"Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." 66 Lo, the lilies of the field! How their leaves instruction yield! God provideth for the morrow! 'Say, with richer crimson glows The kingly mantle than the rose? Barns nor hoarded grain have we, Mortal! fly from doubt and sorrow: "One there lives whose guardian eye Heber. 4. THE COLOURS AND SHAPES OF FLOWERS. MAN, with all his knowledge, cannot tell how the colours of a flower are produced. Let him watch a rose-bush. He sees at first a little green bud, which becomes larger every day, till it begins to open, and the red leaves of the flower appear all folded together. Gradually these leaves spread out, and at last he sees a full-blown rose. He may know that the flower is made from the sap or juice of the plant, and that there are little pipes through which the sap flows to all parts of it, just as the blood circulates in the human body; but how it is that one flower becomes red and another white, the wisest man on earth cannot tell. It is a secret which God has not permitted us yet to find out. The beauty of the rich blossoms of the flowers tells us that they were painted by no earthly hand, but are the work of Him who is infinite in wisdom and in power. Not a flower But shows some touch, in freckle, streak, or stain, Their balmy odours, and imparts their hues, Cowper There are flowers of every variety of colour, and each season has flowers peculiar to itself. January has its snowdrops, February its crocuses, June its roses, and August its flowers of every hue. There are flowers also of every variety of shape; and the shape often gives a flower its name. Some are like stars, and are called asters, from a Greek word signifying a star. Such are the China-asters that we see in gardens. Other flowers are shaped like butterflies, as the pea blossom, and the blossom of the common broom and furze. The flowers of the lily of the valley hang like little bells from the stem and the beautiful little blue-bells, which we find in the hedgerows and on the common, have their name from their bell shape. : Other flowers are cup-shaped, as the well-known bright yellow butter-cup, and the narcissus, which has in the middle a little shallow cup something like a bowl. The flower of the calceolaria1 hangs down like a bag or pocket, having a round opening above. Some flowers are shaped like a trumpet, as is the case with an American plant called the trumpet-creeper, the blossom of which is so deep that the humming-bird is almost covered by it, when he goes to seek honey in the bottom of the flower. The blossom of the snap-dragon has a very peculiar shape. By pressing it together sideways, it can be made to open like a mouth; and in it are little white things that look like teeth. By letting it go, this mouth snaps together again; and from this the flower obtains its name. Some flowers are called compound, because each flower 1. Pronounced cal-sčo-lãē-11-a. is made up of a great many others. The dandelion1 is a flower of this kind, each blossom having a great number of flowers in it, which severally appear very beautiful when closely examined. The daisy is a pretty little flower of the same kind. In its golden yellow bosom it has a multitude of little flowers close together; and around this yellow part there is a row of delicate leaves, sometimes white and sometimes beautifully tipped with crimson. THE DAISY. NOT worlds on worlds, in varied form, Could raise the Daisy's simple bud, Mould its green cup, its wiry stem, 1 Dandelion-corrupted from the French, 'dent de lion, tooth of the lion.' 2 Dayspring-rise of day, dawn. 3 Living flood-of light. THE DAISY. ON FINDING ONE IN BLOOM ON CHRISTMAS-DAY. THERE is a flower, a little flower, The prouder beauties of the field In gay but quick succession shine; Race after race their honours yield,— They flourish and decline. But this small flower, to Nature dear, While moons and stars their courses run, Wreaths the whole circle of the year, Companion of the sun. It smiles upon the lap of May, To sultry August spreads its charms, The purple heath and golden broom But this bold floweret climbs the hill, Within the garden's cultured round It shares the sweet Carnation's bed; |