually flowing. There is something so very apparent in this order of
vegetation, that the hymn of praise spontaneously bursts from the
new man,--" The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over
all his works. The eyes of all wait upon Thee, and thou givest them
their meat in due season. " (Ps. cxlv. 9--15. )
Bread-fruit. --This vegetable was first brought to notice by Captain
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? 1-1
THE CREATION.
Cook, who discovered it at Otaheite. It grows about the height of a
middle-sized oak and yields three or four harvests in the year. Its
leaves resemble the fig-tree, and when broken, exude a juice like milk.
The fruit is about as large as a child's head, and is as white as
snow, and of the consistence of bread. The tree is propagated by
layers or suckers. It not only supplies a sort of bread for the table;
but the table itself is made from its trunk; and the cloth which covers
it from the bark.
The natives also use its wood for their canoes, and
extract a valuable resin from it.
Palo de vaca, or the Cow Tree, grows in the Caraccas and other parts
of South America, in rocky districts, where for months there is
no rain. It is also found in Demerara, and there called Hyahya :
its height is about one hundred feet. On piercing the trunk, a
sweet and nourishing milk springs forth, which the natives catch
in bowls. In coffee this milk cannot be distinguished from that in
common use.
The Butter Tree is described by Lander, the African traveller, as
yielding a vegetable marrow like butter, very pleasant to the taste.
In Jamaica, I have used the fruit of the alligator pear-tree on bread,
with pepper and salt, exactly in the same way as butter, and always
greatly preferred it.
And, lastly, the Water Trees, of which the three following are the
best known, must in no wise be omitted, manifesting, as they do, the
most marked contrivance to meet man's wants. Their names are:
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LETTER V.
73
(1st) the Wild Pine; (2nd) the Tillandsia, or Water Tree of Jamaica ;
and (3rd) the Nepenthis Distillatoria.
The Wild Pine is an inhabitant of South America, and the Carib-
bean or West Indian Islands. It grows on the branches of other
trees: its leaves grow folded round one another so compactly, that
the water which runs in at the top is preserved from evaporation;
and thus these reservoirs, holding from a pint to a quart of water,
produced and filled alike without the agency of man, wait on his
necessity.
The Tillandsia is like a vine in size and shape; and although it
grows in parched districts, is so full of clear sap, that by cutting a
piece two or three yards long, and holding it to the mouth, a
plentiful draught is obtained. The glass and the water alike from the
same tree.
The Nepenthis Distillatoria, found in the East Indies, is most
remarkable in its structure. It has literally leaf mugs, or tankards,
hanging from it, each holding from a pint to a quart of pure water.
The tankards have also a leaf cover, so closely fitted, that no evapo-
ration takes place. There is a little hook behind this lid, which, when
the vessel is full, extends and seizes some of the neighbouring tendrils,
and holds by them : and what is of the deepest interest, this tree grows
in a marshy unhealthy soil, where the water is most impure; but dis-
tilled through its veins, it comes clear as from a cooling fountain.
In leaving this first part of the vegetable kingdom that is good for
E
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? 74
THE CREATION.
food, remember also, my dear children, that the great mass of animal
life that comes to our aid, both for food and clothing--from the ox and
sheep down to the silk-worm that our young friends G. and F. keep
so carefully--all depend on the vegetable kingdom for support.
But now, secondly, we come to the great field of nature for our
Wardrobe: for though our ancestors, the early Britons, once painted
their bodies, like the poor African and New Zealander, and in winter
covered themselves with coats of skins, yet that is not the case now;
for if you look at your own clothes, dear children, from your little
straw hats to your cotton stockings, this third day's creation has sent
you the supply. The two great articles of clothing are linen and
cotton; and both of these are of vegetable production,--Flax and
Cotton.
Flax. You doubtless remember this plant in Ireland. Though
we grew but little, yet it was enough to explain its character to you,
both in its growth and manufacture. It is an annual, with a slender
stem two feet high which consists of fine fibres, and it is this which is
manufactured. The time of gathering the flax is in September; after
which it is soaked in water for a few days, until partially rotted in
the outer covering: then it is dried and beat hard with sticks, hackled,
(or combed,) and then dressed;--threads of different degrees of fine-
ness are afterwards spun from it, and these are manufactured into
cambric and lace, and linen of every kind: so that shirts, table-
cloths, sheets, trowsers, and a variety of other clothing, go to this pretty
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? LETTER V.
75
little delicate blue-flowered plant for material. The seed of flax, called
Linseed, is also very valuable in medicine; and often, if taken in the
early stages of consumption, (as I know by experience,) by God's
blessing arrests it. The oil expressed from it is also much used in
painting; and with a preparation of other things, renders leather
waterproof. The North of Ireland is famous for the growth of flax,
and its manufacture into linen.
I introduce Hemp here, as it has such close affinity with Flax. It
is also prepared in much the same way. Hemp is altogether coarser
than Flax: but this is just the thing desired; for cambric would make
poor sails for a frigate, or indeed the strongest coarse linen would soon
go to ribbons in a storm ; but then Hemp just supplies this want; so
that if the second day's creation filled the snowy canvas with the
wind of Heaven, carrying our ships round the circuit of the globe, it
was the third day's creation that provided the wood for the hull, and
hemp for the sails; ropes also to strengthen the masts, and spread the
sails,--as well as ports and havens to shelter in. --Russia affords the
most hemp; though our own country also grows it. It flourishes
best in sandy soil.
The Cotton Plant. I have sometimes thought, when looking at one of
the currant bushes in our garden,--is it a little shrub like this that gives
such an amazing supply of clothing for people of every clime except
the higher regions of the North ? It is indeed so: for not only does
England itself consume an almost untold quantity for her own use;
e2
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? 76
THE CREATION.
but her annual exportation of cotton manufactures to other countries,
exceeds a sum of twenty millions sterling, and of cotton twist and
yarn alone, three millions: so that cultivation of flax* must be but
like a little flower-bed compared with the vast plantations of this lowly
shrub.
Cotton grows in the East and West Indies, and the southern part of
North America, in Turkey, and also in great quantities in Egypt.
The cotton plant is about the size of a tall currant bush, from four to
six feet high; and the pods which contain the cotton are of the size of
a large gooseberry, sometimes of a small apple; it is propagated by
seeds sown in March and April; and will bear pods three years in
succession.
The value of cotton one can hardly describe, as it is now used for
almost everything, being so much cheaper than linen, and by some
people preferred.
The Lace-bark Tree of Jamaica yields an extraordinary production:
the inner bark of it is like the finest lace; it grows almost twenty feet
in height. Caps, ruffles, and even whole suits may be made from it,
as curiosities.
The Cocoa-nut Tree. Ere I close the second division of the vegetable
kingdom, I must mention this tree. Most children know the cocoa-
* The last few years, Flax has been cultivated to a much greater extent, espe-
cially in Norfolk. Home-made oil-cake is now also in great demand for cattle, and
is preferred to that imported.
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LETTER V,
77
nut, and have watched with no little anxiety the last knock of the
hammer that has split it open and rendered the milk visible. This
tree grows erect in a stately column from fifty to ninety feet in height,
with a beautiful verdant crown of leaf-like branches, spirally disposed:
under this foliage you will see bunches of blossoms, clusters of green
fruit, and others in maturity (the blade--the ear--the full corn in the ear)
at one glance, in mingled beauty. The trunk, although porous, yet
makes beams and rafters for the native dwellings, and the broad leaves
serve for thatch;--of these also are made umbrellas, and mats, from those
in the dwellings of princes to the poorest cottage: and whilst ropes and
cloth are spun from the outer covering of the fruit, that nothing be
lost, the shell is cut into beautiful devices, and thus provides a goblet
to be filled with the palm wine, made from the young tree. The oil
also of this invaluable tree affords a subdued and pleasant light, and
of late years has become an article imported into this country for the
manufacture of candles. *
In addition to the trees and herbs that are good for food, the various
Spices should not be omitted: such as Cinnamon, which is the bark of
a tree bearing that name, and grows in Ceylon ; Nutmeg, a native of
the Molucca Islands--the fruit is inside four enclosures, the second
of which is Mace;--then there are Cloves -- Allspice--Cayenne
? The Sago Palm Tree of China and Japan; the Sugar Maple of North America;
the Tallow Tree of China; and the American Candle-berry Myrtle, yielding a fra-
grant wax, are also of this class of vegetation, which seems to produce, without the
manufacture of man, " food and light to cheer him on his way. " Ps. cxlv. 9.
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THE CREATION.
pepper pods, &c. ; all of which are beneficial and useful to man, when
used in moderation. These are found in the East, and so abundant
that the air is fragrant for miles and leagues at sea. * How sweetly
our poet Cowper alludes to the Spice Islands in that all-beautiful
poem on his mother's picture: speaking of her rest, he says --
" Thou, as a gallant bark from Albion's coast,
The storms all weathered and the ocean cross'd,
Shoots into port at some weli-haven'd isle,
Where spices breathe and brighter seasons smile ;
There sits quiescent on the floods that show
Her beauteous form, reflected clear below;
While airs impregnated with incense play
Around her, fanning light her streamers gay:
So thou, with sails how swift, hast reached the shore
Where tempests never blow, nor billows roar. "
In addition to the Eastern spices, our own gardens are not deficient
in fragrant herbs: and those who have nursed at the bed-side of some
dear relative or friend, will thankfully acknowledge the value of our
" sweet lavender," &c. , with numberless others, all and every one
of them telling us of the gracious and especial care of this third
day's creation; and whilst in the garden, before we pass to consider
the medicinal plants, let us look around on all the beautiful flowers
? When sailing to the leeward of the Island of Bermuda, where the Cedar so
abounds, I have distinctly inhaled its fragrance, even when no land was to be seen.
This I remember at one particular season most especially.
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? LETTER V.
79
that seem to demand our praise: and who that loves the Lord can gaze
on then- endless variety, from the lowly violet of the woods to the
full-blown rose of summer, without an adoring song of gratitude?
Perhaps of all the circumstances of creation, flowers most seem sent to
gratify the passing moment as we gaze upon them; and their beauty,
their exceeding beauty, how graciously did our blessed Lord describe,
when he said, " Consider the lilies, how they grow; they toil not,
they spin not; and yet I say unto you that Solomon, in all his glory,
was not arrayed like one of tliese. " And oh, the sweetness of that" if. "
" If God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-
morrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you,
O ye of little faith! " Thus the flowers, replete with beauty and fragrance,
also come to God's children full of instruction, and they are encou-
raged to remember that the hand that adorned and wrought the
beautiful texture of the lily and other flowers, will also provide food
and raiment for them. (Luke xii. 27--32. )
And now we come to consider, thirdly, that department of the
vegetable kingdom which may be called " Our field of herbs for medi-
cine. " The irrational creation, directed by the hand of that gracious
God that brought them into being, not only select the food good for
them, but also, in some diseases, by instinct, as it is called, for want
of a better name, have been observed to go to the field of herbs, and cull
from thence, with wonderful sagacity, the plant suited to their wants. *
* See Appendix.
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THE CREATION.
Who gave them this wisdom? To answer this question let us
turn to our favourite Book of Job on this subject, and look at
chapter xxxviii. 41: " Who provideth for the raven his food, when
his young ones cry unto God--they wander for lack of meat? " The
Lord did; even that God who, as Bishop Hopkins so beautifully says,
" provides the spray that the sparrow is to light upon, and the barley-
corn for its food. "
Who 'would have thought, on seeing the common red poppy glowing
in the wheat, (and there most undesirable,) that the seedy head of that
flower, or one of its family, should exude a juice whose value (though,
like every other gift of God, sadly perverted*) is not to be told.
Opium, which is the poppy-juice hardened into substance, and Lau-
danum, which is called the tincture or wine of Opium, is capable,
under God's blessing, of alleviating the sufferings of man to an amazing
extent;--millions and millions of the human family have been saved
from days and years of pain, just by the juice of this little flower.
Think of this, dear children, and the sight of the poppy will be more
than pretty to your eyes.
In South America, beneath the ground, there grows a little insig-
nificant root, of a brownish dingy colour, held in great estimation by
the natives, and called, in their tongue, Ipecacuanha, or vomiting root.
The blessing of this root also to man is very great. It has been known
in Europe more than two centuries. Louis XIV. king of France,
* The abuse of Opium is no argument against its use.
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? LETTER V.
81
rewarded Helvetius, who first used it in cases of dysentery, with
1000/. It ranks now very high in the medical practice of our own
country. But to give, at one glance, a general view of the herbary of
the vegetable kingdom, suppose you take a walk to our large chemist's
shop, at the house where the benevolent man of Ross used to live.
Now write down in your memorandum-book the names of all the
plants that have come from all quarters to furnish that window and
those drawers; from the costly and invaluable quinine, or salt of bark,
to the distilled fennel-water, and you will be astonished at the various
countries you would have to visit, if you had yourselves to cull the
flowers and leaves, or dig the roots with your own hands. You
doubtless remember the little window of our shop at B. in Somerset-
shire, that was filled with drugs; why even that little inventory called
upon Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, to make up its store: there
is the rhubarb from Asia, the aloes from the Cape in Africa, the bark
from America, and the red lavender from Europe.
But who gave the medicinal herbs their properties ? Even the
compassionate Lord that made them. And surely on this third day,
when the first parents of all the vegetable tribes came into existence
in all their maturity, man's benefit, whose fall and subsequent sickness
had been foreseen, was before the mind of the ever-blessed God; and
so he gave the herb of the field--some thereof to be food, and some
thereof for medicine.
And now we must consider, lastly, the vegetable kingdom as our
e 3.
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THE CREATION.
great forest, from whence may be hewn trees for the artificer, from
the mountain oak to the lowly willow of the brook.
Solomon's knowledge of natural history is strikingly brought before
us in that scripture, " He spake of trees, from the cedar that is in
Lebanon even to the hyssop that springeth from the wall," (1 Kings
iv. 33;) evidently marking the two extremes of vegetation--the cedar,
the kingly tree among the trees of the forest, and the hyssop, the
lowliest of shrubs--" a root out of a dry ground. " The mention of
the cedar and the hyssop also occurs together in two other parts of
scripture, and is most significant. The first in the cleansing of the
leper, (Lev. xiv. ;) the second in the purifying of the Israelite who had
touched the dead, (Numb. xix. ) In the first case, i. e. the leper's
cleansing, cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet, with a living bird, were
dipped in the blood of a bird, its fellow, just slain over living water,
without the camp; and then the blood was sprinkled on the leper, and
he was pronounced clean, and the living bird was let loose in the open
field. In the second case, cedar, hyssop, and scarlet were cast into
the devouring flame which consumed the unyoked spotless red heifer,
which was burned to ashes without the camp, and the ashes being
mingled with living water made the water of purification from sin,
which, with a bunch of hyssop, by the hands of a clean man, was
sprinkled, the third and the seventh day, on the one who had touched
the dead, and he was clean. In both these types or shadows, the cedar
and the hyssop set forth the glory and humiliation of that blessed
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