reach a height, that I had never seen attained by trees in Europe; but, for grandeur of appearance, we must rely, in the first instance, on the American elm, that has been planted for ornament. Its colour, its form, and its size, place it much before the European elm; it is one of our most majestic trees. There are many varieties of it very distinct, yet not so numerous as of the oaks, walnuts and Some others. Of the former, you know, we have between thirty and forty different species, and a great number of species exist of all our principal trees. This variety, in the hands of taste, would be made productive of the highest effects in ornamental planting, of which you may find more specimens in your own country than in this, though only a part of our riches in this way have been transplanted by your gardeners. You will remark the fresh and healthy look of our forest, as well as fruit trees, compared with those of all the northern parts of Europe. The humidity of that atmosphere nourishes the mosses, and a green coating over the trunks and branches, that give the aspect of disease and decay. You will often observe the clean and smooth bark of our trees of all kinds: among the forest trees, particularly the walnut, maple, beech, birch, &c. will be entirely free from moss or rust of any kind,—and their trunks form fine contrasts with the leaves. You will have too much of forest in this country to go in pursuit of one; but, should you happen to visit Nashawn, one of the Elizabeth Islands, you will see the most beautiful insulated forest in the United States, with less of that ragged, lank look, which our native forests commonly present, from the trees struggling with each other for the light, and running up to great height, with few or no branches; but this one exhibits the tufted, rounded masses, which are found in the groves of your parks.

I will mention a peculiarity, which you will witness in autumn, that will affect a lover of landscape scenery, like yourself, on seeing it the first time, with surprise as well as delight. The rich and mellow tints of the forest, at that season of the year, have often furnished subjects for the poet and the painter in Europe; but it will hardly prepare you for the sights our woods exhibit. I have never seen a representation of them attempted in painting; it would

probably be grotesque. Besides all the shades of brown and green, which you have in European trees, there are the most brilliant and glaring colours,-bright yellow, and scarlet for instance,—not merely on single leaves, but in masses of whole trees, with all their foliage thus tinged. I do not know that it has ever been accounted for; it may perhaps be owing to the frosts coming earlier here than in Europe, and falling on the leaves while the sap is yet copious, before they have begun to dry up and fall off. However this may be, the colouring is wonderful; the walnut is turned to the brightest yellow, the maple to scarlet, &c. Our trees put on this harlequin dress about the first of October. I leave to your imagination, which can never reach the reality, to fancy the appearance of such scenes as you may behold at this season. A cloudless sky, and transparent atmosphere, a clear blue lake, with meadows of light, delicate green, backed by hills and dales of those party-coloured, gorgeous forests, are often combined, to form the most enchanting views.

was,

First and Second Death.-GREENWOOD.

THE first death is the death of the body; the quenching of that undiscovered spark, which warms and animates the human frame; the return of our dust to the earth as it the event which happeneth unto all men; "the sentence of the Lord over all flesh." We cannot prevent it. Like birth, it is inevitable. Helplessly, and without our own will, we open our eyes at first to the light of day; and then, by an equal necessity, we lie down to sleep, some at this hour, some at the next, on the lap of our mother. This death is an ordinance of God. It was intended for our benefit; and can do us no essential harm. It disturbs not the welfare of the soul; it touches not the life of the spirit.

The second death is more awful and momentous. It is the death of that which the first death left alive. It is the death of reputation, the death of love, the death of happiness, the exile of the soul. It has no connexion with the

first death, for its causes are all engendered in the life of the body. Unlike the first, it is a death which all men do not die. Unlike the first, it is a death from which there is a way of escape. And yet there are more who are terrified with the first death, unimportant as it is, than there are who fear the second, though it includes every wo. And almost all men attempt to fly from the first, though they know it to be impossible; while few take pains to avoid the last, though it is within their ability to do so.

The first death, then, is invested with complete power over all men. It withers human strength, it respects not human authority. Rank is not exempt from it, art cannot elude, riches cannot bribe, eloquence cannot soften, nor can even virtue overcome it. But with that second and far more dreadful death, it is not so. There are those over whom it hath no power. Any one may join their number. There is no mystery, no hardship, in the terms of the blessed exemption. All may read, al may comply with them. They arise from the nature of the second death. For as nothing but vice and disobedience towards God can affect the life of the spirit, and invest the second death with its power, so it is righteousness only, and the healthful fruits of religion, which can defy and render it powerless. "In the way of righteousness there is life, and in the pathway thereof there is no death." So little is the first death considered, and so little account of it is made, in many parts of Scripture, that we are told, in some of its sublimest strains, that the believer in Jesus, the true Christian," shall never die." Goodness carries with it the eternal principles of life, deeply engrafted into its constitution; so that it cannot lose it, nor part with it. It is the good, the benevolent, the pious, and the pure, to whom life is promised; and on such "the second death has no power."

In the sight of men they die; and so far there is indeed but one event to the righteous and the wicked. -But this is only the first, the corporeal death; and in all essential respects they live.

Posthumous Influence of the Wise and Good.-NORTON

THE relations between man and man cease not with life The dead leave behind them their memory, their exam ple, and the effects of their actions. Their influence still abides with us. Their names and characters dwell in our thoughts and hearts. We live and commune with them in their writings. We enjoy the benefit of their labours. Our institutions have been founded by them. We are surrounded by the works of the dead. Our knowledge and cur arts are the fruit of their toil. Our minds have been formed by their instructions. We are most intimately connected with them by a thousand dependencies. Those whom we have loved in life are still objects of our deepest and holiest affections. Their power over us remains. They are with us in our solitary walks; and their voices speak to our hearts in the silence of midnight. Their image is impressed upon our dearest recollections, and our most sacred hopes. They form an essential part of our treasure laid up in heaven. For, above all, we are separated from them but for a little time. We are soon to be united with them. If we follow in the path of those we have loved, we too shall soon join the innumerable company of the spirits of just men made perfect. Our affections and our hopes are not buried in the dust, to which we commit the poor remains of mortality. The blessed retain their remembrance and their love for us in heaven; and we will cherish our remembrance and our love for them while on earth.

Creatures of imitation and sympathy as we are, we look around us for support and countenance even in our virtues We recur for them, most securely, to the examples of the dead. There is a degree of insecurity and uncertainty about living worth. The stamp has not yet been put upon it, which precludes all change, and seals it up as a just object of admiration for future times. There is no service which a man of commanding intellect can render his fellow creatures better than that of leaving behind him an unspotted example. If he do not confer upon them this benefit; if he leave a character dark with vices in the

sight of God, but dazzling with shining qualities in the view of men; it may be that all his other services had better have been forborne, and he had passed inactive and unnoticed through life. It is a dictate of wisdom, therefore, as well as feeling, when a man, eminent for his virtues and talents, has been taken away, to collect the riches of his goodness, and add them to the treasury of human improvement. The true Christian liveth not for himself, and dieth not for himself; and it is thus, in one respect, that he dieth not for himself.

Difficulties encountered by the Federal Convention. MADISON.

AMONG the difficulties encountered by the convention, a very important one must have lain, in combining the requisite stability and energy in government, with the inviolable attention due to liberty, and to the republican form. Without substantially accomplishing this part of their undertaking, they would have very imperfectly fulfilled the object of their appointment, or the expectation of the public; yet, that it could not easily be accomplished, will be denied by no one, who is unwilling to betray his ignorance on the subject. Energy in government is essential to that security against external and internal danger, and to that prompt and salutary execution of the laws, which enter into the very definition of good government. Stability in government is essential to national character, and to the advantages annexed to it, as well as to that repose and confidence in the minds of the people, which are among the chief blessings of civil society. An irregular and mutable legislation is not more an evil in itself, than it is odious to the people; and it may be pronounced with assurance, that the people in this country, enlightened as they are with regard to the nature, and interested, as the great body of them are, in the effects of good government, will never be satisfied till some remedy be applied to the vicissitudes and uncertainties, which characterize the state administrations. On compar.