The lowly SAVIOUR will attend, And strengthen you and stand your friend. For ever working in your mind, That God would take your pride away; Pray in your thoughts, and God will know; That best of gifts,—a humble heart. How much you've failed in this respect! Jane Taylor. LESSON XXIV.-USE OF MOUNTAINS. The numberless varieties in the contour and elevation of mountains diversify the surface of the earth, furnish every variety of grand and beautiful scenery, and minister to the gratification of its rational inhabitants. But they have been made to subserve far higher purposes, by the care of Him who called them into being. As the boundaries of nations, they offer a check to intercommunication which seems a disadvantage; but the difficulties connected with aggressive wars between communities thus separated, have undoubtedly contributed to promote peace and maintain independence. The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and the rocks for the conies; and the friends of liberty and religion have often found a secure asylum in their fastnesses from the invasion of arbitrary power. The winds, stopped in their progress by gigantic walls, are diverted from their course; for, incapable of being pent up, they escape by counter-currents in various directions, contributing more entirely to combine anew the atmosphere, and preserve it pure and salubrious. The clouds, arrested by the same obstacle, have their vapours condensed by contact with the chilled summits, and yield their moisture in abundant rains to supply the springs and streams, while the perpetual snows that crown the loftier heights furnish inexhaustible reservoirs of water for the mighty rivers. Capricious as the distribution and elevation of mountains at first sight appears, neither of these elements have been arbitrarily settled, but arranged with reference to the accommodation of man, and plainly indicate a beneficent, designing mind. Why is not the general mass of the Andes as elevated as its projecting summits? In that case, man never could have crossed the range; and towns situated within a comparatively short distance of each other, but on opposite sides of the chain, as Valparaiso and Mendoza, Arica and La Pas, Guayaquil and Cuença, would have been as much separated, to all purposes of commerce and intercourse, as if the Atlantic had rolled between them. Why, also, is not the mass of the Alps as elevated as that of the Andes, and the Ural as high as the Alps? In that case, all their present passes would be closed to the access of man; and the countries on opposite sides, Italy and Switzerland, European and Asiatic Russia, could only communicate around the extremities of the chains. The line of perpetual snow descending lower and lower as we recede from the equator towards the poles, it is obvious that if there were not a proportional diminution in the height of prominences on the surface, they would be perfectly impassable barriers. These are some of the "chief things of the ancient mountains, the precious things of the lasting hills." They proclaim the majesty, wisdom, and goodness of Him who weigheth them in "scales" and in a "balance;" and thus with "fire and hail, snow and vapour, fruitful trees and all cedars," the "mountains and all hills," show forth His praise.-Milner. LESSON XXV.-GOD LOOKS AT THE HEART. "I do not see how God can have any right to interfere with our thoughts and feelings," was Maria's frequent complaint. "If He had only required our actions to be so and so, we could have obeyed Him." You are very generous, Maria!” replied her father; "so you will condescend to permit your Creator to control the movements of your body; but over the soul which inhabits it, and which alone gives it importance, He is to have no authority. Better, then, that instead of intelligent and thinking beings, God had created lifeless machines, for these might have executed a series of outward motions: and this, it seems, is all that God is to expect from His creatures." But," said Maria, "earthly rulers do not meddle with thoughts and feelings; they are satisfied if the conduct is right." "True; because they cannot search the heart, and are obliged to content themselves with regulating the actions. But this is an imperfection in human law-the neces sary consequence of human ignorance; and it is the very excellence of religion, that it takes cognisance of the heart as well as the conduct. But although the law has nothing to do with feelings, yet every man, in his private judgment of another, takes into the account his motives, does he not?" 66 66 Yes, father, I suppose so." Certainly; if you reflect a moment, you will be conscious that you do not judge them by their actions merely, but by what you can discover of their secret feelings and motives. It would not be enough to satisfy you, in a friend, that she treated you with outward kindness, if she had no real affection for you, and was merely selfish in her motives for professing it." "No, indeed, father, it would not." 66 Well, shall God be satisfied with less than His creatures will accept? But let us go on a little, and see how many actions derive their character from the motives which prompt them. "You know we have been hoping for a visit from your Aunt C. Well, now, suppose she should come here, and you should treat her with the greatest affection, anticipate all her wants, and endeavour, in every possible way, to make her visit agreeable; this conduct might proceed from one of several different motives. You might wish that your Aunt should admire and love you, and think what an amiable, obliging, affectionate little girl you are:" (Maria blushed, as if her father had read her heart :) "this would be vanity. Or you might think that, if you tried to please her, she would make you a present: this would be selfishness. might really love her, and wish to make her happy: this ld be benevolence. Or you |