you must totally disbranch him, leaving as much earth as you can, and refresh him with abundance of water."-EVELYN. "It seems to have been thought an excellence amongst the Roman husbandmen to be able to transplant large trees. Virgil represents the old Corycian as possessed of that knowledge in a high degree."HUNTER. "Elm is a timber of most singular use, especially where it may lie continually dry or wet, in extremes; therefore proper for water-works, mills, pumps, pales, and ship planks beneath the water-line; and some that have been found buried in bogs, have turned like the most polished and hardest ebony, only discerned by the grains: also for wheelwrights, &c. Rails and gates made of Elm, thin sawed, are not so apt to rive as Oak; the knotty for naves; the straight and smooth for axle-trees; and the very roots for curiously dappled works; it has no superior for chopping blocks, blocks for the hat-maker, trunks and boxes to be covered with leather, coffins, dressers, and shovel-board tables of great length, and has a lustrous colour if rightly seasoned; also for the carver, by reason of the tenour of the grain, and toughness, which fits it for all those curious works of fruitages, foliage, shields, statues, and most of the ornaments appertaining to the orders of architecture, and for not being much subject to warping: finally, which I must not omit, the use of the very leaves of this tree, especially the female, is not to be despised; for being suffered to dry in the sun upon the branches, and the spray stripped off about the decrease in August, they will prove a great relief to cattle, in winter and scorching summers, when hay and fodder are dear; they will eat them before oats, and thrive exceedingly well with them."-EVELYN. "The Roman husbandmen fed their cattle with the leaves of trees, but the preference was given to those of the Elm. The English husbandman, who lives in the neighbourhood of extensive woods, would do well to attend to this branch of rural economy. When hay is dear, dried leaves of all kinds are highly valuable. Columella considers twenty pecks of dried leaves as equal to thirty pounds of hay."-HUNTER. It may be doubted whether modern horses are quite of the same opinion as those of ancient Rome—we believe the leaves of trees are now made but little use of: with respect to "the wonderful cures performed by the liquor of this tree," we are too incredulous to repeat them. On account of their growing high, and unless cut, not spreading wide, Elms are prefered for planting in many situations, where more spreading branches would injure the corn or herbage beneath them. To the Editor of the Assistant of Education. MADAM, I sometimes fear, in this abstruse day, when the deeper sciences are dipt into by every one, whether so close an attention to minutiæ will not rather cast into shade that interesting elegance of mind, which results from the cultivation of the pleasures of imagination, and I have wished, especially in my own family, to guard against the possibility of such an evil. For this. purpose I have been drawing the attention of my young ones to poetry; and in order to give them some distinct ideas on the subject, and at the same time to cultivate and improve their taste, I have encouraged them to write a few Essays on Poetry in general, beginning with its origin, nature, and design; then proceeding to its progress, and the examination of its several kinds; inducing them at the same time to bring forward examples: from our best poets. These little productions I have carefully preserved, which, together with my own additions, may not perhaps be uninteresting or useless to some of your young readers,, &c. &c., CORNELIA. ESSAY ON POETRY. IN all ages and in all nations a taste for Poetry has universally prevailed. It has varied, indeed, in elegance and refinement, according to the different degrees of civilization in mankind. Yet the love of it has ever remained the same. In order to understand Poetry clearly in all its branches, it may be useful to consider its origin, nature, and design. If the actual origin of Poetry be enquired after, it must be considered as a gift of nature and not as the production of art; not peculiar to any particular age or people, but common both to the savage and civilized parts of mankind. Poetry must be attributed wholly to the more violent affections of the heart, expressing themselves with a fire and animation very different from the unimpassioned tone of common language; for when the imagination is exalted, and the passions fired by some great or unusual event, the mind labours to express the greatness of its conceptions, overflows the boundaries of ordinary speech, and rushes on in the lofty and swelling strain of Poetry; in striving to convey its ideas to another, it magnifies the subject, pours forth comparisons, and expresses itself in a manner unusually splendid, agreeable, and harmonious. The earliest records of savage nations were composed in verse: dance and song were their chief amusements -with these they would celebrate their exploits, and the praises of their gods: the illiterate savages, warlike, impetuous, and without refinement, sang the victories of their heroes in wild and fiery measure, and while the maddening strains still sounded in their ears, their chiefs seized the golden opportunity, and led them forth to battle. Thus it was, in ancient times, that the poet and the orator had an equal share with the general or the magistrate in the balance of the state; by their eloquence they were capable of diverting the tide of public feeling into whatever channel they thought proper, and were not unfrequently the means of saving or of ruining a whole nation. The effect of poetry was greatly heightened by its union with music: every bard sang his own verses, and the better to adapt these to the music, they were formed into harmonious periods; hence arose what is now called versification; or the art of forming poetry into regular and musical sentences. Poetry may be considered as having two principal objects in view, utility and pleasure. Utility its ultimate end, and pleasure the means by which that end is accomplished. Poetry, like Philosophy, is designed to instruct; but while the one appeals to reason only, the other engages the passions as well as reason on its side. While Philosophy leads her followers by a steep and rugged, though nearer path, to the summit of Parnassus, Poetry conducts her almost unconscious train to the same point, by a winding and flowery way. Poetry is chiefly useful because it is agreeable; it conceals instruction beneath the ornaments of harmony and taste, and by the beauty of its imagery, it embellishes its precepts with an alluring sweetness, and thus captivates the affections and fixes the attention of the reader. Poetry affords a salutary relaxation to the mind when harassed and fatigued, soothes and calms the tumultuous passions, cheers the spirits when depressed, elevates the mind to the admiration of whatever is great, virtuous, or noble, and excites it to the pursuit of glory and honour. Thus far Poetry holds no mean rank among the liberal arts; but where it shines with greatest brightness, is in the service of religion, and in the praise of the Creator. What music so sweet as that which springs warm from a grateful heart, in the strains of adoration and praise? It is the very music of Heaven and the language of Angels. May we not suppose this to be a gift bestowed on man, to be employed in the service of his Maker? It is more than probable, that our first parents, while in Paradise, poured forth the earliest effusions of their pure and thankful hearts, in praise to their heavenly Father, in the rapturous strains of Poetry. To the sacred language of religion, Poetry appears to be peculiarly adapted: it seems to be its native soil, where it flourishes with most luxuriance and arrives at the highest perfection: this is remarkably exemplified in the sacred poetry of the Hebrews, which infinitely exceeds in sublimity and magnificence of expression any other writings, ancient or modern; but this cannot surprise us when we remember that they are the lan guage of Divine inspiration, and must necessarily bear a stamp of more than human invention. We are expressly told, that music forms one principal employment of the spirits in bliss: may we not reasonably conceive that this sacred poetry may in some degree (though faint,) resemble that heavenly music poured from the breasts of those countless myriads "who cast their crowns at the foot of the Lamb," and make the celestial abodes to echo with his beloved name? How delightful is the thought, that while from a humble and grateful heart we sing the praises of our God, our feeble notes rise with acceptance, and mingle with that heavenly choir who worship day and night before the throne. Sacred Poetry serves greatly to animate the mind, to fix the soul in delightful contemplation on God the author of all good, to tune the heart to praise and thanksgiving, and to melt it into gratitude and love. What pity then that a talent formed for such high emprize should ever stoop to gild the bait of vice, or soil its plumy wings by fluttering over the debasing pleasures of sense, and thus gorge on earthly food, when it might feast on celestial fare; like the swallow in Madame Guyon's poems, translated by our immortal bard, Cowper, her flight should be upwards. Can I close this essay better than with these beautiful lines: "I am fond of the swallow, I learn from her flight," How seldom on earth do we see her alight, "It is on the wing, that she takes her repose," CORNELIA. [The Editor feels no doubt that the insertion of the above article will be pleasing to her readers, as to herself; and that they will unite with her in wishing a continuance of the Essays.] |