THE STRUCTURE OF FLOWERS. 51 



product of the flower, and the flower is thus the fore- 

 runner, and at the same moment, the repairer, of de- 

 cay. 



This matter of the lease of life,- is full of pleasing 

 suggestions, and involves the consideration of innu- 

 merable facts. It is worth noting that in plants, as 

 in man, life consists of three great periods, two of 

 which, the first and last, God keeps in His own hands, 

 disposing them after His own wisdom, while the third 

 or intermediate one, is left for man to deal with, or at 

 least cooperatively. The first period is infancy and 

 youth, which cannot be abided in by any man, or how 

 many would stay there forever ! The last is old age, 

 when, having reached the crest of the mountain, and 

 the valley of the dark shadow lies dimly below, with 

 all our effort we cannot help sliding thither. The 

 middle one is that glorious period, when, full in stat- 

 ure, and enriched with all good gifts, we feel and 

 relish the splendors of life ; this one it is allotted us 

 to lengthen out almost as we please, carrying fresh- 

 ness of thought and feeling, which are youth, past as 

 as many birthdays as suffice to see a chestnut grow 

 from a sapling into a forest patrician. This middle 

 period every man holds comparatively in his own 

 power. Giving his soul to wisdom and manly affec- 

 tions, he finds therein the elixir vitce that the alche- 

 mists sought in vain ; and though the third and con- 

 cluding period comes to him not less certainly than to 

 all others, it is brief and serene. 



