Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1866-12-27
ssThink of their wretched fate,
Whom friends and fortune quite forsake."

the earth. each petal folds down, 1t assumes
the appearance of bud, ana SINKING De
meath water, rests there until morning.
when ascending again above the surface II
nxnands IFS snowy corolla and fills the all
With arcadian odors, such as Virgil loved tc
breathe beneath the F'Beechen tree"
Natural history develops many lncompre
bensible peculiarties in the physiology and
habits of the Vegetable world. Indeed, tc
vatchful eyes, where do the inexaustible
wonders of this globe cease When Nun
90 Park travelled among the savage tribes
of interior and southern Africa, he was one
day attracted by an odor of so remarkable
and fascinating character, that although
in part of the country where deserts
wilderness and savageism abounded he yet
wandered onward, following his aerial
guide until he found in jungle flower sur
passing in magnitude and splendid beauty,
any general OF species of plant he had ever
seen or heard of in the floral world. Can
we under stand this truth Why should a
flower of such cOnsummate and artistic beau
ty have been planted, as SO many are, where
no human eyes have ever looked, from the
time they first sprung up, to the period of
their whitening away or why such care and
so much beauty bestowed upon a life 50
ephemeral and upon that which wild beasts
and reptiles crush down and trample into
the dust =? The butterflies and other in
sects fit about them and derive food from
their hectares, but they enjoy quite as
much the honey from the nectary Of the
cOarsest and most common flower The
pitcher plant-Nepthenes dutillatoria of
Ceylon, has attached to the leaf a tendril,
at the extremity of which is a pitcher SIX
inches in length and one and half in di-
umeter, with lid opening and shutting
with the changes of the atmosphere. There
IS a secretion of pure water with which the
pitcher is filled into this creeping insects
fall and are drowned, but there is a small
shrimp which derives It's sustenance from
feeding upon those insects, and their loss
of live preserves his. Here indeed is a
check to our pride of reasoning, III the
economy of life with these animals the
adaptation of mechanical vegetation to their
destruction or preservation. Some Thought
jul and studi0us minds reason only satisfac-
tOrily to themselves, when they apply the
rules of the exact sciences. They must have
with their problem theproof. WoulGthat
we all could look upon the christian faith
upon these beautiful productions Of nature,
Or what IS ever present with Us and the
greatest of all unanswered problems, the vi
tai principle. That We could derive from
its holy influence all that is requisite for
our peace here and hereafter, without at
tempting to draw aside the impenetrable
The lake of the Nymphma IS small, and
surrounded by many of those feathery look
ing trees which dwell near the water and
resemble aquatic birds. Tall reeds grow on
its margin, concealing in their linear fol
iage many a downy nest, and here the grave
frog croaks and tall white cranes look
down from its sedgy side at their dark
shadows, as if studying refraction and re-
Election, until some joyous minnow spring
ing too near the surface changes III an ms
tant this craraL statue of bird, into an ami
mated enemy who stabs and deyours him
before he is even aware of his presence
They are now amalgamated the fish is the
bird, and the bird is the fish yet how
unlike is the crane to the little minnow
with its silver net and its ruby fins.
Farm houses and fields are in sight, and
Intervening is a woodland of four or five
acres. We can now hear in our magma
ton the notes of the wood thrush, as she
rocked upon the Dough of a sycamore and
appeared to delight the very atmosphere as
1t vibrated her dulcet melodies. And the
dove was in that woodland too, but hers
was the voice Of mourning, the sobs of a
broken heart-the spirit OF tears-her very
look is that of a chastely sculptured fune-
raj urn.
One evening when the clouds hung low
and black and the voice of thunder was
heard among them, and the lightning leap
ed into them and out ::Of them again and the
smooth surface of the lake was dimpled
with rain drops, poor woman, more torn
IN soul than the rent clouds above her, and
whose sorrows had made her old in the
bloom of youth, found a grave beneath
that still water. It gave her place OF rest
and quoted q heart full of tears, and thus
a bounty was bestowed upon her, for the
first and only time by that lake whose
snowy inhabitants Stunned all that was
dark and chilling, and dwelt only In the
light of day. She had been rejected and
despised, and in her rage and want with
the contumely of lost character, was then,
for her advantages, better purer and |
more religious spirit, than many who pass
ed III her pomp and glittering array, and
who regarded her unworthy to lift her
eyes from the earth in their presence.
We will endeavOr to recolect some Of
the incidents in the life OF her, who from
dread of being publicly executed, together
with the despair of shame and want sought
grave in the quiet water Of the lake.
DELLA MORvIN.
Sleet was rafting against the sculptured |
windows Of a residence of white marble
The day was so dark that the venGtians |
were all opened and the lady OF the mall |
sion had just directed 4 half dozen perfGm- |
ell wax candles to be lit, and the windows |
closed-for there was not even demiday |
from their united light-When the door sill
ded back and servant announced that a
woman in the kitchen wished to speak with |
her.
Who is she-what is she % said voice. |
1t came from innumerable folds of India
silk and Bengal muslin, Tor the lady was IN |
a draped recess, and when she appeared.
was closely wrapt IN one Of those rare Cash
mere shaWls, whose texture resembles va
por or gossamer, and yet is nearly as warm
as fur. They are seldom seen beyond the
rugged boundary of the Caucasus noun
tains, or the Capsian sea.
She is called Marther Cloud madam"
a very appropriate name for the day -"
said the lady. who was irritated at the
disturbance of her istless ennri. ''Tell
her to come in"
The servant again returned saying that
the woman was standing in the passage,
and that she said she was not fit to come
into the house. As she spoke, she held
open the door, but just before doing so,
said in a low Tone Madam, she is said to
have no charactar'