CHILDREN AND FLOWERS. 108 



or regret. He has no fears for the future, no 

 ambitious longings, no unruly desires, that never 

 can be gratified, to vex him J So his physical 

 wants be attended to, what cares he how the 

 world wags ; how thrones and empires totter ; 

 how misery and vice progress ; how disease 

 and death afflict nations and individuals. Does 

 he wish to become a king ? straightway his 

 " cone-like head" bears a regal diadem, his tat- 

 tered habiliments are changed to purple robes, 

 blazing with jewelry, and the bough he " twirls" 

 is the sceptre, which symbolizes his command 

 over half the globe. Does he wish ? but it 

 were useless to pursue this subject further ? he 

 is a poet, a philosopher, aught which may 

 suit the whim of the moment, yet free from the 

 harassing cares, griefs, and anxieties, which but 

 too often render miserable the lives of those who 

 play such conspicuous parts in the great drama 

 of mortality. CRABBE, who was a most faithful 

 delineator of human life in all its phases, and 

 under all circumstances, speaking of the inmates 

 of the village poor-house, says 



N 



