60 VnLD FLOWERS. 



the quivering leaves hide not the hght, and a 

 thousand mingled voices hail the coming of sum- 

 mer. Happy are they to whom God has given 

 hearts attuned to the utterances of nature, and 

 whom the cares and follies of the world have not 

 weaned away from its teachings ! Happy too, 

 if in the seclusion of the woodland, their hearts 

 can he lifted up to God, with wonder and ad- 

 miration of his providential goodness to those 

 of his inferior creatures which sport and sing in 

 the woods ; and more blessed still, if they can 

 recognise that God, not only as their Creator 

 and the Father of their spirits, but commune 

 with hivn as their Friend and their Guide, and, 

 like Adam in the brighter bowers of Eden, hear 

 the voice of God among the trees. 



The turf which enamels the ground of the 

 wood is rich with a variety of flowers, 



"As if the rainbou-s of the fresh wild spring 

 Had blossom'd where they fell." 



The xiyacinth, the anemone, the violet, and 

 the wood-sorrel, are as beautiful as during last 

 month, and many of the large tribe of orchis 

 flowers are coming into bloom. A very singular 

 one is thebrownbird's-nestorchis, or tway-blade, 

 {Listera nidus avis.) One might see it growing, 

 and on passing it hastily, take it for a withered 

 flower ; but on gathering it, we see that, brown 

 as it is, it yet has life and freshness. It is just 

 of the colour of some drooping oak-leaf, which 

 is fading on the autumn bough, or strewed 

 among multitudes on the winter earth. It is 

 not, however, on account of its colour, that it 



