MEADOW SAFFRON. * 



harvest, when the capsules open longitudi- 

 nally, and the seeds are scattered by the 

 wind. 



Why so much contrivance for a simple 

 plant ? Why not allow that plant to flower 

 and to perfect its seeds with others of the 

 vegetable tribes ? It seems the will of Him 

 who called this fair world into existence, and 

 replenished it with innumerable instances of 

 his wisdom and beneficence, that, in no 

 place, and at no season, should manifest 

 signs of that beneficence be wanting, to fill 

 our hearts with gratitude. 



When the beautiful flowers of the spring 

 and summer are withdrawn, when neither 

 a primrose, nor a cowslip, nor yet a ^vild 

 brier, or a honeysuckle may be seen among 

 the grass or in the hedgerows, new flowers 

 appear at intervals, less beautiful, indeed, 

 and blended with much of sadness, for they 

 are the harbingers of shortening days, and 



