Earliest Signs of Spring 



terfly are fully as commendable as are those of 

 the bee ; and one of the highest authorities 

 upon the subject arrived at conclusions that are 

 certainly very damaging to the bee's reputation 

 for good judgment in accumulating so much 

 more property than either he or his posterity 

 will ever use. The famous wise man of old 

 pondered long and deeply upon the question 

 of gathering together superfluous riches, when 

 it is quite uncertain whether it is to be 

 a wise man or a fool that will enjoy them. 

 And while he has nothing to say against a 

 reasonable provision for one's old age, and 

 for the needs of his children, he does declare, 

 emphatically, that when one has heaped up 

 riches, so that he wants nothing for his soul, 

 and yet has no " power to eat thereof, but 

 a stranger eateth it, this is vanity and an evil 

 disease. ' ' 



On the other hand, in favor of the butterfly, 

 that basks in the sunshine, and flits from flower 

 to flower during its brief life, content with sat- 

 isfying immediate needs, the same authority de- 

 clares that " It is good and comely for one to 

 eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all 

 his labor that he taketh under the sun all the 

 days of his life; for it is his portion." And 

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