And so with the flower. You deposit only a
tiny seed; but in a little time a shoot springs up, and by natural but
slow processes the twig becomes a large shady tree, and the shoot a
beautiful blooming flower. Though they grow very slowly, yet they never
_rest_. Day and night the hidden processes are going on which help to
promote their growth. Just so it is with the minds of children. They are
daily acquiring those habits which will eventually make the whole sum of
their characters. But then, great care is requisite how they form these
characters; that they may spring up in fair proportions, making their
possessors worthy members of society.
I will illustrate this by a fable, which occurred to me as I walked over
the beautiful garden of a friend, with whom I spent a few weeks the past
summer. We will suppose, for our present purpose, that the flowers have
an articulate voice.
A stately dahlia grew in a cultivated garden. There were many of the
same species of flowers, but no other had the peculiar variegated tints
of this particular one.
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