64 
BRAMBLES AND BAY LEAVES. 
bees, that in every thing represent the serious side of 
human life in all its minutiae with wonderful accuracy. 
But the bees are the wisest; they never suffer the com¬ 
munity to waste valuable energies in deciding a personal 
quarrel. They urge the rivals to single combat, and 
recognise the victor as their future mistress; the dead 
body of the vanquished being cast out from the city. 
There is no end to the marvellous in the history of the 
bee; and the studious possessor of them may have daily 
proof that neither classic lore nor modern scientific 
research has yet exhausted the catalogue of sober facts 
which in bee-history are every one too marvellous for 
credence, except to those who claim the bee as a member 
of the family. That they know and love their keeper, 
and submit cheerfully to his decrees, repelling the invad¬ 
ing stranger from their causeway and neighbourhood, is 
the crowning mark of their sagacity, humble as they are 
in the scale of nature, and the trait that endears them to 
me more than any other; for I can safely say, a My 
bees know me,” and give proof of it to any who shall 
choose to challenge their capability for distinguishing 
one man from another. 
My catalogue does not end here. Oh no ! but it is 
time to stop, waiting till, on a future occasion, some fur¬ 
ther particulars may be given from the Family Register. 
Suffice it for the present that ours is a happy family, the 
members of it, though various in tastes and appetites, are 
knit in strong household bonds, and are very dear to us 
for their confidence and affection, and the many lessons 
they daily teach us of the ways and means of nature. 
Indeed, we lead a very merry life in the midst of so in- 
