GAY.

As the winged inhabitants flocked towards home, laden with their honeyed store, the return of the wanderer was announced to each; and the labors of the day being ended, they all gathered round him to hear the account of his adventures.

In the mean time the Butterfly continued without the hive, not unpleasantly situated, as a number of flowers were about the place, had he not been yet in suspense respecting his friend, when, as he was just going to give up all hopes of meeting with him till the next morning, he had the pleasure of seeing him come out upon the block, in company with two or three other Bees. "Will he speak to me now, that these are with him," thought the Butterfly, and he fluttered round the place, half afraid that he should find the promises of his friend forgotten; but not so, the Bee, (though perhaps he might feel a little at the opinion he judged would be formed by his present associates on seeing him speaking familiarly to one so much beneath them,) flew towards him, to tell him he had been well received, directing him to a place of safety in which he might pass the night; "to-morrow," said he, "we shall meet again."

The Butterfly was much pleased at this unexpected interview, and after thanking him for his attention, promised to join him in the morning. The Bee then returned to his companions, and the Butterfly retired to the place which had been pointed out to him, and from whence he could see the entrance of the hive, and watch the coming of his friend when they were next to meet.

I shall now proceed to acquaint my reader with the future travels of our two friends, and without attending to the minute occurrences of each day, enter at once upon those events which more particularly belong to my design. As soon as the sun was sufficiently above the earth, the inhabitants of the hive hastened forth, eager to pursue their daily task—

And among the first came our young adventurer, whom the Butterfly immediately prepared to accompany; though till he saw him a little separated from the others, he did not presume to approach. "How do you do, my friend?" said the Bee, as soon as he drew near; "are you inclined for a long flight to-day? I have now a double motive to work hard, having a wish to make up for my lost time, as well as to shew my sense of gratitude for the reception I have met with from the friends I am returned to."

"I am willing to accompany you," replied the Butterfly, "and am glad to see you in such spirits; but you are already eyeing some of those beautiful flowers, and while you are engaged with them I will visit the nearest cottage, and return before you have finished your task."

"That's right," replied the Bee, "and tell me if you find the inhabitants as well, or as busily employed, as I am going to be."

The Butterfly departed, and on entering the window of the humble dwelling, he perceived a woman sweeping out the lower room, "which served them for parlour, kitchen, and hall," and preparing the breakfast; three or four children were entrusted to the care of another somewhat older than themselves, and who was endeavouring to keep the little ones from entering, and interrupting their mother. The Butterfly was unnoticed by the woman, but no sooner did the children see it, who (like all others, wanting what is denied them,) were peeping in at the door and enquiring when they might come in, than a little boy begged to enter, promising to catch it in a minute, and his entreaties at last prevailed, though he did not find it quite so easy to take the nimble creature as he had fancied. He had again and again to watch its settling, and to experience disappointment in his endeavour to secure it; while the rest of the little ones were at the door eagerly looking on, and the mother sometimes fretting, and sometimes laughing at his fruitless efforts; when all at once the eldest girl gave notice of her father's approach to breakfast.

No sooner was this intelligence heard, than the Butterfly was suffered to rest in quiet; the mother declared that "nothing was ready;" she scolded the child and blamed herself for being so foolish as to be stopped in the middle of her work by the chacing of a Butterfly, and before any thing was in proper order the master entered, who by his rough voice and peremptory manner seemed determined to keep up the authority of that title. While he was grumbling at not finding his breakfast ready, and his children standing silent around the table, the Butterfly, happy to escape, extended his wings, and returned to his companion, whom he found still employed at his accustomed task.

"Well, what discoveries have you made," enquired the Bee, "have you seen any one so busy as me?"

"One was," replied the Butterfly, laughing, "till I put an end to her work; a little humoured brat of a boy was suffered to enter into the midst of it, and hunt me from one side of the room to the other, and this foolish pursuant took the attention of the woman, who stood with the broom in her hand, admiring the dexterity of her aukward cub, I suppose, till the approach of the father was announced; then the scene was entirely changed, the hunt was given over, and she was cross with herself and every one else because she had been interrupted, which after all was her own fault; the man came in still more out of humour, and thus the house which at your first entrance you might have imagined the abode of peace and domestic comfort, was made directly otherwise; and my harmless visit, I dare say, they would say was the cause of it; when to a reasonable observer it would be plain that the whole of his disturbance arose from the wayward fancy of the child, the indulgence of the mother, and the ill temper of the father: however, such is my happy lot, having wings, I could fly away from all their troubles, but those are to be pitied who cannot escape them."

"During your absence," said the Bee, "I have seen two friends in this garden, who appeared so happy in the society of each other that I am anxious to see more of them, such friendship being rather rare among the human race, and as soon as I have carried home this load of honey, I intend to visit the house I saw them enter."

"Do, do," replied the Butterfly, pleased to find his friend could attend to any thing besides his work, "and while you are thus engaged, I will amuse myself with an old acquaintance or two whom I see yonder." With these words they parted for a little while, promising to meet again in the same place, and to which the Bee returned long before the fluttering Butterfly, who had flown to a neighbouring field, and there among the daisies and king-cups with which the ground was nearly covered, he continued with his former associates nearly the whole morning, idly chacing each other in airy rounds till he had almost forgot the engagement he had made, and was still less inclined to regret his living an idle life. "I am not born to work," said he, "and if the place I fill in the world is not of such importance as my friend's, as a Butterfly I have an equal right to live, and to follow my own inclination;" he therefore returned to meet him without an apology for being behind the time, and on finding him busily employed, and nearly ready to take home another load, "what," said he, "you could not leave your favorite work to make your intended visit? surely you are too intent in gathering that food which I fear you will never be allowed to enjoy?"

"You are mistaken," replied the Bee, "I have been, and seen the two ladies, but they are no longer friends." Oh what fickle creatures these men and women are! young and old, they are all changeable alike. One was sitting at an open window, and the other walking up and down the room apparently much distressed; "what not one word?" said she to the other; "I did not mean to offend you."

No answer was returned, and she continued to express her sorrow, which was received with the utmost indifference; at length she made another attempt, and offering her hand to her offended friend, she said, "Come, Charlotte, will you not be reconciled?"

This also was equally disregarded, and the feelings of the poor offender seemed entirely altered; she no longer solicited forgiveness, but left the room, saying, "It is not necessary for me to acknowledge more; you do not treat me like a friend; talk no more of your regard for me."

As soon as she was gone the other began singing, as loudly as she could raise her voice, though the words she uttered now, so far from being in unison with her mind, as expressed in her countenance, that I could not help smiling; they were descriptive of content and self-satisfaction, neither of which I think she could at that time feel.

On leaving her, and entering another window, I was sorry to see the one I had been interested for in earnest conversation with a third person, who, pitying her dejected and melancholy appearance, asked if she might not attribute it to the ill humour of her friend, and while her mind was thus hurt with the treatment she had received, drew from her a complaint which perhaps she would not have made at any other time. "She does not deserve your regard," said the stranger, "and you give up too much to her;—if you continue to do so, she will by and bye expect you to say or do nothing but as she directs; and her friendship for you can never be real if she requires such subjection."

"These are very odd things," observed the Butterfly; "we poor insignificant creatures never have any thing of this sort; if we associate together, we do not spend our time in complaining of each other."

"I have not done with them yet," returned the Bee, "but mean to pay them another visit, and I fancy shall see still more reason to conclude that these wonderful creatures, whom the animal race hold in such respect, are not so steady and constant in their conduct and pursuits as either they, or we, the still meaner insect tribes, are, though I must say those of the latter order are not in so much awe of them. We do not fly from them if they come in our way, but in many things consider them as subservient to us, and that which they look upon as exclusively their own, and which a cat or a dog would not venture to touch, we have most likely made many a meal from before it comes to their table."

A few days after this, the Bee renewed his visit, as he had proposed, and there was astonished to see the very same third person now engaged with the other lady, and relating to her with many exaggerations all that her offending friend had repeated to her, while smarting under the effect of her ill humour, though all the pains she took to draw it out of her, and the encouragement with which she listened to her complaint, were entirely omitted in the recital. "Only think of this," said the Butterfly, on hearing an account of his friend's second visit. "Is this the use they make of the power of speech, and which they imagine sets them so completely above the animals? surely they had better be without it, than use it to such a purpose; but what will be the end of this? will not the eyes of the two friends be opened, think you? and they will leave the acquaintance of that mean incendiary, who, under such a show of friendship, endeavours to widen the breach between them?"

"Perhaps not," replied the Bee. "Their conduct may yet want that consistency; I hope they will be reconciled to each other, but I doubt whether they will give up this perfidious acquaintance, though the more their regard for each other increases, the more must their contempt for her be increased. I question, also, if the tale she has this day told will not rankle in the breast of the hearer for many future years, and whether there will ever again be that mutual confidence in the two friends which once appeared."

The next house they saw, the Butterfly entered alone, as the Bee observed some flowers at a distance which appeared more worthy of his attention. While he was busily employed in extracting their sweets, his friend returned laughing, "Oh!" said he, "I wish you had been with me. Smile no more at the regard I shew to outward appearance; why there is a young man who is storming and raging about the house, because his neckcloths and shirts are not brought home so nicely as he expected, and he is throwing them from one end of the room to the other, while the poor woman, who has, perhaps, been working hard to make them what they are, stands trembling before him, as if she had committed the greatest trespass in the world. The beauty of my wings if once destroyed, is lost for ever, but these evils, if they are any, are soon remedied; and, at the next house," continued he, "is another instance of the vanity of the sex; there is a boy who has got a new coat just brought home from the taylor's, and because the day is rather lowering, and his father won't let him wear it out, he is determined not to go out at all, and he is now sitting in his own room with the coat on, though there is no one but himself to admire it. I have seen females carry their fondness for dress as far as this," continued he, "but I thought men and boys were above such vanity; I declare I am half ashamed of them."

At this moment a heavy shower came on, and the Butterfly hastened to the shelter of a large leaf on a cucumber bed, where also the Bee was obliged to secure himself, nor could he take home the honey he had gathered till the rain had ceased.

On his return, he found the Butterfly just ventured from his retreat, and stretching his wings, he was enquiring of one of his own species, "if their colours had received any injury?"

The Bee heard the enquiry, and though he believed his friend would not have made it had he thought him within hearing, he was not now so inclined to laugh at him as formerly on account of it, "for," said he, "since I have heard such instances of vanity in a race so superior, I can forgive it in a Butterfly."

On finding that the drops still continued on the flowers, so as to prevent his gathering any thing from them, he determined to return to the hive, and there assist in forming some cells with the wax he had been busy in procuring, though the Butterfly was earnest in desiring him to take an afternoon's flight with him, "and enjoy a little pleasure."

The Bee smiled at what his friend called by that name; "my enjoyment is to be usefully employed," said he, "and to receive my mother's approbation; but as I know this is a pleasure you cannot understand, I would not wish to deprive you of what you can enjoy; go, therefore, and take your fill of it while you may, and to-morrow perhaps we may meet again."

His friend departed with this encouragement, yet not able to comprehend why all creatures did not find a pleasure in the same thing, though to the eye of reason such a distinction of enjoyments in the various objects of creation, is an evident token of the Wisdom with which they are formed.