But a higher and more honourable distinction belongs to the tribe in the frequent allusions made to it in Holy Writ: the fir, along with the cedar, was used for the planks and beams in the erection of the glorious temple of Solomon. And in many passages it is also associated with that noble tree, in conveying images of prosperity and sublimity.

Even

From the sonorous quality of its wood, it is chosen almost before any other for musical instruments. in very early ages its adaptation to such uses was recognised; for we read, when David brought up the ark from the house of Abinadab, he "and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments made of fir wood; even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals." It is still used in our days for similar purposes; and, in a fanciful view, there is a strange but beautiful anomaly in this braver of the tempest, administering to the devotional and tender emotions of the heart.

Thy throne a rock! thy canopy the skies!
And, circled in the mountains' dark embrace,
'Mid what stern pomp thy towering branches rise!
How wild, how lonely is thy dwelling place!

In the rich mead a God of love we trace,
We feel His bounty in the sun and shower;
But here His milder glories shun our gaze,
Lost in the one dread attribute of power.

I cannot choose but wish thou hadst a fairer bower.

Yet to the scene thy stately form doth give
Appropriate grace; and in thy mountain-hold,
Like flowers with zephyrs " at the shut of eve,"
Thou with the storm hast dallied from of old.
But stateliness of form and bearing bold
Are not thy only boast: there dwells in thee
A soft, sweet spell (if we be rightly told),
Which waiteth but the touch of harmony,

To smooth the brow of care, and make e'en sorrow flee.

Thus be❜t with me,-when storms of trouble rise,

Which all of woman born, alas! must know,
Built on a rock, and looking to the skies,
Like thee undaunted may I meet the blow.
Not so when call'd to hear of others' woe:
Then may soft pity touch some chord within,
Prompting the tear of sympathy to flow,

And words of healing, such as gently win

The mourner's stricken heart, and pour sweet comfort in.

E

THE STONE PINE.

PINUS PINEA.

"And still the pine, long-hair'd, and dark and tall,
In lordly right, predominant o'er all."

MOST of the trees of this genus, as has been already observed, are hardy mountaineers: indeed so associated are they with alpine scenery, that it would scarcely be perfect without them. The species under immediate consideration, however, leaves those inhospitable regions to the bolder representatives of the clan, and settles itself in the warm sunny climes of southern Europe. Such being its usual abode, it does not require those provisions against the inclemencies of weather which are needful for the mountain pines; and accordingly we find its timber is weaker and less resinous, though in other respects it possesses every distinctive mark common to the genus to which it belongs, another proof how wisely the God of nature varies and proportions his gifts according to the exigencies of the receiver.

Virgil, with much discrimination, marks this difference