UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 259 



may be, will wither away without the continual 

 help of Him who is ever ready to assist us, and 

 to open our minds to the high views of a future 

 state which He has set before us ; nor, Bertha, 

 can it be considered one whit more wonderful that 

 we should hereafter change into a life of immor- 

 tality, than that the larva should burst into a 

 beautiful butterfly, or that these little black seeds 

 should expand into luxuriant foliage, and deck 

 their branches with splendid flowers." 



The wind had been very high all that morn- 

 ing, and many broken branches were scattered 

 about the shrubbery : my aunt seemed to delight 

 in the "wild music of the wind-swept grove;" 

 and as we sheltered ourselves from the blast, she 

 pointed out to me the numbers of minute insects 

 that were enjoying their short day of existence, un- 

 mindful of its terrors ; and the birds that were 

 struggling through it with materials for their 

 nests ; and the bees who could scarcely withstand 

 its power, yet were urged on by their instinctive 

 industry to begin their winter's store. " How that 

 hoarse storm," she exclaimed, " and all these 

 tokens of the opening spring, remind one of the 

 Almighty power and benevolence !" 



I immediately quoted the well known line, 



Which Nature's works through all their parts proclaim. 



" Well applied, Bertha. In every department 

 of nature we find sufficient proofs of that omni- 

 potence and goodness. The astonishing force of 



