Earliest Signs of Spring 
terfly are fully as commendable as are those of 
the bee; and one of the highest authorities 
upon the subject arrived at conclusions that are 
certainly very damaging to the bee’s reputation 
for good judgment in accumulating so much 
more property than either he or his posterity 
will ever use. The famous wise man of old 
pondered long and deeply upon the question 
of gathering together superfluous riches, when 
it is quite uncertain whether it is to be 
a wise man or a fool that will enjoy them. 
And while he has nothing to say against a 
reasonable provision for one’s old age, and 
for the needs of his children, he does declare, 
emphatically, that when one has heaped up 
riches, so that he wants nothing for his soul, 
and yet has no ‘‘ power to eat thereof, but 
a stranger eateth it, this is vanity and an evil 
disease.”’ 
On the other hand, in favor of the butterfly, 
that basks in the sunshine, and flits from flower 
to flower during its brief life, content with sat- 
isfying immediate needs, the same authority de- 
clares that ‘‘ It is good and comely for one to 
eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all 
his labor that he taketh under the sun all the 
days of his life; for it is his portion.’’ And 
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