tural file, for which purpose it is used in our manu factures. What a contrast, exclaims the same ingenious botanist, to whom we have been so largely indebted, between this secretion of the tender vegetable frame, and those exhalations which constitute the perfume of flowers! One is among the most permanent substances in nature-an ingredient in the primæval mountains of the globe; the other, the invisible, intangible breath of a moment! Among the innumerable advantages to be derived from a knowledge of botany, however slight, may be mentioned the perpetual amusement which it affords in scenes which to others might be only productive of ennui; the impressions of pure natural religion which it awakens, and the lofty and ennobling sentiments by which they are invariably associated. Nor do we need for this purpose the garden's artificial embellishments, as the same sensations may be excited, even in a more striking degree, amid the most desolate scenes. Nature in every form is lovely still. I can admire to ecstasy, although Tracing through flowery tufts some twinkling rill, And harking to the warbling beaks above.— Beneath whose weeds the muddy runnel scrambles— A thorn, a weed, an insect, or a stone, Points to the mighty hand that fashion'd it. The trees and mountains, like conductors, raise And clouds, and sun, and heaven's marmorean floor, Up to the dread Invisible, to pour My grateful feelings out in silent praise. When the soul shakes her wings, how soon we fly ADDRESS TO THE MUMMY AT BELZONI'S AND thou hast walk'd about (how strange a story!) Speak! for thou long enough hast acted Dummy, Not like thin ghosts or disembodied creatures, Tell us for doubtless thou canst recollect, To whom should we assign the Sphinx's fame? Was Cheops or Cephrenes architect Of either Pyramid that bears his name? Is Pompey's Pillar really a misnomer? Had Thebes a hundred gates, as sung by Homer? Perhaps thou wert a Mason, and forbidden By oath to tell the mysteries of thy trade,Then say what secret melody was hidden In Memnon's statue which at sun-rise play'd? Perchance that very hand, now pinion'd flat, Or doff'd thine own to let Queen Dido pass; I need not ask thee if that hand, when arm'd, Long after thy primeval race was run. Thou couldst develope, if that wither'd tongue Still silent? incommunicative elf! Art sworn to secrecy? then keep thy vows; But prythee tell us something of thyself- Since in the world of spirits thou hast slumber'd, What hast thou seen-what strange adventures number'd? Since first thy form was in this box extended, We have, above-ground, seen some strange mutations The Roman empire has begun and ended, New worlds have risen-we have lost old nations, And countless kings have into dust been humbled, While not a fragment of thy flesh has crumbled. Didst thou not hear the pother o'er thy head When the great Persian conqueror, Cambyses, And shook the Pyramids with fear and wonder, If the tomb's secrets may not be confess'd, : : A heart has throbb'd beneath that leathern breast, And tears adown that dusty cheek have roll'd :- Statue of flesh-Immortal of the dead! s; Posthumous man, who quitt'st thy narrow bed, Why should this worthless tegument endure, If its undying guest be lost for ever? O let us keep the soul embalm'd and pure In living virtue, that when both must sever, Although corruption may our frame consume, Th' immortal spirit in the skies may bloom! ENGLISH PRIDE. Here let us fix our foot, hence take our view, : STILLINGFLEET. YES the English are unquestionably an unsociable people; and I had no sooner discovered the fact, than I proceeded to explore the causes of this antipathy to communicativeness and good fellowship; which, after tracing them through all their ramifications and disguises, I found invariably converging in one little corner of the heart, inscribed with the word-Pride. Bruce was not satisfied when he bestrode the three streams whose union formed the Nile; he would still ascertain which was the highest and most abundant source from which the waters were supplied and in like manner I pursued my researches until I found that the great Pride fountain from which the bitter waters of English reserve pour their petrifying influence, was the pride of Wealth. National pride-pride of birth-of rank-of talent-I had encountered in foreign countries; but this master-folly, which in England swallows up all the rest, appears to be indigenous to the soil, sharing that honour with its congenial products, the crab-apple and the thistle. To a certain extent this feeling may have originated in the absolute necessity for riches, in a country where no man can maintain an establishment, or even move in circles at all elevated above |