As the conversation which we have attempted to relate was still in progress, one of the company suddenly exclaimed,. "the Post 1 the Post 1" as the echo of a horn sounded over the neighboring hills; not the shrill whistle of a locomotive, careering onward, .alike indifferent to hill and dale, but the: postboy's twanging horn, which, heard but once a week, was an event of moment:

"Newe from all nations lumb'ring at his back".

In half an hour after the first sound, the slender mail had been . assorted at the village hostelry, and whilst the company were still at table, the butler entered and presented to his master a packet of letters, one of which from its cramped inscription was recognized as from a far distant correspondent: breaking the seal, as he apologized for the breach of etiquette, it proved to be as he had anticipated, from his American friend John Bartram, with a list of seeds and natural curiosities, collected by him at the request of the party to whom the letter was addressed, and announcing that the whole had been forwarded from Philadelphia by the "good ship Carolina, Captain Duncan.". A note which accompanied the transatlantic letter was from Dr. Collinsqn, of London, a distinguished man of his age, and mutual friend to the parties, informing the recipient that the Carolina had reached her wharf, and that the package would be duly forwarded.. Joy beamed. in the countenance of the host, who was a devoted lover of nature, collecting specimens from every land, and as he cut a luscious Virgalieu which lay before him, carefully preserved the seed in the letter, saying, as he did so, they should go to his Quaker friend of Pennsylvania, in the next package sent him in exchange for his American contribution.. * * • * * , * * * . We must ask the reader to bound with us oyer a period of nearly eighty years, and accompany us to a romantic spot on the winding Schuylkill.. In front flows the quiet stream, with an occasional shallop lazily borne onward by the tide.

We get but an imperfect view of the pleasant scene, obscured by the dense foliage of rare old trees, evergreen. and deciduous, which overhang the lawn. In the rear is a cottage of primitive architecture, embowered by ivy - one stone alone is visible, carefully screened from even the classic ivy's touch, by the hand of reverent affection. On it we discern an inscription, which at a clearer view reads thus "Tis God alone, Almighty Lord, The Holy One by me adored.

........John Bartram, 1770".

Under a tree near by, furnished With rustic seats, is a family group - the principal figures are two venerable men, who from a similarity of figure and expression, it is easy to perceive are brothers. Both have reached the patriarchal age, but their eyes still beam with intelligence, and benovolence is impressed upon their countenances - evidently they are at peace with themselves, and all mankind; - their creed, in part, expressed by the simple distich on the tablet.

Near them are others, members of an attached and devoted family. We may not more fully draw aside the veil which screens from outward gaze this happy company. The venerated men are John and William Bartram, sons of John, the elder botanist; they and the more youthful persons of the group, are partaking of the product of the Virgalieu, to which we have • alluded. The giver was Lord Petre, and the pear now known and cultivated throughout both hemispheres, as that which bears the name of Petre, was reared from seed sent to America in 1735. * * * At the quaint old village of. Darby, which, while all else has changed, stands as it did a century ago, is a meeting house at Friends, where Fox had preached, and perhaps Penn had,worshiped-; around are numerous hollows, once hillocks,' where ...

The rude forefathere of the hamlet sleep".

Here the venerable Bartrams, father and sons., repose; no "Storied urn or animated bust" indicates the hallowed spot; they sleep beside their ancestors, and near by where their lives were so happily spent. The Petre pear tree itself has survived them all, and still stands at the Bartram Botanic Garden. * * Again we must ask the reader to take a bound, not so great as the former, but one of forty years - we shall carry him back to the same delightful spot on the meandering Schuylkill. The,city in the distance seems not half so far, telling of its wonderful expansion. The floating bridge, once a roman-'tic feature, has disappeared, and the iron rail passes over grounds sacred to nature, but scarcely harms them, sunken below the surrounding surface, The trees which we last saw are still, there, increased in growth, and more beautiful than ever, preserved with scrupulous care, not a branch permitted to be'harmed- - shrubs collected from every quarter of the Union, still, as then, adorn the grounds, and the old house with its pious inscription stands as before, embowered in ivy, an endearing monument of the simple-minded man who built it with his own hands.

On the same estate has been erected a modern Italian mansion, and grounds once devoted to tillage are now decorated by the hand of taste. Strangers it is true tread the lawn and thread the umbrageous avenues, but if strangers, they appreciate the place, and have the heart to beautify. hong may the venerated grounds be held by such worthy hands; long may their posterity enjoy the treasure so justly prized; and when, in the mutations of all earthly possessions, they are called upon to relinquish it to others, may they be as happy in their successor as have been the family of Bartram. L.