Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1859-11-18
R PARIS ME-, FRIDAY NOVEMBER IS, 1859.
Word Painting by Hugh Miller.

"But le, u. trace the history Of a single
pine tree Of tho O1li,e. ~ indicated by its
pe,riled remains THIS gnarlcd and twist.
Cd trunk once anchored Ne roots amid the
srannie. OF prscipice OF dark gray ,and.
stone. tha, rose over some namclc's stream
Of the Oolitc. in what Is uow tho north Of
Scotland. The rocE, which. Rntwithsaud-
ing il. dinsy color. was deposit OF the
lowcr OIL rcd sandstone. formed member
Of tho dshb,a, Of that sys,sm--bcd. that
were charged then, as now, with numerous
fossils. ss strange aud obsolete in the erca-
tion Of the oolitc ~ in the creation which
AZ pr'saat. exists.
lis vas a irm. indcs;ructiblc stone, GOV.
cred BY thin. barren soil and the twist.
Cd rooilsts Of the pine. rcjscied and thrown
backwards from ms moro sylid p.apss. had
70 penoira,s into it, narrow Gsurcs for a
s'raish,ensd and meAscr subsistence. The
tree grew bot slowly; in considerably moro
than half a csniury il had attained to di.
ametcr O.. liuls more than ten inches Zoo,
over the soil and 10. tent and twisted form
gave evidence 0f tie h!, ol hardship 70
which i, was exposed. IL VAS, in truth. a
picturesque ras ofa tree, tha, fnr the frs,
lew iest twisted iissll rouni like au over.
b,me wrestler struggling TO escape from
under hi, enemy. and then struck out an
abrup, angie, aul stretched iiself liko n
bsni arm over tho stream
The seasons passed over il every open.
ins Spring gave i,s fringe OF tsndsrcr green
20 its ,pSy foliage, and every returning
Autumn sav IL shed ils cones into tie
stream below. Many delicate fern srrang
up aud iscAyei around iu guArlsd and fan.
usiic root, single leAved nBd Of simple
form, like the N.oi5ouira n our cayerns
and rock rcecssss. or ir,itct into many
slim plnnate leaaet, Tx, the minute maiden
hair, or the graceful lady fern. Flying
reptile. have percaci amid i,' bougLs the
lght-ving,d irasau-ay has d,rtei on wings
of gauzs through the opening, Of ITS lesser
,wis-, the tortoise and Oh, linrl have
hy5ernNtei during the chil' Of Winter
among the holloWs Of rs ROOTS; for many
years i; formed ono OF tho MINOR features in
wild picturesque scene, on which human
eye never looked and a; lsng,h, touched
BY decay, is upper branches began to with
cF and bleach white in tho wind. oi heaven;
when shaken Jya sudden hurricane iha,
came roaring down the ravIn,, the mass Of
rock in which it had BEEN anchored a, once
gave way, md, barring ia,i j,mmod among
its rooIs = irasmen, oi the mas, which Nc
,,ill find there. and from which we read
portion OF 10, story, it wa' prr,ipi,a,5l into
.hc ioamins q. rent. Dlpcine on the 81.
dies, or lingering amid lhs ,1ols, or shoot
ins, arroE.lise, aiown tho rapids, it At
length Gnl, it, way TO the sea and after
sailing over b,d, Of n s,ivc coral--ihc pom.
ler0us i,s5,r,d and more delicate ThamHa'-
r,a-and after disturbing the Enalionur
and Bs.cmni,c in their d-cp green haun,s,
10 sinks, saturaies with water, into boi
Of arOnscoous mud, 10 make it' appearance,
after long asss. In tho world of mau-a
marble mummy Of the old O5li,c forests
and to /, curiou'ly in,err,gs,cl SesartIns
ne character and history"