2 I 6 
THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 
“ When fully invested for its new sphere, the 
butterfly first proves its gauzy members by a 
few gentle openings and foldings, and then, with 
a joyous spring, floats away to bask in the sun 
and sip its dainty meals, the loveliest creature 
in a summer landscape. 
‘ Lo! the shrouded thing, 
Loosed from its earthly covering, 
From shape uncouth and dusky hue, 
. Like some fair vision springs to view. 
A glossy wing in burnished pride. 
Unfolding, rises from each side: 
It is a butterfly as bright 
As ever sparkled in the light.’ 
“ No wonder that a beginning so unpromis¬ 
ing, a manner of progress so paradoxical, and 
a consummation so exquisitely brilliant should 
furnish themes for abundant moralizing and apt 
comparisons. The analogies to human life need 
not be redrawn, as they are too common to be 
unknown by the ordinary observer; but the rich 
instructiveness, leading to a clearer knowledge 
of the handiwork of God, must not be overlook¬ 
ed, as the lesson cannot be too often enforced, 
and the golden text now before the mind is, 
‘The Hand that made us is divine!’ 
