The point of the tale I've related--
A blockhead could not, let me say what I please--
Then why need my MORAL be stated?




EARLY SPRING FLOWERS.


Of all the amusements of my childhood, I can think of none which I loved so
much as rambling in the woods and meadows among the flowers. What a rich
treat it used to be, just after the earth had thrown aside its white
mantle, and begun to be clothed in its summer dress, to get permission to
spend a whole Saturday afternoon in the woods with my brother and sister.
Oh, how delighted we all were, when we found the first wild flowers of
spring! Let me see. What flowers show their pretty faces the earliest? Do
you remember, young friend? Perhaps you have always lived in the city, and
have never made their acquaintance. But if you have ever seen them,
blushing in their native haunts, I am sure you must remember how they look,
and what their names are. I cannot see how any body can forget them, they
are so beautiful and lovely.

One of the earliest flowers of spring, and one which grew in the woods only
a few rods from my father's door, near the stream that turned my miniature
water-wheels, is the _Trailing Arbutus_. Often you may find this plant
unfolding its delicate blossoms before the snow has left the ground. That,
in our northern latitudes, is usually among the first flowers in blossom.
Soon after she appears, you may see one and perhaps two different species
of the _Anemone_. One, especially--the _Anemone Thalictroides_,