220 THE RANUNCULUS. 



then probably, you can, throiigli grace, bear tesli- 

 mony that my experience is no chimera. You 

 have surely souglil ihe healing leaf; and if so, un- 

 questionably you have obtained it. You liave 

 extracted the honey from your nettle, as Sampson 

 from })is lion, and you may be well content to 

 leave it where you found if, knowing that there 

 shall be " a gathering out of all things tlial ofifend" 

 without your putting yourself forward in tiie work 

 of judgment. Rather bear in mind the humbling 

 truth, that such a nettle once were you; stinging, 

 by your vile aggressions, the hand that was 

 stretched out on the cross to save you : and if the 

 mighty working of unlimited power has changed 

 your nature, why despair of its operation upon 

 others ? Point out your enemy to the Lorti, but 

 as an object for converting and sanctifying grace, 

 remembering that vSaul of Tarsus was the first 

 fruits of Stephen's dying prayer. 



I have mentioned the Ranunculus, as the prize 

 in pursuit of which I made my first acquaintance 

 with tlie stinging nettle. That flower has been a 

 choice favourite from my very early years. I re- 

 memlier accompanying a party to a horticultural 

 exhibition on a small scale, where a country fjar- 

 dener had made the most of liis ground, for a dis- 

 play of flowers. lie had retarded his hyacinths, 

 and hastened his tulips, and disposed as they were, 

 on distinct beds, in masses, the efTect was splendid. 



