others, and inviting them to come to Jesus. The more he learned, the more humble he was; he felt himself to be as a worm, and wondered why God would condescend to notice him; he was always as humble and teachable as a little child; his life was holy. All he did showed clearly the grace of God in him. Buffon ordered to be inscribed upon his own statue, "A genius equal to the majesty of Nature." Had Dr. Chalmers been obliged to do the same, what text do you think he would have chosen?

Helen. I am not quite sure.

M. I think he would have chosen the same as St. Paul would have chosen, 1 Cor. xv. 10, "By the grace of God I am what I am and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain ; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."

CHAPTER V.

GRASS-DEW.

DEUT. xxxii. 1-3.-" Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew; as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass : Because I will publish the name of the Lord; ascribe ye greatness unto our God."

Robert. Can you tell us why it is there is so much dew upon the grass after a hot day; we get our feet quite wet if we walk upon it, and the curious thing is

the ground, stones, fences, and tiles, seem all quite dry. Why does not the dew fall upon them as well as upon the grass?

instance of the wisdom, When the sun is very

M. That is a very wonderful power, and goodness of God. hot, it has the power of drawing up from the ocean, rivers, lakes, &c., a large quantity of vapour, and at night there is a most beautiful contrivance for catching this and converting it into drops of dew, so large as to answer the purpose of rain. Were it not for this contrivance, everything would soon wither and die from the effects of the sun's scorching rays; but the dew nourishes, revives, and refreshes the vegetable kingdom. If you go out early on a summer morning, you will find all the vegetables covered with it. You cannot walk upon the grass without making your feet wet, and, as you observe, the ground, fences, stones, and tiles seem dry; they have no need of any, therefore little or none falls upon them. Now, is it not very wonderful that none of this precious dew is wasted upon these things, but it almost all falls upon the vege

tables which cannot live without it?

Charlie. Yes, it is very wonderful. How is it? they are all alike exposed to it.

M. By a very simple, but a very beautiful contrivance great heat draws the vapour from the sea and rivers, but it requires cold to draw it down to the earth, and to convert it into dew. All plants have the power of becoming much colder at night than any of the surrounding objects, and by this simple law each plant and leaf has the power of drawing this vapour from the air, and converting it into drops of dew, by which means its life is preserved: and when we think that the

simple power of vegetables becoming at night colder than the surrounding objects, should be the means employed to water and nourish vegetation in the midst of a parched and thirsty land, it ought not only to fill us with wonder, but with a constant feeling of gratitude, and teach us more and more to put our whole trust in the Lord-to commit all our concerns to Him-to be led by Him. Can any of you give me a text which tells us of God's goodness to all His works?

Patie. Ps. cxlv. 9, "The Lord is good to all; and his tender mercies are over all his works."

M. The more we search into the works of God by His Spirit and Word, the more we shall see this, and the more beautiful, simple, and perfect will they ap

pear.

Mary. That is just what Cowper says in a lesson we had lately at school. In speaking of God's works, he says,

They are perfect and unimpeachable of blame,
Challenging human scrutiny, and proved
Then skilful most when most severely tried."

M. Now, we shall see how many more lessons we can learn from the dew. Give me a text where Jesus is called the Sun of righteousness.

Rachel. Mal. iv. 2, "Unto you that fear my name, shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings."

M. Now look in Psalm xlvi. 4, and tell me what it says; also, in Rev. xxii. 1.

Helen. "There is a river, the streams whereof shall "And he shewed me a

make glad the city of God."

pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb."

M. We learned in a former conversation that the more Christ's sheep and lambs eat of the heavenly pasture, the more they will have to eat, and the more they will relish it. We shall learn to-day how this heavenly pasture is revived and refreshed. You have been told that the greater the power of the sun, the more vapour does it draw from the rivers and seas, consequently the more dew falls. And so it is with the Sun of righteousness, the more he shines upon his Church the more will it be refreshed. He draws the heavenly dew from the river of God's love, which proceeds out of His throne, and sheds it abundantly by His Holy Spirit on the heavenly pasture-the preaching, teaching, and prayerful reading of his Holy Word. In summer there is dew every night; but it does not always rain-that only comes occasionally. When it does come, it waters and strengthens the roots of young plants, causes new plants to spring out of the ground, refreshes and invigorates old plants, and joy seems to pervade the whole face of nature. So Jesus sheds always the refreshing dew of his Holy Spirit on the pure preaching and teaching of the Word of God. And sometimes he pours out showers of his Holy Spirit on His Church, as we read in the 2d chapter of Acts, when three thousand were converted in one day, and the whole Church was refreshed and full of joy.

Catharine. I like our lesson very much to-day. I did not think we could have learned so many nice lessons from the dew.

Mary. When we are in the country we sometimes go out at sunrise. How very lovely everything is—the dew is glittering like diamonds on all the plants-every

thing smells so sweet and looks so fresh-nothing can equal the beauty of the landscape.

Catharine. We had a nice lesson in Cowper the other day on the beauty of the landscape, which our teacher said he hoped we would never forget

"Man views it and admires; but rests content
With what he views. The landscape has its praise,
But not its Author. Unconcerned who form'd
The paradise he sees, he finds it such,

And, such well-pleased to find it, asks no more.
Not so the mind that has been touch'd from heav'n,
And in the school of sacred wisdom taught

To read his wonders, in whose thought the world
Fair as it is existed ere it was.

Not for its own sake merely, but for his

Much more who fashion'd it, he gives it praise;
Praise that from earth resulting, as it ought

To earth's acknowledged sov'reign, finds at once
Its only just proprietor in Him."

And another passage tells us how much the Christian enjoys the beauty of the landscape

"He looks abroad into the varied field

Of nature, and though poor perhaps, compared
With those whose mansions glitter in his sight,
Calls the delightful scen'ry all his own.
His are the mountains, and the valleys his,
And the resplendent rivers: his t' enjoy
With a propriety that none can feel.
But who, with filial confidence inspired,
Can lift to Heav'n an unpresumptuous eye,
And smiling say, ' My Father made them all.'"

M. Most beautiful passages! I.hope you will all experience the lessons conveyed in them, then you will be sure to remember them. I have finished all I intend to say at present about the grasses. We shall