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Ascent of Sap.

[Book V.

burst on their view. A new state of existence seemed to open upon them.Their perception and estimate of things were changed. Instead of con-sidering the world as calculated only for what man too generally makesit—a scene for the display and gratification of the most groveling andsordid passions, they find it a theatre crowded with enchanting specimensof the Creator’s skill, the study of which imparts the sweetest pleasure,and the knowledge of which constitutes the greatest wealth.

Those pious but mistaken people, who incessantly murmur against theworld, and long to depart from “ this howling wilderness,” as they arepleased to term it, reproach their Maker by reviling his work. They arewaiting for future displays of his glory, and neglect those r-avishing onesby which they are surrounded, forgetting that “ the whole earth is full ofhis glory”—looking for sources of pleasure to come, and closing theireyes on those before them—thirsting for the waters of heaven, and despis-ing the living fountains which the Father of all intellects has opened forthem on earth. They seem to think happiness hereafter will not dependupon knowledge, or that knowledge will be acquired without elfort—akind of passive enjoyment, independent of the exercise of their intellectualor spiritual energies. But they have no ground to hope for any such thing.Reasoning from analogy and the nature of mind, the happiness of spiritsmust consist in being imbued with a love of nature—in contemplating thewisdom and other attributes of the Deity, as they are unfolded in the worksof creation. In what eise can it consist 1 It is not probable that human orfinite beings of any dass can ever know God except through the mediumof his works.

It is admitted that the study of nature is a source of exquisite pleasureto intelligent beings, and the most refined one too that the mind can con-ceive: it is also one that can never be exhausted. Those persons, therefore,who take no pleasure in examining the works of creation here, are littleprepared to enter upon more extensive and scrutinizing views of them inother worlds. If they have no relish for an acquaintance with the Crea-tor’s works while they live, they have no right to expect new tastes forthem after death. The works of God are all perfect; those in this worldas well as those in others ; and he that can look with apathy on a tulipor a rose, a passion flower or a lily, or any other production of a flowergarden or a forest, has not begun to live. Besides, we are not sure thatother worlds possess more captivating or more ennobling subjects forcontemplation and research—more thrilling proofs of the wisdom andbeneficence of God .

The circulation of sap (sometimes called the blood of plants) is one ofthe most interesting of natural phenomena. It is connected with some ofthe most delightful feelings of our nature, and with the activity and joysof the brüte creation. When in spring its action commences, a Sensationof buoyancy pervades all organized beings. The earth begins to put onher riebest attire—her inhabitants rejoice in her approaching splendor, andexult in view of the feasts preparing for them. On the other hand, whenin autumn her freshness fades and her glory withers, all feel the change.How infinitely varied are the effects of sap and the energy of its move-ments ! Rushing to the summit of the tallest trees, and lingering in thegrass of our meadows—shooting up perpendicularly in the poplar andpine, horizontally in the branches of the baobab and oak, and descend-ing in those of the Indian fig-tree and willow. In some plants, accumu-’ating chiefly in their roots, as in the turnip, radish, and potato, andemerging above ground in cucumbers and melons—ascending higher inthe bushes of currants and gooseberries, and ranging over those in apple