134 Natural Theology. 



trees, but not even the icy fierceness of winter's cold 

 can harm the young and tender leaf and flower folded 

 in the bud. They have not yet done their work, and 

 therefore they are preserved. But what explanation 

 can be given of how it is done ? They are carefully 

 packed and protected indeed, and this has been re- 

 garded as an evidence of design ; but the whole bud 

 is exposed and frozen in spite of its skilful struc- 

 ture. The mature leaf, though protected with ten 

 times the care, could not withstand the cold to 

 which the bud is exposed. Is that power in the 

 young leaf which withstands the frost any less won- 

 derful than the structure of the leaf or bud ? Is it 

 any satisfactory explanation to call it natural, the 

 nature of the bud ? How came the bud by this na- 

 ture ? If we were left to reason on the subject, we 

 should infer that the tender uiK'xpamled leaf would 

 be the first to feel the blight of winter. By what 

 process of development was this strange power given 

 to the bud, this unexpected superiority over the f nil- 

 grown leaf? Is any other account so reasonable as 

 to suppose this power was given by a wise Creator 

 who understood the conditions of the globe, and 

 gave to the plants, to the leaf and bud, the exact 

 power they needed to meet those conditions ? 



The same peculiar power possessed by the bud 

 belongs to certain fruits. The young acorns on 

 some of our oaks, which require two years to mature 

 their fruit, and the apparently tender seeds of the 

 witch-hazel, defy the coldest winters. In fact, what- 

 ever part of the plant is required to live over from 



