arctic snows, having been found on limestone rocks in the island of Lismore, in Scotland, as well as among the Alpine countries of Europe. Red snow has also been found on the Pyrenees, and the mountains of Norway. It is conjectured that snow is not the natural situation of this plant (protocoecus nivalis), but that, from its great tenacity of life, it not only preserves its vitality on that chilly surface, but, during the partial thawing of snow, it continues to multiply. When once established among the eternal snows of the north, it becomes more numerous than the sands of the ocean; and, "increasing in density from year to year, at last presents, to the astonished and admiring navigator, a sight more surprising in its reality than any of the fabled wonders of an Arabian tale."*

In reviewing this account of northern vegetation, it is interesting to remark the adaptations by which the general laws impressed on this department of nature are rendered consistent with the propagation and preservation of useful plants, under circumstances of climate which would render the raising of any of the ordinary kinds of the produce of the soil utterly hopeless. Among these provisions the reader would not fail to remark, the thickened juices of the pine tribe, and their retention of

masses of granite. A ready explanation of the origin of red snow was now presented to us, and not a doubt remained in the mind of any that this was the correct one."-Magazine of Natural History, vol. ii. p. 322.

It will be at once amusing and instructive, should this view be confirmed, to discover that a substance which has been soberly treated of by naturalists as a plant, the order of which has been settled, the name of which has been added to the calendar, and on which theories have been formed, should after all prove to be nothing more than animal dung. The showers of blood which have sometimes alarmed nations by their fall, have, in like manner, been proved to be the red ejection of a species of butterfly.

* It appears that the same substance which gives the red colour to snow, is occasionally detected, even during the warmth of summer, covering the brilliant white limestone of the plains. In the last named locality, it was discovered by the Baron Wrangler, in the province of Nerike. It was believed by him to be of a different species. If, after all, it be the excrement of a bird, which I am inclined to believe, though I have followed naturalists in the text, it will not be surprising that it should be found in such different localities and seasons.

their bristly foliage during the severity of winter, as means obviously intended to fit them for an ungenial climate; the abundance of mosses and lichens, endowed with qualities which render them nourishing food for man, or for the animals which contribute to his subsistence and comfort; the profusion of edible berries, and of salubrious grasses; and even the existence of beautiful flowers, which adorn the short-lived arctic How edifying is it to find, that even in the most inhospitable climes, there are traces of a Father's care in the gifts which his bounty scatters.

summer.

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FIFTH WEEK-SUNDAY.

SPIRITUAL CULTURE.

THE apostle Paul says of Christians, that they are "God's husbandry," which implies that they are under a process of cultivation. The metaphor is very striking and appropriate. The face of an uncultivated country is generally a wilderness, covered with weeds, brambles, and thorns, or encumbered with useless trees. Such is the curse of a fallen world. Before it can be rendered an agreeable and productive residence for human beings, the soil must be cleared of its natural produce; it must be divided into fields, and fenced in from encroachment; it must be turned over and pulverised; it must be ameliorated by manure, and good seed must be sown; or it must be adorned with fruitful plants and trees.

So it is with the human heart. The curse of the fall is on our souls, as well as on the ground. The natural produce of this living soil is weeds, and thorns, and noxious plants. These grow luxuriantly, and choke the good seed that may chance to be scattered on this preoccupied wilderness. There is a difference, indeed, as has been said, in the natural quality of the soil. In one place there is the hardness of rock; in another there is the stiffness of clay; in a third there is a native fertility. But while, in barren regions, nothing is produced but a sour and stunted vegetation, even the very richness of the soil only causes poisonous herbs, and useless or baneful plants, to grow the ranker.

Such is the natural state of the human soil, and before it can become productive of good fruit, it must, like the soil of the earth, be subjected to the ameliorating influences of cultivation. To keep up the metaphor, it must be cleared of its unprofitable and poisonous pro

duce; it must be skilfully dressed and prepared; it must be sown with useful seed; it must be watched over, and preserved from depredation.

But let us drop this figurative language for a little, and take a literal view of the human character. Such is the nature of our fallen hearts, that evil is more congenial to them than good. The moral principle within us is depraved, so that we are constantly inclined to harbour bad passions, and cherish worldly inclinations. In our infancy, we are selfish and trifling; as we grow up we become vain, malicious, and grasping; evil habits are formed, and intwine themselves round the heart. Our fellows are of like passions and affections with ourselves. By mutual intercourse we corrupt each other, and so the work of demoralization proceeds. This is a hopeless state, if human means alone are employed. Men make progress in the arts and sciences, but they do not of themselves make salutary progress in moral culture. On the contrary, if we examine history, we shall find that society has almost uniformly made a retrograde movement in virtue and religion, as they advanced in civilization. Look at the antediluvian world. It was the improvement of men in the arts of civilized life, and their consequent familiar intercourse with the most depraved, but the most ingenious of their species, which caused that universal dissolution of moral and religious principle, that, in the days of Noah, was so signally visited with the vengeance of Heaven. Look at Egypt, at Babylon, at classic Greece and Rome, and the very same effect will be observed. Consider the history even of the Israelites. They were not able, with all their peculiar advantages, to resist the corrupting influences of prosperity. Shall we draw a different conclusion from the history of modern Europe? It will not be said.Its inhabitants, indeed, have possessed that which, if properly applied, would have preserved them from the contamination; but religion itself was corrupted, and

VOL. III.

I

thus the genial stream, which might have produced salubrity, was vitiated at its source.

The soil of the human heart, then, considered with reference to religion, is naturally a wilderness, which grows only the more encumbered with a noxious vegetation, the more its fertility is increased. It may, however, be cultivated; but this, as formerly observed, can only be done by a Divine hand. As well might you expect that the earth should change its nature and its produce without the culture of man, as that the moral soil should produce good fruit without the "husbandry" of Heaven. Human means, indeed, must be employed. Such is the wise arrangement of the Supreme Governor; but without Divine aid, these means are altogether unavailing. Neither your own efforts, nor those of your spiritual husbandmen, can cause the sacred seed to take root and grow in your hearts. If the influences of Heaven be denied, these are all in vain. "Paul may plant, and Apollos may water, but it is God who giveth the increase."

This is the important truth. The whole operation is of God. God's field is the world; the ministers who cultivate it are God's servants; the seed which they sow is God's word; it is the "Sun of Righteousness" which sheds over it light and heat; it is the rain of heaven which waters and nourishes it; it is the power of the Creator which has endowed the seed with those mysterious qualities, in virtue of which it yields to such influences, extending its roots, and shooting forth its stem, till its fruit bursts forth and ripens.

There is, however, an essential difference between the soil of the human heart and that which the literal husbandman dresses. The ground is altogether passive to the hand of the cultivator. When operated upon, it exerts no will either in withholding or giving out its powers. It is not so with man. He is a living soul. God gives him freedom of choice, and deals with him as a rational creature. He offers him the culture which