Beautiful Butterflies. 3 



fellow- creatures. Nay, nay, my young friends, do not 

 wish to be a Butterfly, nor any other merely soulless 

 thing ; you have within you an immortal prin- 

 ciple — 



w A vital spark of heavenly flame," 



as the poet has finely termed the soul, which the But- 

 terfly has not ; which the most sagacious and long-lived 

 of animals has not ; for the salvation of this soul of 

 yours a great price has been paid, a tremendous sacrifice 

 offered, and young as you may be, I would have you 

 think seriously of this. You are not a Butterfly, thank 

 God that you are not ! Never wish to be one ! Do not 

 lead a Butterfly kind of life, as too many do, flitting and 

 fluttering, and sporting away the precious time given 

 you for other purposes. Be diligent, be useful. Head- 

 aches and heart-aches, too, you must have, and many 

 hard lessons you must learn, even when your school- 

 days are over; for it is ordered by an all-wise Providence, 

 that the human soul shall be purified by trouble and 

 affliction, and so prepared for the better land towards 

 which we are all journeying. The end of the Butterfly 

 is here ; your end is in eternity. Think of that, and 

 think, too, of the many pleasures which you enjoy, of 

 which the Butterfly can know nothing; intellectual 

 pleasures — pleasures of thought and feeling; warm 

 affections and lively hopes are yours, out-gushing from 

 your own heart and bosom, and from the hearts and 



