forms in the vegetable kingdom. Look at the petals of this one. Could
anything be softer or finer? The leaf, the bark, and the wood of the
plant are all coarse, in comparison to the flower. Now, as nothing
is made in vain, there must be some reason for this. The leaves and
bark, as well as wood, of plants, all have vessels through which sap
flows, and this sap nourishes, sustains, and builds up the plant, as
our blood does our bodies. But the whole effort of the plant is to
reproduce itself; and to this end it forms seed, which, when cast into
the ground, takes root, springs up, and makes a new plant. To form this
seed requires the purest juices of the plant, and these are obtained
by means of the flowers, through the exquisitely fine vessels of which
these juices are filtered, or strained, and thus separated from all
that is gross and impure.”
“I never thought of that before,” said Agnes. “Flowers, then, are
useful as well as beautiful.”
“Nothing is made for mere beauty. All things in nature regard use as an
end. To flowers are assigned a high and important use, and exquisite
beauty of form and colour is at the same time given to them; and with
these our senses are delighted. They are, in more respects than one,
good gifts from our heavenly Father.”
“Oh! how I do love the flowers,” said Agnes; “and now, when I look upon
them, and think of their use as well as their beauty, I shall love them
still more. Are they so very beautiful because their use is such an
important one, cousin Mary?”
“Yes, dear; I believe this is so. In the seeds of plants there is an
image of the infinity of our great Creator; for in seeds resides a
power, or an effort, to reproduce the plants, that lie concealed as
gems within them, to infinity. We might naturally enough suppose that
flowers, whose use it is to refine and prepare the juices of plants,
so as to free them from all grosser matters, and make them fit for
the important office of developing and maturing seeds, would be
exceedingly delicate in their structure, and, as a natural consequence,
beautiful to look upon. And we will believe, therefore, that their
peculiar beauty depends upon their peculiar use.”
[Illustration: THE END]
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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.