, 1884-06-28

VIGIL ehheTdiu beauty. we are Stll more
charmed when we examine each indi,
vidual element which enters into this
scene Of beauty, even if it is nothing
more or less than a single blade of grass.
Running through the center of the little
blade is a narrow strip of dark green,
made by a few delicate lines meeting in a
point. Below this green blade is
ROUNDED HOLLOW STALK,
through the cells of which flows the life
blood of the plant, which its root collects
from the soil. A simple object truly, yet
how useful and how perfect. Were it
not for the grass the continent would be
more barren than Africa's sandy des-
ert.
Leaves are objects of beauty. Take
the leaf of the ounce, notice its rich green
color, its gracefully curved outlines, its
brightly polished upper surface and its
veins and veinlets which divide and sub
divide until they form a delicate micro
scopic network all through the leaf. The
leaves of plants are the lungs through
which they breath.
Flowers, too, are beautiful. We not
only bless them for strewing our pathway
through life with gems of beauty, but
through them we are instinctively led to
adore the Author of such loneliness.
Even the Indian in his savage state claps
his hands for joy at the sight of a
prairie covered with wild flowers, and the
ancient Hindoo cupid is represented in
the act of hurting an arrow tipped with
flowers. The beauty of flowers is SO in
terwoven in the heart of all that they are
appropriate for all occasions, and at all
times. They might with propriety deck
the field, the garden, the home, the bride,
the altar and the tomb.
But not alone is the Garth clothed in
beauty. When out on the plains upon
which we live we can hardly turn our eyes
in any direction without beholding some
thing grand. Look southwark from our
own city,
HOW GRANDLY THE PARTIES STRETCH
away until they seem to blend with the
bending arch of heaven. But the line of
meeting IS not continuous; the grand old
Rockies with their perpetual snowy crowns
seem to pierce the blu ether OF the very
stars. Pixies Peak, although lis miles
distant, is seen in the background. This
old vertebre of the continent, which rises
$4,000 feet above the level of the ocean,
has withstood the shocks and storms of
ages. Its sides are broken and furrowed
by the elements. Its base is visited by
the alterations of the seasons. Its sum
mt reaches above the line OF perpetual
frost. But In viewing the grand old pile
OF rocks, we lnstinctlvely inquire for he
force which formed 1t, n IN endeavoring
to grasp the two conceptions-the grand
eur otthe mountain itselfand the grandeur
OF the force which reared 1t so high, the
mind IS aWed II not quite overwhelmed
with the awful power OF Natures God.
But the plains n the mountains are
only two OF the many grand objects found
upon the earth's surface. The geysers,
the falls and the deep canyons OF the
1ellowstone' the larger rivers which
ceaselessly flow to the sea, the larger lakes
which fill the valleys, and the ocean,, for
ever ebblng and flowing, are all objects
more or less grand. But the beautiful
and the grand would not include all the
jewels which Nature wears in her crown.
With the beautiful and the grand she
often combines the sublime. The ocean
is sometimes beautiful, sometimes grand,
but often rises in its mighty fury to the
height of sublimity. When it is calm,
and gentle wavelets only play Upon its
surface, 1t is beautiful When its
l., TIDAL WAVES ROLL IN
upon a rocky shore or coast, and break
into hover of spray, when its broad ex-
panse Is agltated by the bolsterous wind
and its white crested waves dash upon the
reety barriers, 1t Is grand. But when a
tempest lashes the boundless expansc of
waters into toaming pillows and vast float
ing mountains hat seem to pierce the
horizon on every sloe' tne scene Is M De-
yo'u u%eS'fip'roh' leH
DIRK. neaVing' ooundiess' endless and sub
49,,
IVY ~ e"
- d. pu ~ =
pu' II eA'en' .,
- $500
%'eNc% ~
IA 'HS "e " eau'iiu hiEh'' PIC