The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1859-03-10

wo wrto of these, wo lavo brought to our
minds eye picture, pon painted by Wills,
which, striking upon tho chords of the
heart, through vision of tho satisfactory
and beautiful, will cause all who read it to
love the trees, which sense of duty to
| coming ages has caused them to cluster as
enduring friends around them. For the
benefit of such, we extract from his "Let
ters from Under Bridge" Poets plant
ing Of q tree:
"AsI look out from under tho bridge,
| see an OrioIe sitting upon dogwood
treo of my planting. Ills song drew my
eye from the paper. I find il difficult,
now, not to take to myself the whole glory
OF tree, song, and plumagc. by an easy
dcusion, fancy lie would not have come,
but for tho beauty Of the treo, and that his
song says as much, in bird-recitative. 90
back to ono rainy day of April, when,
hunting for maple saplings, I stopped un
der that graceful tree, in a sort of Island
Jungle, and wondered what grew so fair
that was so unfamiliar, yet with bark like
tho plumagc of the pcncilcd pheasant.
The limbs grew curiously. A lance like
stem, and, at regular distance, a cluster of
radIatips branches, like long cane thrust
through inverted parasols. / set TO work
with spade and pick, took it homo on my
shoulder, and set it out by Glenmary brook,
and there it stands to day, in the full glory
of its leaves, having just shed the white
blossoms with which it kept holiday in
June. Now the treo would have lcavcd
and nowcrc'l, and the Oriolc, in black and
gold, might perchance have swung and
sung on the slender branch, which is still
tilting with his effort in that last cadcnza.
But the fair picture it makes to my eve,
and the delicious music in my car, seem TO
me no less of my own making and ava
king. Is it the same tree, Towering unseen
in the woods, or transplantcd into a circle
OF human love and care, making part Of
woman's home, and thought of and ad
mrcd whenever the comes out from her
cottage, with blessing on the perfume and
vcrluc? Is it the Same bird wasting his
song in the thickct, or singing to me, with
my whole mind afloat on his music, and
my eyes fastened to his glittcring breast
So it is the same tlock of marble, unmov
cd in the caves of I'cutclicus, or brought
forth and wrought under the sculptor's
chisel, yet the sculptor is allowed to create?
Sing on, 'ny bright OrioIe! Spread to the
breeze your desiring finger, my Towering
tree! Like the player upon the organ, take
your glory to myself; though, like the hal
lelujah that burns under his fngors, your
beauty and music worship God"
Traits an JoInson's Character. an
article Oh the life and writing of johnson,
in the London Quarterly Review, we have
the following sketch of his better nature ::
A few rude speeches sink into insignifi
canoe when compared with charity which
was only bounded by his means. ale low
ed tho poor" writes Mrs. Thralc, "as new
er yet saw any one else do" AS he said Of
Leavitt, he was "of every friendess name
the friend" Besides his indoor pension
crs, lie had a number Of out door depend
ants, and when lis own funds were OK
haustcd, lie wrote innumerable letters to so
iicit the contributions Of his acquaintance.
lie frequently bestowed all the silver in his
pocket upon tic miserable beings who
waylaid him on his passage from his house
to the tavern where he dincd. Even in his
early London days, he would 60 up at
nighIto the destitute children who were
sleeping upon the projecting stalls Of shops
or on the siIls of doors, and slip a penny
into their hands to buy them breakfast :;
"and this" adds Mr.. Crokcf, "when he him
self was living OIL pennies" Sixpence, he
once remarked, was then great sum to
him. When it was objected that it was
useless to bcstow half pence upon beggars,
because they only laid it out upon gin and
tobacco, he cnergetically exclaimed, "Aud
why should they lie denied such sweetness
of existence Life is a pill which none of
US can swallow without gliding. Yet for
the poor we delight in stripping itstill barer,
and arc not ashamed to show even visible
displeasure if ever the bitter taste is taken
from their mounths." lie one night found
a woman Of abandoned character lying ex.
hausted in the street, and lifting her up he
conveyed her on his back to his own house,
had her nursed till she recovered her
health, and then obtained her a situation
A heartless man would have passed her by
la humane man might have given her mon
! ey but was there second person in the
whole Of the vast population of London
| that would hova takan nm tho forIorn dis