1866.] Romance of Insect Life. 47 



ant — tlie lion-hearted ant — toiling amid the licat of summer; and 

 though the season's brightness and its warmth arc bringing up and 

 producing ten thousand enjoyments for the little traveler, he is busy- 

 gathering together his provender for the long winter time, when frost, 

 and snow, and cold, shall have locked up the granaries of Nature. 



" Thou wilt tell me that I am mocking thee ; that thou canst see this 

 daily and hourly ; and is this a mystery, therefore ? If thou hadst 

 read in those ancient legends before thee, of an insect so courageous that it 

 would attack an animal of ten thousand times its magnitude ; of industry 

 so indefatigable that it would climb house-tops and mountains to pursue 

 its course ; of perseverance so unflagging that, though repulsed a thous- 

 and times, it would still return and overcome the obstacle that impeded 



it thine eyes would have sparkled with interest and amazement ; it is 



because it is constantly before thee— because it belongs to the present 

 time— that thou lookest so disdainfully upon it. When did the Knight 

 Errants of thy heart do so much ? AVhen did their bosoms beat as high 

 with valor and determination as this poor insect ? ' But it has no loves, 

 no jealousies, no blood-stained victories ! ' How knowest thou that ? 

 I warrant thee, even that tiny breast has grown gentler for some fond 

 one that lived within its little world : that its blood has flowed quicker 

 when some Adonis ant has flirted around the little coquette ; that its 

 path has been stained by the trophies of its mimic battles. 



" But thou wilt say, ' Why dost thou lure me from my glowing page, 

 to point me to this moving atom? Why not show me the majestic 

 mysteries of nature ? Why waste my time with a topic so insignificant ? ' 

 I answer, because it ?'.s insignificant ? I point thee there to one of the 

 smallest of earth's creatures, to ask thee, if the atoms contain such 

 wonders, how much more the noble and lofty works of Nature ? Follow 

 me, if thou wilt ; let us dive into the deep caverns of the earth, and mark 

 the sculptured halls— the rocky avenues stretching miles and miles 

 below the busy haunts of men. Let us plunge into the deep, and sec 

 the huge leviathans sporting amid the waters ; or the rainbow-hued 

 dolphin, as she flings back bright rays of the glorious sun. Let us 

 climb into the air, and behold the eagle with his untiring wing and his 

 unflinching eye, the noble image of indomitable perseverance and of 

 brilliant genius, soaring proudly and gazing fixedly toward heaven's 

 brightest luminary I Oh, dreamer ! if the moments of thy life were 

 multiplied by the sands of the desert, they would be all too short to 

 unravel these mysteries that are around thee and above thee." 



