78 THE FLOWERS

“No, sir, no,” she replied, “you shall not
be a lily, but you shall be a noble tree planted
by the water side, and I will dwell under your
shade.”

I was affected—I could not help it. The
tear trembled in my eye; which the little girl
observing, she stooped down and kissed my
hand, at the same time taking up her basket.
Having obtained what we wanted, we turned
our steps towards our home, and as we went
along, we remarked other flowers growing in the
forest; amongst these the wood anemone and
the party-coloured vetch particularly attracted
our attention, and we wondered that things so
beautiful should have been formed in places
where none saw and none admired; and this
led me to speak of the infinite goodness of
God, and of his bounty towards the children
of men.

At length we reached our village, and part-
ing at the garden-gate, I retired to my study
to examine the Holy Bible respecting those
passages to which my little companion had
alluded. And i that long quiet day, a day
never to be forgotten by me, such convictions
flashed upon my mind respecting the errors of