rather 60,000 miracles in one. A chemist can form rocks, and even precious stones, by combining silicium, lime, carbon, &c.; but could any chemist form a tree, a blade of grass, a bit of moss, or the smallest living plant? Look at the flowers, the trees, the seeds, the fruits, and all the wonders of vegetable life! Oh, what a collection of miracles! but the miracle of miracles is, that each has "its seed in itself."

A watch, which is one of the most admirable works of man, is very inferior in its workmanship even to the smallest plant, which we can scarcely see without the help of a microscope; but what would you think of a watch which could produce watches, which in their turn could produce other watches, and so on from generation to generation, from age to age?

Oh, think of the power of God! the wisdom of God! the beneficence and faithfulness of God!

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruittree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day" (Gen. i. 11–13).

Let us adore God in all his works, and let us trust his faithfulness.

The next lesson will be from the 11th to the 13th verse of the first chapter of Genesis.

CHAPTER VII.

PLANTS AND THEIR SEEDS.

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day."-GEN. i. 11–13.

WE concluded our last lesson with the mere mention of the most magnificent of the works of the third day-the first appearance upon earth of the wonderful family of plants. Let us consider this interesting subject for a little before we go on to the work of the fourth day, when God caused lights to shine in the sky, to divide the day from the night and to measure the time.

Oh, may God dispose our hearts to meditate with deep attention and devotion on his glorious works!

I begin with the 11th verse: "And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass," &c.

Remark, I pray you, these words, "And God said." Do not believe, as some selfstyled philosophers pretend, that all the

wonders of creation are unfolded before your eyes, by some power in themselves, in obedience to the laws of nature once established. Do not imagine that light, the atmosphere, the plants, fishes, reptiles, birds, beasts, and lastly, man himself, have sprung naturally from the earth or the waters, as smoke mounts upwards, as a stone falls to the bottom of the water, or as a bird springs from the egg,simply by the operation of rules and laws established at the beginning of the world. No! "God said"-this was the true cause and first beginning of all things. All the great changes, all the new creations of which we read, were produced by the power of his almighty word. "God said,” and everything had its being. "God said, Let there be light; and there was light." "God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, herbs, and trees;" and the earth brought them forth.

Ah, dear children, I entreat you, when you read the Bible, and when you pray, ever to remember the almighty power of the word of God. Repeat to yourselves that the word of O Lord,

God is powerful,—all-powerful.

grant that thy word may be all-powerful in

us, so that our feeble, sinful, and diseased souls may be truly healed, cleansed, and saved! O Lord Jesus, we say to thee as the centurion once did, "Speak the word only," and thy servant shall be healed (Matt. viii. 8). Lord Jesus, I wish most earnestly to be a true Christian; I wish truly to love thee, to follow thee, never to offend thee more. "Speak the word only;" say that I am to be cleansed and healed, and I shall be so; say that the dry and barren soil of my soul shall bring forth fruit, and it shall bring forth fruit.

But we must go on: "The earth brought forth grass, herb," &c.; " and God saw that it was good."

That it was good;' that is, that it was magnificent and sufficient,-perfect in beauty, perfect in usefulness, perfect in abundance, perfect in fruitfulness, perfect in continuance, perfect in variety and immensity. Living plants and trees are created, which have their seed in themselves,-the seed from which they are renewed, raised up again from generation to generation, from age to age, till the end of the world. Have you considered how very wonderful this is?