The Potter journal and news item. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1872-1874, 1873-10-29

| man. lie SnOuld employ all his lie
in works intended to survive him
and calculated to reflect honor at
once on his dignity of endowment
and nobility of toll.
How Do LEAVES ''FADE ?"-To this
question we need give especial atten-
! ton, lest we misunderstood one of
/ the most instructive and cOnsoling
lessons which God in nature gives.
/ SINGLY.-As each leaf is an indi-
vidual organization, working out its
own life-growth by itself, so is it
separate from all others in its decay.
The foliage of landscape suffers no
simultaneous stroke of death, nor
does the multifarious vesture of anv
one tree fade alike or at the same
! time.
SILENTLY.-All the operations of
nature are hidden. In every realm
secret things belong to God, because
they are not essential to our highest
good; but things which are revealed
/ to ourselves and our children are
rendered profitable in proportion as
with increased care they are scruti-
nized. This is better in the end than
truth SO transparent as to require no
research. If a cloud of night yelled
Gods purpose from the Israelites
at the Red Sea, by yet more
Heavenly interposition the miracle
of mercy stood revealed in the sue
ceeding dawn. In nature, as III grace.
we are not 10 wait for processes to
be explained, but humbIy and prompt
ly accept results. Spring steals with
noiseless foot along the earth, and
the bud expands into a full-blown
rose, with an unfolding as secret as
! it is charming. ''The star Of evening
! sparkleS like a tear in the spot
where the sunset dies, but no one
marked its falling from the dewy eye
of heaven" As with the glory. so
with the decay of earthly things. As
fades the Leaf, 50 silently do we all
fade. No awful handwriting appears
on the wall, flashing out to us in our
rejoicing as to Belshazzar. "Menc.
meme. tekcl, upharsin;" but the quiet
message from every October bough
admonishes, as to Hezekiah; "Sct
thine house in order, for thou shalt
die and not live
/ SEPARATELY.-Leaves organize
the tree that upbears them, while
they yet further elevate themselves
/ by sending all growth downwards
They constitute the great laboratory
wherein, under the action Of light
and air, crude sap is transformed in
/ to diversified substances essential to
the health of the tree and the growth
Of valuable products for universal
good. Not until fruit is produced
and perfected-the final end of all
activities-is the leafs occupation
gone, and its gentle ministry being
no longer needed it serenely drops
off.
Defoiation is generally attributed
to a deposit of earthly matter at the
base Of the leaf, by which the pass
age Of sap into it is obstructed, 1t
dies from want of food and is gener-
ally expelled from its resting place
by the nascent vigor of the new bud.
1t is by the aggregate work of sepa
rate leaves that the entire structure is
+ formed as well as the whole of its
bearing crops. As the result OF this
every season sees an increase Of
height, a new layer of wood and a
larger or smaller produce Of fruit.
! Leaves in their very decay, impart
a richness to the soil which results
in a new and vigorous growth the
succeeding spring. We largely owe
the bright green Of fresh leaves to
those withered ones which some
months back lay unheeded about the
roots. They were not shed like an
untimely product on the earth, but
have been in reality converted to the.
highest use, being made to utter
their voice in another form to an
other generation, even as the wither
ed leaves in the fabled island of the
Hebrides were said to be changed in
to singing-birds as soon as they had
fallen to the ground.
SUPERLBY.-Variety in unity is a
prevailing law throughout creation,
and is the most striking feature in
autumnal foliage. To the critical
observer, variety of tint enters into
and variegates the most uniform
tone of the veinal landscape. As