Lux] AND SYMBOLS. 207 



interfere with the traffic or be prejudicial to health; at another 

 point the workers are occupied in drawing out the dead body 

 of one of their companions ; all the outlets are besieged by a 

 crowd of bees coming in and going out ; the doors hardly suffice 

 for this hurrying, busy multitude. If all appears disorder and 

 confusion at the approaches to the hive, this tumult is only 

 so in appearance; an admirable order presides over this 

 emulation in their work, which is the distinctive feature in 

 bees. These insects preach to us diligence, activity, vigilance, 

 ingenuity, and order. If their sermon were listened to, and these 

 five virtues were embodied in the lives of all working people, 

 the material state of society would become glorious. L 



Lurking- Dangers. 



Many of the most deadly snakes lie concealed just below the 

 surface of the sand, ready to strike a death-blow to the in- 

 cautious traveller; others lurk and hide in the branches of 

 trees and bushes, from which they dart upon the unwary. The 

 wonderful resemblance in colour they bear to the places in which 

 they are found, renders them difficult to be seen by the un- 

 practised eye. However wary you may be, it is often difficult 

 to escape with your life. These reptiles resemble the lurking 

 dangers which encompass us on every side in our progress 

 through this world. Diseases, treacheries, falsehoods, and 

 troubles seem to be in wait for us during a large portion of our 

 journey. We have hard work to elude them ; and if we our- 

 selves escape, we have the melancholy misfortune to see them 

 strangling or poisoning our friends. I. o. 



Luxuriance a Hindrance to Progress. 



We have observed people who have been confused with the 

 luxuriance which surrounded them. So sumptuous was the 

 provision of every kind that the taking of any step was only 

 an exhibition of the difficulty of action. "The embarrassment 

 of riches " is not a figure of speech, but a fact. The man who 

 is surrounded by too much luxuriance is like a traveller amidst 

 the profuse flowering vegetation which characterises some of the 



