THE BEE. 165 



her countless progeny protects us from the dire dis- 

 ease that menaces our life. 



And then, the sensitive^ industrious little Bee flies 

 busily from flower to flower, and, fertilizing blossoms 

 in her flight, makes gay our gardens, lawns, and 

 meadows j and gathering honey as she sings, with 

 this, and with her wax, supplies the means to gratify 

 our cultivated tastes of mind and body. 



But when we come to review the mental endow- 

 ments that animate the lower creatures, causiag them 

 thus to operate for the common weal, as well as for 

 our own especial benefit, and compare these with 

 our own reasoning nature, we are led to perceive 

 that, although we have been iucluded iu the vast 

 scheme of Creation, and are ia a natural sense allied 

 to the animal races, whose physical and mental struc- 

 ture finds its culmination m ourselves, yet there 

 has also been implanted in our perishable substance 

 a germ of that divinity which we ourselves are ca- 

 pable of cultivating until it assumes more and more 

 the image of the Almighty. Whilst even the most 

 highly favoured of our humble associates amongst 

 the domesticated tribes are allowed to inherit only so 

 much of man's moral nature as his caprice sees fit to 

 grant, or his convenience necessitates, every human 

 being possesses the privilege of drawiag near to the 

 Eternal and Invisible Father of all, who, beiag per- 

 fect, is ever ready to enhghten those who search for 

 truth and wisdom. 



It must, however, be remembered that we cannot 



