The first in the
cleansing
of the
leper, (Lev.
leper, (Lev.
Childrens - The Creation
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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.
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(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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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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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;
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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,
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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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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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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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sufferer, the Lord Jesus, who died as the great sacrifice without the
camp,--burnt to ashes in the consuming flame,--that the unclean leper,
even the wretched undone sinner, might be cleansed, and the saint
who had fallen might be restored. (1 John ii. 1. )
The Cedar of Lebanon--according to Linna;us, (Pinus Cedrus)--
grows up in great majesty in Lebanon, and is not known as indigenous
to any other clime. Lebanon is the throne of the cedar, and the
cedar is the king of the forest! --it grows to the height of 110 feet,
and its branches radiate out to more than half its height--each branch
itself like a tree;--it grows well in England, and is frequently found
in the parks of our nobles,--(you remember the one at Stoke Edith,
near to us,)--but it does not flourish in any place like Lebanon. The
property of the Cedar* is durability and fragrance; it is perhaps the
most imperishable of trees, and the worm will not touch it. f
In the Wilderness, the Chittim-icood, called by some the White
Thorn of the Desert, was used for the boards of the Tabernacle and all
the holy vessels, and covered with the purest gold--except the Altar
of Burnt Offering, the covering of which was brass. In the Land,
when the wandering was over, the cedar-tree took the place of the
chittim-wood, and of it the beams, rafters, &c. , of the Temple, and all
* See Appendix.
t The cedars planted in the Botanical Gardens at Chelsea, in 1683, which are
supposed to be the first brought to this country, are still perfectly sound. Histo-
rians record, that a beam of cedar, in the Temple of Apollo, at Utica, was found
perfect at the end of two thousand years.
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THE CREATION.
the vessels of the Sanctuary, were formed, and then covered with gold;
not, indeed, the ark--there was but one ark, both for the Tabernacle
in the wilderness and the Temple, and that was made of the wood of the
wilderness; and though, when placed in its pavement of gold in the
most holy place in the Temple, the staves, the symbol of its wilderness
state, were taken out, yet were they left visible, resting on the golden
rings. And if the Temple sets forth the final state of blessedness of
the righteous, when all shall be purity, which many of the best of men
have thought, then may not this symbol of the ark, both in its wood
of the wilderness and the place of the staves, mark this truth, that the
children of God will for ever remember that God tabernacled with
them, and wandered with them through the wilderness of this world,
to bring them to his resting-place--even the dwelling-place of the
Most High ?
Not only did Solomon build the Temple with hewn stones and the
cedar, but in the Most Holy place, there was cut on the cedar, in
relief, cherubim and palm-trees, which afterwards were covered over
with gold;--all this was doubtless most significant. But we will now
leave the cedar of Lebanon, and pass on to the other trees of the
forest.
The Oak. Of all the trees of the forest that English people are
acquainted with, the Oak is the greatest favourite; and where durability
is desired, there is no tree, the cedar excepted, that surpasses it. In
England there were once large forests of this noble tree; but our planta-
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tions have not kept pace with our consumption--hence we are obliged to
have recourse to foreign markets. The Oak is a very majestic-looking
tree, and has a beautiful spreading foliage; the fruit of it is called the
acorn. It is not confined to cold countries, but flourishes even in
Palestine. Mr. Burckhardt, the celebrated traveller, tells us, that at
no great distance from Nazareth, he found every where a grateful
shade of fine oaks; and the country round Damascus seemed to owe
part of its attractiveness to large plantations of this tree. The wood
of the oak is used for ship-building--it is pre-eminent for this: the
house carpenter also makes considerable use of its timber for beams,
rafters, staircases, and wainscoting; and from the bark the physician
gets a useful tonic, and the tanner, by its astringent properties con-
verts the skins of animals--some into material for the most delicate
gloves, and others into the rough woodman's mittens, besides number-
less other things.
One species of the Oak (quercus suberj is called the Holm Oak. This
valuable tree supplies us with cork, which, as you know, aids man in
a variety of ways, from the little stopper of an ink-bottle to the fisher-
man's floats for his nets, and the safety linings of a life-boat. * Then
as to the acorn, the fruit of the oak; it proves a nutritive food for many
animals, and, in times of necessity, has been used by man himself: and
even the ashes and their lye are very useful for the cleansing of linen
* Large pieces of cork fastened underneath the seats of a common hoat, give it
the character of a life-boat.
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THE CREATION.
and the purifying of wine; and the curious excrescence on the leaf, called
oak-gall, is the principal substance of which writing-ink is made. Thus
every part of this favourite of English trees is useful; for not only
does it provide shelter and food for birds of every wing, and grace our
plantations, but, as you have seen, the ship and house builder--the
physician and farmer--the bleacher and fisherman--the sailor and
wine-merchant, go to some part or other of this valuable tree for their
various wants; and the ink made from the oak-gall puts us in possession
of our dear Julius's thoughts, though he is buried in the wilds of
Australia. Whilst, therefore, we give the dominion of the forest to
the cedar of Lebanon, the oak takes the second place. And ere
I close about the Oak, I suppose I may say, that most little boys
remember the 29th of May as oak-apple day, which commemorates
the deliverance of King Charles II. , who escaped his pursuers by
secreting himself in a large oak. * Thus, my beloved children, the
next time you sit under the shade of the Oak at Penyard, count over
how many things this noble tree is used for, and think of the goodness
of God, who thus considered man, when he created it on the third
day.
The Elm is a very lofty tree; it grows taller than the oak, but is
not so spreading in its branches: it abounds in Devonshire, and there
* The period of King Charles's escape was a. d. 1651;--the Oak was situated in
the farm of Boscobel, belonging to a farmer called Penderell, in Staffordshire, and
was ever after called the Royal Oak. ,
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LETTER V.
87
are some of peculiar beauty in Torquay and Paignton. The Elm ia
useful to the turner for pumps--blocks; and the carver, seeing how
little the elm chips, cuts out his leaves and flowers from it. It is
difficult to decide whether the Elm is named in Scripture, as, though
so called in Hosea iv. , yet the same word is in other places translated
Oak.
The Ash is a tree very beautiful in its foliage, and in the smooth-
ness of its bark, and has an almost endless variety of uses; its great
properties are toughness and flexibility. All trades go to the Ash for
some department of their labour; and the little boy, when he cannot
get a piece of yew for his bow, alway6 considers the ash the next best;
and the sailor, well knowing the fine spring of an ash-oar, never
chooses any other. Thus the ash meets us on every side, both by
land and sea, as a most useful tree. The mountain ash is of smaller
stature than the ash itself, but it looks beautiful with its white
blossoms of spring, and the red berries of autumn. In plantations it
affords many a delicious repast to the little songsters of the wood.
The Beech is a great favourite with turners and upholsterers, and
for water-works beneath the stream, it is said even to pass beyond the
oak. Its leaves, when dried, are fragrant, and are used sometimes for
mattresses: while the nuts, wrapped up in their little prickly covering,
afford many a sweet meal to the beautiful little squirrel, who loves to
pitch his tent near the fruitful beech. The grain of the wood of this
tree is so fine, that in old times, before mill-board was made, they
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88
THE CREATION.
used to cover books with it. The foliage of the Beech is small and
very close.
The Poplar. This tree, with our forefathers, was in great request
for avenues, but now the custom of planting it in this way has grown
into disuse: but though formal in rows, yet its very stateliness adds
greatly to the beauty of the landscape. The Aspen belongs to this
family. The leaves of this tree have a longer stem than most others,
thus the least air moves them; and on a sultry day there is something
inexpressibly refreshing to hear the gentle murmur in its topmost
branches. The wood of all this family is used by the turner for white
vessels.
The Alder is used for water-pipes and sluices, and also of old times
for ship-building. It bears wet admirably. The bark is used by dyers.
Fir Tree. This name embraces a large family of hardy trees, of
the utmost benefit to man. They are all evergreens.
The Silver Fir. This is a tree very beautiful in its growth: it
flourishes in Germany, and is also known in England and Ireland.
Scotch Fir grows wild in Scotland, and yields most valuable deals,
both red and yellow--very durable.
Norway Fir affords the white deal, and abounds in Norway.
Spruce Fir. Many of these grow in North America, and some in
the West India Islands; where the negroes make spruce-bcer over-
night, and bring it to the ships in the morning in canoes, assuring you
" it is very excellent. "
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Hemlock Spruce is a native of North America, of beautiful growth;
its bark is useful to the tanner.
The Larch is a tree, in growth something like the fir, but it is not
an evergreen. You remember the large woods of this in Glenmore,
and in Coolmoney in the Glen of Imale, how we used to watch those
little emerald buds that stud the stems in the opening of spring--
nature does not afford again so bright a green. The larch has been
used for ship-building, with great success. The Alps and Apennines
are the home of the larch; and it will grow on the coldest and most
barren hills. It is a tree most beneficial to man.
The Walnut Tree is fragrant in its leaves--very fragrant--and deli-
cious in its fruit, which also, in its green state, are made into pickles.
The wood of the walnut is of a beautiful dark colour, and is used by
joiners, &c. The walnut is in abundance in Kent, especially near
Maidstone. It is very graceful in plantations.
The Chestnut is a favourite with most little boys, owing to its fruit,
which, however, is not very wholesome, unless the nuts are roasted.
The wood of the chestnut is esteemed next to the oak, and yet the
tree is sometimes deceptive, and though it makes a fair show, it is
decayed at the heart; affording a painful illustration of those who look
well before men, but whose souls are not right with God.
The Willow. This lowly tree was used by Israel in the construction
of their commemorative dwellings at the great feast of Tabernacles.
The lofty cedars I alluded to made the uprights and rafters of their
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90
THE CREATION.
beautiful dwellings, while the willow of the brook was entwined
among them--the one the woof and the other the warp. But I will
enlarge on this again.
The chief properties of the Willow are flexibility and lightness;
and I may add, ease of propagation and exceeding rapidity of growth.
But to speak of its uses:--we were watching a man the other day
fishing in his little coracle; presently we saw him paddle to the shore,
and to our astonishment (for until of late we were strangers to the
Wye) he took up his little vessel on his shoulders, and went away as
if it were only a great coat and umbrella in one. The willow of the
brook had formed his boat, after which it was covered with canvas,
and the whole did not weigh above 22 lbs. Baskets of all kinds are
made from this invaluable tree; and when its white wood is split very
fine, it is made into bonnets and hats. Willow branches bent in semi-
circles, are also very pretty round flower-beds.
The Weeping Willow is of this family, and is one of the most elegant
and graceful trees we know. It is generally found over ponds and
lakes. The ancients were wont to sculpture either the cypress or the
willow over the tombs of the departed:--the Jewish burying ground
in the island of Curacoa, which I visited about twenty-eight years
since, has some beautiful specimens of sculpture of this kind.
The Mahogany Tree is a native of Jamaica and Cuba; it grows to a
great height, and its wood is used for all kinds of furniture.
The Caoutchouc. I must not forget this singularly useful tree, from
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which we obtain India rubber; for though many plants, in a measure,
yield a juice of the same character, yet the Siphonia Elastica, or Elastic
Gum-tree, supplies the principal demand. It is found in America,
20 and 30 degrees each side of the equator; in the Brazils it grows
about 60 feet in height: its leaves are green above and white beneath.
The Indians have, from time immemorial, known its value; they use
it for bottles, boots, cups, and flambeaux, and even cloth. The gum
is obtained by simply tapping the t ree, and receiving the flowing juice
in shells. In England, the difficulty would be to say what it is not
used for. There are India rubber great coats, India rubber clogs,
boots, &c. It is a most valuable gift to man.
Ebony is the darkest of woods, and very durable: it is a native of
the East Indies.
Then there is the Sandal-wood tree; the llose-wood; the Brazil-wood,
of a beautiful red; the Box-tree; with many others, all most useful to
man. But I stayed longer among the trees of the English forest, as
being more familiar to us.
And now, my dear children, I must conclude this long letter; and
long as it is, it is only a brief outline of the subject;--my anxiety,
you know, is, that in our walks it may not be the mere beauty and
loveliness of creation that we should admire; but, searching into these
manifold gifts of God,* we may see goodness and loving-kindness
? The parts of vegetation I here dwell upon, are those more immediately in
relation to man; but if I introduced the animal creation at large as benefited, both
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92
THE CREATION.
crowning all his works.
? 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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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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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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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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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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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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? 82
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.
83
sufferer, the Lord Jesus, who died as the great sacrifice without the
camp,--burnt to ashes in the consuming flame,--that the unclean leper,
even the wretched undone sinner, might be cleansed, and the saint
who had fallen might be restored. (1 John ii. 1. )
The Cedar of Lebanon--according to Linna;us, (Pinus Cedrus)--
grows up in great majesty in Lebanon, and is not known as indigenous
to any other clime. Lebanon is the throne of the cedar, and the
cedar is the king of the forest! --it grows to the height of 110 feet,
and its branches radiate out to more than half its height--each branch
itself like a tree;--it grows well in England, and is frequently found
in the parks of our nobles,--(you remember the one at Stoke Edith,
near to us,)--but it does not flourish in any place like Lebanon. The
property of the Cedar* is durability and fragrance; it is perhaps the
most imperishable of trees, and the worm will not touch it. f
In the Wilderness, the Chittim-icood, called by some the White
Thorn of the Desert, was used for the boards of the Tabernacle and all
the holy vessels, and covered with the purest gold--except the Altar
of Burnt Offering, the covering of which was brass. In the Land,
when the wandering was over, the cedar-tree took the place of the
chittim-wood, and of it the beams, rafters, &c. , of the Temple, and all
* See Appendix.
t The cedars planted in the Botanical Gardens at Chelsea, in 1683, which are
supposed to be the first brought to this country, are still perfectly sound. Histo-
rians record, that a beam of cedar, in the Temple of Apollo, at Utica, was found
perfect at the end of two thousand years.
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THE CREATION.
the vessels of the Sanctuary, were formed, and then covered with gold;
not, indeed, the ark--there was but one ark, both for the Tabernacle
in the wilderness and the Temple, and that was made of the wood of the
wilderness; and though, when placed in its pavement of gold in the
most holy place in the Temple, the staves, the symbol of its wilderness
state, were taken out, yet were they left visible, resting on the golden
rings. And if the Temple sets forth the final state of blessedness of
the righteous, when all shall be purity, which many of the best of men
have thought, then may not this symbol of the ark, both in its wood
of the wilderness and the place of the staves, mark this truth, that the
children of God will for ever remember that God tabernacled with
them, and wandered with them through the wilderness of this world,
to bring them to his resting-place--even the dwelling-place of the
Most High ?
Not only did Solomon build the Temple with hewn stones and the
cedar, but in the Most Holy place, there was cut on the cedar, in
relief, cherubim and palm-trees, which afterwards were covered over
with gold;--all this was doubtless most significant. But we will now
leave the cedar of Lebanon, and pass on to the other trees of the
forest.
The Oak. Of all the trees of the forest that English people are
acquainted with, the Oak is the greatest favourite; and where durability
is desired, there is no tree, the cedar excepted, that surpasses it. In
England there were once large forests of this noble tree; but our planta-
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tions have not kept pace with our consumption--hence we are obliged to
have recourse to foreign markets. The Oak is a very majestic-looking
tree, and has a beautiful spreading foliage; the fruit of it is called the
acorn. It is not confined to cold countries, but flourishes even in
Palestine. Mr. Burckhardt, the celebrated traveller, tells us, that at
no great distance from Nazareth, he found every where a grateful
shade of fine oaks; and the country round Damascus seemed to owe
part of its attractiveness to large plantations of this tree. The wood
of the oak is used for ship-building--it is pre-eminent for this: the
house carpenter also makes considerable use of its timber for beams,
rafters, staircases, and wainscoting; and from the bark the physician
gets a useful tonic, and the tanner, by its astringent properties con-
verts the skins of animals--some into material for the most delicate
gloves, and others into the rough woodman's mittens, besides number-
less other things.
One species of the Oak (quercus suberj is called the Holm Oak. This
valuable tree supplies us with cork, which, as you know, aids man in
a variety of ways, from the little stopper of an ink-bottle to the fisher-
man's floats for his nets, and the safety linings of a life-boat. * Then
as to the acorn, the fruit of the oak; it proves a nutritive food for many
animals, and, in times of necessity, has been used by man himself: and
even the ashes and their lye are very useful for the cleansing of linen
* Large pieces of cork fastened underneath the seats of a common hoat, give it
the character of a life-boat.
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THE CREATION.
and the purifying of wine; and the curious excrescence on the leaf, called
oak-gall, is the principal substance of which writing-ink is made. Thus
every part of this favourite of English trees is useful; for not only
does it provide shelter and food for birds of every wing, and grace our
plantations, but, as you have seen, the ship and house builder--the
physician and farmer--the bleacher and fisherman--the sailor and
wine-merchant, go to some part or other of this valuable tree for their
various wants; and the ink made from the oak-gall puts us in possession
of our dear Julius's thoughts, though he is buried in the wilds of
Australia. Whilst, therefore, we give the dominion of the forest to
the cedar of Lebanon, the oak takes the second place. And ere
I close about the Oak, I suppose I may say, that most little boys
remember the 29th of May as oak-apple day, which commemorates
the deliverance of King Charles II. , who escaped his pursuers by
secreting himself in a large oak. * Thus, my beloved children, the
next time you sit under the shade of the Oak at Penyard, count over
how many things this noble tree is used for, and think of the goodness
of God, who thus considered man, when he created it on the third
day.
The Elm is a very lofty tree; it grows taller than the oak, but is
not so spreading in its branches: it abounds in Devonshire, and there
* The period of King Charles's escape was a. d. 1651;--the Oak was situated in
the farm of Boscobel, belonging to a farmer called Penderell, in Staffordshire, and
was ever after called the Royal Oak. ,
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LETTER V.
87
are some of peculiar beauty in Torquay and Paignton. The Elm ia
useful to the turner for pumps--blocks; and the carver, seeing how
little the elm chips, cuts out his leaves and flowers from it. It is
difficult to decide whether the Elm is named in Scripture, as, though
so called in Hosea iv. , yet the same word is in other places translated
Oak.
The Ash is a tree very beautiful in its foliage, and in the smooth-
ness of its bark, and has an almost endless variety of uses; its great
properties are toughness and flexibility. All trades go to the Ash for
some department of their labour; and the little boy, when he cannot
get a piece of yew for his bow, alway6 considers the ash the next best;
and the sailor, well knowing the fine spring of an ash-oar, never
chooses any other. Thus the ash meets us on every side, both by
land and sea, as a most useful tree. The mountain ash is of smaller
stature than the ash itself, but it looks beautiful with its white
blossoms of spring, and the red berries of autumn. In plantations it
affords many a delicious repast to the little songsters of the wood.
The Beech is a great favourite with turners and upholsterers, and
for water-works beneath the stream, it is said even to pass beyond the
oak. Its leaves, when dried, are fragrant, and are used sometimes for
mattresses: while the nuts, wrapped up in their little prickly covering,
afford many a sweet meal to the beautiful little squirrel, who loves to
pitch his tent near the fruitful beech. The grain of the wood of this
tree is so fine, that in old times, before mill-board was made, they
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88
THE CREATION.
used to cover books with it. The foliage of the Beech is small and
very close.
The Poplar. This tree, with our forefathers, was in great request
for avenues, but now the custom of planting it in this way has grown
into disuse: but though formal in rows, yet its very stateliness adds
greatly to the beauty of the landscape. The Aspen belongs to this
family. The leaves of this tree have a longer stem than most others,
thus the least air moves them; and on a sultry day there is something
inexpressibly refreshing to hear the gentle murmur in its topmost
branches. The wood of all this family is used by the turner for white
vessels.
The Alder is used for water-pipes and sluices, and also of old times
for ship-building. It bears wet admirably. The bark is used by dyers.
Fir Tree. This name embraces a large family of hardy trees, of
the utmost benefit to man. They are all evergreens.
The Silver Fir. This is a tree very beautiful in its growth: it
flourishes in Germany, and is also known in England and Ireland.
Scotch Fir grows wild in Scotland, and yields most valuable deals,
both red and yellow--very durable.
Norway Fir affords the white deal, and abounds in Norway.
Spruce Fir. Many of these grow in North America, and some in
the West India Islands; where the negroes make spruce-bcer over-
night, and bring it to the ships in the morning in canoes, assuring you
" it is very excellent. "
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Hemlock Spruce is a native of North America, of beautiful growth;
its bark is useful to the tanner.
The Larch is a tree, in growth something like the fir, but it is not
an evergreen. You remember the large woods of this in Glenmore,
and in Coolmoney in the Glen of Imale, how we used to watch those
little emerald buds that stud the stems in the opening of spring--
nature does not afford again so bright a green. The larch has been
used for ship-building, with great success. The Alps and Apennines
are the home of the larch; and it will grow on the coldest and most
barren hills. It is a tree most beneficial to man.
The Walnut Tree is fragrant in its leaves--very fragrant--and deli-
cious in its fruit, which also, in its green state, are made into pickles.
The wood of the walnut is of a beautiful dark colour, and is used by
joiners, &c. The walnut is in abundance in Kent, especially near
Maidstone. It is very graceful in plantations.
The Chestnut is a favourite with most little boys, owing to its fruit,
which, however, is not very wholesome, unless the nuts are roasted.
The wood of the chestnut is esteemed next to the oak, and yet the
tree is sometimes deceptive, and though it makes a fair show, it is
decayed at the heart; affording a painful illustration of those who look
well before men, but whose souls are not right with God.
The Willow. This lowly tree was used by Israel in the construction
of their commemorative dwellings at the great feast of Tabernacles.
The lofty cedars I alluded to made the uprights and rafters of their
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90
THE CREATION.
beautiful dwellings, while the willow of the brook was entwined
among them--the one the woof and the other the warp. But I will
enlarge on this again.
The chief properties of the Willow are flexibility and lightness;
and I may add, ease of propagation and exceeding rapidity of growth.
But to speak of its uses:--we were watching a man the other day
fishing in his little coracle; presently we saw him paddle to the shore,
and to our astonishment (for until of late we were strangers to the
Wye) he took up his little vessel on his shoulders, and went away as
if it were only a great coat and umbrella in one. The willow of the
brook had formed his boat, after which it was covered with canvas,
and the whole did not weigh above 22 lbs. Baskets of all kinds are
made from this invaluable tree; and when its white wood is split very
fine, it is made into bonnets and hats. Willow branches bent in semi-
circles, are also very pretty round flower-beds.
The Weeping Willow is of this family, and is one of the most elegant
and graceful trees we know. It is generally found over ponds and
lakes. The ancients were wont to sculpture either the cypress or the
willow over the tombs of the departed:--the Jewish burying ground
in the island of Curacoa, which I visited about twenty-eight years
since, has some beautiful specimens of sculpture of this kind.
The Mahogany Tree is a native of Jamaica and Cuba; it grows to a
great height, and its wood is used for all kinds of furniture.
The Caoutchouc. I must not forget this singularly useful tree, from
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which we obtain India rubber; for though many plants, in a measure,
yield a juice of the same character, yet the Siphonia Elastica, or Elastic
Gum-tree, supplies the principal demand. It is found in America,
20 and 30 degrees each side of the equator; in the Brazils it grows
about 60 feet in height: its leaves are green above and white beneath.
The Indians have, from time immemorial, known its value; they use
it for bottles, boots, cups, and flambeaux, and even cloth. The gum
is obtained by simply tapping the t ree, and receiving the flowing juice
in shells. In England, the difficulty would be to say what it is not
used for. There are India rubber great coats, India rubber clogs,
boots, &c. It is a most valuable gift to man.
Ebony is the darkest of woods, and very durable: it is a native of
the East Indies.
Then there is the Sandal-wood tree; the llose-wood; the Brazil-wood,
of a beautiful red; the Box-tree; with many others, all most useful to
man. But I stayed longer among the trees of the English forest, as
being more familiar to us.
And now, my dear children, I must conclude this long letter; and
long as it is, it is only a brief outline of the subject;--my anxiety,
you know, is, that in our walks it may not be the mere beauty and
loveliness of creation that we should admire; but, searching into these
manifold gifts of God,* we may see goodness and loving-kindness
? The parts of vegetation I here dwell upon, are those more immediately in
relation to man; but if I introduced the animal creation at large as benefited, both
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92
THE CREATION.
crowning all his works.
