Robert Hunt

“ Every animal and every plant alike proclaim that life and health are due to light; and even the crystallizing forms of inorganic matter, by bending towards it, confess its all-prevailing sway. From the sun to each planet revolving around that orb, and to the remotest stars which gleam through the vast immensity of heaven, we discover this power still in its brightness, giving beauty and order to these unnumbered creations; no less completely than to this small island of the universe which we call our Earth. ”

“ The witch planted her tub of drink in a dark lane, through which she knew the Lord of Pengerswick must pass, and near to it she sat, croning over her crock of broth. The witch-woman had not long to wait; amidst the hurrying winds was heard the heavy tramp of the enchanter’s mare, and soon she perceived the outline of man and horse defined sharply against the line of lurid light which stretched along the western horizon. On they came; the witch was scarcely able to contain herself—her joy and her fears, struggling one with the other, almost overpowered her. ”

“ There are, indeed, “tongues in trees;” but science alone can interpret their mysterious whispers, and in this consists its poetry.
To rest content with the bare enunciation of a truth, is to perform but one half of a task. As each atom of matter is involved in an atmosphere of properties and powers, which unites it to every mass of the universe, so each truth, however common it may be, is surrounded by impulses which, being awakened, pass from soul to soul like musical undulations, and which will be repeated through the echoes of space, and prolonged for all eternity. ”

“ A spring of water has always something about it which gives rise to holy feelings. From the dark earth there wells up a pellucid fluid, which in its apparent tranquil joyousness gives gladness to all around. The velvet mosses, the sword-like grasses, and the feathery ferns, grow with more of that light and vigorous nature which indicates a fulness of life, within the charmed influence of a spring of water, than they do elsewhere. ”

“ Every tree spreading its green leaves to the sunshine, or exposing its brown branches to the air—every flower which lends its beauty to the earth—possesses different absorbing and radiating powers. The chalice-like cup of the pure white lily floating on the lake—the variegated tulip—the brilliant anemony—the delicate rose—and the intensely coloured peony or dahlia—have each powers peculiar to themselves for drinking in the warming life-stream of the sun, and for radiating it back again to the thirsting atmosphere. ”

“ The sunset of life gave to the saint the spirit of prophecy, and he told his weeping followers that the light of their religion would grow dim in the land; but that a spark would for ever live amidst the ashes, and that in due time it would kindle into a flame, and burn more brightly than ever. His silver bell, he said, should never ring for others than the true believer. ”

“ To take our examples from inorganic nature, the granite rock which presents its uplifted head in firmness to the driving storm, the stones which genius has framed into forms of architectural beauty, or the metal which is intended to commemorate the great acts of man, and which in the human form proclaims the hero’s deeds and the artist’s talent, are all alike destructively acted upon during the hours of sunshine, and, but for provisions of nature no less wonderful, would soon perish under the delicate touch of the most subtile of the agencies of the universe. ”

“ The enchanter raised his voice and gave utterance to some wild words in an unknown tongue, at which even his terrible mare trembled. A whirlwind arose, and the devil was in the midst of it. He took the coffin in which lay the terrified witch high into the air, and the crock followed them. The derisive laughter of Pengerswick, and the savage neighing of the horse, were heard above the roar of the winds. ”

“ Geology teaches us to regard our position upon the earth as one far in advance of all former creations. It bids us look back through the enormous vista of time, and see, shining still in the remotest distance, the light which exposes to our vision many of nature’s holy wonders. The elements which now make up this strangely beautiful fabric of muscle, nerves, and bone, have passed through many ordeals, ere yet it became fashioned to hold the human soul. No grain of matter has been added to the planet, since it was weighed in a balance, and poised with other worlds. ”

“ Yonder exquisite specimen of the skill of man, in which mind appears to shine through the marble,—that distant mountain which divides the clouds as they are driven by the winds across it,—those trees, amid whose branches the birds make most melodious music,—this flower, so redolent of perfume, so bright in colour, and so symmetric in form,—and that lovely being who, a model of beauty and grace, walks the earth an impersonation of love and charity blended, making, indeed, “a sunshine in a shady place,” are not realities. ”

“ Is the man I love duly
On the earth, or under the sod,
Sick or well,—in the name of God?”
Some minutes passed in perfect silence, and anxiety was rapidly turning cheeks and lips pale, when the colour rapidly returned. There was a gush of clear water from below, bubble rapidly followed bubble, sparkling brightly in the morning sunshine. Full of joy, the young mother rose from her knees, kissed her child, and exclaimed, “I am happy now!” ”

“ The mind thus exercised during the mid-day of life, will find in the twilight of age a divine serenity; and, charmed by the music of nature, which, like a vesper hymn poured forth from pious souls, proclaims in devotion’s purest strain the departure of day, he will sink into the repose of that mysterious night which awaits us all, tranquil in the happy consciousness that the sun of truth will rise in unclouded brilliancy, and place him in the enjoyment of that intellectual light, which has ever been among the holiest aspirations of the human race. ”

“ I have sought to discover, if possible, the origin of this prejudice, but I have not been able to trace it to any well-defined feeling. I have been answered, “Oh, we like to bury a corpse where the sun will shine on the grave;” and, “The northern graveyard is in the shadow, and cold;” but beyond this I have not advanced.
We may infer that this desire to place the remains of our friends in earth on which the sun shines, is born of that love which, forgetting mortality, lives on the pleasant memories of the past, hoping for that meeting beyond the grave which shall know no shadow. ”

“ By the dispersive powers of this medium, sunlight is converted into daylight; and instead of unbearable, parallel rays illuminating brilliantly, and scorching up with heat those parts upon which they directly fall, leaving all other parts in the darkness of night, we enjoy the blessings of a diffusion of its rays, and experience the beauties of soft shades and slowly-deepening shadows. Without an atmosphere, the sun of the morning would burst upon us with unbearable brilliancy, and leave us suddenly, at the close of day, at once in utter darkness. ”

“ The purity of the fluid impresses itself, through the eye, upon the mind, and its power of removing all impurity is felt to the soul. “Wash and be clean,” is the murmuring call of the waters, as they overflow their rocky basins, or grassy vases, and deeply sunk in depravity must that man be who could put to unholy uses one of nature’s fountains. ”

“ The sylph moistening a lily is a sweet dream; but the thoughts which rise when first we learn that its broad and beautiful dark-green leaves, and its pure and delicate flower, are the results of the alchemy which changes gross particles of matter into symmetric forms,—of a power which is unceasingly at work under the guidance of light, heat, and electrical force,—are, after our incredulity has passed away—for it is too wonderful for the untutored to believe at once—of an exalting character. ”

“ Water cannot be regarded as having an inanimate existence. Its all-pervading character and its active nature, flowing on for ever, resting never, removes it from the torpid elements, and places it, like the air, amongst those higher creations which belong to the vital powers of the earth. The spring of water rises from the cold dark earth, it runs, a silver cord glistening in the sunshine, down the mountainside. ”

“ The regulation which disposes the arrangements of matter on this earth, must exist through the celestial spaces, and every planet bears the same relation to every other glittering mass in heaven’s o’erarching canopy, as one atom bears to another in the pebble, the medusa, the lion, or the man. An indissoluble bond unites them all, and the grain of sand which lies buried in the depth of one of our primary formations, holds, chained to it by these all-pervading forces, the uncounted worlds which, like luminous sand, are sprinkled by the hand of the Creator through the universe. ”

“ After a life spent in the conversion of sinners, the building of churches, and the performance of miracles, this good woman retired into Cornwall, and in one of its most picturesque valleys, she sought and found that quiet which was conducive to a happy termination of a well-spent life. She desired, above all things, “peace on earth;” and she hoped to benefit the world, by giving to woman a chance of being equal to her lord and master. A beautiful well of water was near the home of the saint, and she planted, with her blessing, four trees around it—the withy, the oak, the elm, and the ash. ”