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NEW ENGLAND EARMER. 



after having tried it there was a clamorous demand 

 for " more" like it. Cut your asparagus even 

 with the surface of the ground. The white por- 

 tions cannot be eaten — why should the trouble 

 be had of boiling and buttering them'? When 

 the stems have had a sufficient exposure to the 

 air to become green, they will cook tender ; but 

 they should not be allowed to grow too long — 

 six inches or so is long enough. — Prairie Farmer. 



THE LESSON OF A PLANT. 



The humblest flower that blooms in the valley 

 contains secrets and mysteries which all the phi- 

 losophers on earth could not understand or explain, 

 were they to devote a century to its study. There 

 is nothing that man ever made, which may not be 

 understood by any one of ordinary powers of mind, 

 after a little study. The most curious combina- 

 tions of machinery become very simple, and their 

 operations are all perfectly comprehended, after 

 we have looked into them awhile. But it is not 

 so with the works of God. Take, for instance, 

 this little flower. You know its name, and the 

 genus to which it belongs. You can tell where it 

 grew, and what kind of seed it sprang from, and 

 what kind of soil and location it loves. You know 

 its properties, and how long it was in coming to 

 maturity, and how long it remains in blossom. 

 You may even subject it to the microscope, and 

 to chemical analysis, and be able to name its es- 

 sential elements, and method of structure. But 

 you cannot push your investigations much farther. 

 You cannot explain how these bright and beauti- 

 ful tints, these delicate and regularly-shaped leaves, 

 and this sweet fragrance, grew out of a handful 

 of common earth. You cannot tell why the stalk 

 is of one color, the leaves of another, and the flow- 

 ers, perhaps, pencilled and shaded with beautiful- 

 ly varied hues. You cannot explain those curious 

 instincts of the plant, which are displayed in vari- 

 ous degrees in different species, and which some- 

 times almost incline us to the belief that conscious- 

 ness and intelligence are not restricted to the ani- 

 mal world. 



But although we may never be able perfectly to 

 understand the mysteries which are wrapped up 

 in this little flower, we may derive important les- 

 sons of wisdom from it. If we will examine it with 

 care and candor, it will teach us something about 

 the greatness, the goodness and the perfection of 

 its Creator, which will be of great benefit to us. 

 An incident in the life of the Count de Charney 

 affords a happy illustration in point. This French 

 nobleman was possessed of education and fortune, 

 but unfortunately was deficient in moral principle. 

 He was fond of reasoning, but he confined himself 

 to a "vicious circle" of argument, beginning in 

 prejudice and unbelief, and ending in doubt and 

 skepticism. Having become involved in a secret 

 political movement in 1804, which was discovered 

 by the police, he was confined in the fortress of 



Fenestrelle. While pacing the little court-yard 

 connected with his cell, one spring morning, he es- 

 pied a little blade of vegetation springing up be- 

 tween two of the stones, which had scarcely yet 

 escaped from the seed. It at once became an ob- 

 ject of attention to the lonely man, and each day, 

 as he witnessed its growth, and studied out the in- 

 genious contrivances provided by nature for its 

 protection from injury, the interest with which he 

 regarded it increased. His hours of exercise were 

 spent almost entity by its side, watching its 

 growth, and studying its changes ; and often when 

 confined in his cell, he continued to gaze on it, 

 through the window. The result was, his pride 

 was humbled, his skeptical notions vanished, and 

 new and before unknown emotions found a place 

 in his breast. It became his instructor in wisdom, 

 his solace in imprisonment, and finally was the 

 means of procuring his release from confinement by 

 order of Napoleon, through a curious train of cir- 

 cumstances too extended to notice here. The orig- 

 inal narrative of Count de Charney and his prison 

 flower, written in French, has enjoyed great popu- 

 larity, and is considered a valuable auxiliary in the 

 cause of religion and morals, as, from its style, it 

 influences minds which would turn away from for- 

 mal treatises of natural theology. And thus this 

 little chance-flower has been the means of pouring 

 truth and light into many minds, in addition to the 

 blessings it conferred on the poor prisoner of Fen- 

 estrelle. 



It is related of the Rev. John Thorpe, an Eng- 

 lish clergyman, that after he had preached for 

 about two years, he was greatly harassed with athe- 

 istical doubts, which continued to distress his mind 

 for several months. One day, while passing through 

 a wood, he was surveying his hand, when a leaf 

 happened to fall into it. A sudden impulse moved 

 him to examine the leaf, and in holding it between 

 his eye and the sun, and reflecting upon its exquis- 

 itely curious and wonderful formation, he was led 

 into a new train of thought, and received such a 

 conviction of the existence and ineffable perfection 

 of God, that his doubts and distress were removed 

 at once ; and he prosecuted his journey, rejoicing 

 in the Creator, and admiring him in every object 

 that presented itself to his view. 9 



Paley considers that the evidences of creative 

 wisdom and design are not so numerous in plants 

 as in animals. This may be true, but there are cer- 

 tainly more evidences of a wise Creator in the veg- 

 etable world than most men imagine. Our famil- 

 iarity from childhood with the thousand strange 

 and beautiful operations of nature, too often pre- 

 vents our seeing or appreciating the lesson they 

 would teach. If we will but listen, we shall nev- 

 er fail to hear voices in the woods and among the 

 flowers, and wherever there is a living and grow- 

 ing thing, uniting in the great hymn of nature, 

 "The hand that made us is diYine." 



