NOTHING IS ABLE TO SEPARATE US FROM HIS LOVE. Life nor death shall us dissever From His love who reigns for ever ;- When to Him we cry! Heber. My Heavenly Father! all I see, Sends forth a hymn of praise to Thee, The clear blue sky is full of Thee— The humming of the insect throng, And Thou dost hear them every one— I know that I am not alone, When I but think of Thee. LESSON XVII. BLESSINGS COMMON TO ALL. ABOUT this time a little girl named Caroline came to stay at Walter's home. Her mother was ill, and could not take care of her just then, so Walter's mother said she would take care of her till her mother was better; and Walter was very glad to have a companion to learn his lessons with, and to play with. One morning when Walter awoke, he saw his mother dressed already, and brushing little Caroline's hair. She turned to kiss Walter, and said she was glad he had wakened so early (it was only six o'clock)because now they could have a nice walk all together before breakfast:- It is so pleasant to go out early, while everything is so sweet and fresh, and the dew is still upon the grass." 66 Walter was soon dressed; and they went out. As they passed through the garden, they could not help stopping to admire the asparagus plants-they were weighed down in beautiful arches with the dew. "How soft and wavy they look!" exclaimed Caroline; like large glittering feathers of silver or spun glass-only far more beautiful!" 66 "And look how the dew-drops sparkle on those strawberry-leaves," said Walter's mother, now that the sun shines gently upon them. Each sharp point of every leaf, and the sharp tip of every blade of grass, has a beautiful bright diamond hung upon it! Who has been hanging them there? They were not there when we went to bed last night! And see,-they are all over the field, as well as the garden;-all over all the fields, and all the gardens! Who has put them there? We and all the people have been in bed and asleep all night: who has been working all night in all the fields and gardens, to dress the leaves in diamonds? Ah! it is our all-loving, all-powerful Father! He never sleeps, He does not need rest as we do. He is everywhere, you know, though we cannot see Him. Like the wind, which bloweth where it listeth, yet we see it not :-the wind blows all through the daylight, and all through the darkness; and God is all through the daylight and all through the darkness too. He was watching beside our beds, giving us sweet sleep to rest us and refresh us, all the time that He was causing the cool dew to settle upon the leaves to refresh them; and then, when the beautiful sight was all prepared, He ordered His sun to rise, and kindly wakened us, that we might see it and enjoy it. He loves us so dearly, that He is pleased when He sees us pleased. Oh! let us thank Him and love Him in return!" They walked on in silence for a little while. By and by Walter said, "Mother! uncle Henry was telling us one day about some forests, where the trees are so large, and so old, that some of them have rotted away. He says it is so nice to go into those great silent forests: in some places they are so thick that the sunshine cannot come in at all—and it is so beautiful, he says, when he comes to a part where the sunbeams come through the shady branches, shining in bright patches on the moss and ferns and dead leaves. And where the old trees have died away, there are open spaces, where the grass is short and smooth, and the wild flowers lift up their faces to the sun, and look so pretty! And nobody lives thereabouts, mother, and people hardly ever go into these great woods :-do you think God has covered those ferns and flowers with dew-drops too? Mother.-"Yes, my child; He works everywhere, you know." Walter." But why should He take the trouble to scatter the dew-drops where nobody will see them?" by on Mother." And why, you might ask, should He make the flowers and trees themselves so beautifully-every leaf and every petal so exquisitely finished?- or why should He make them at all where no man will see them? My dear children, is it not plain that God Himself loves beauty? You do not think that He would have made such beauty everywhere, on the mountain-tops-in the deep forests. rippling waters amongst mossy stonesearth, in sky, and in the depths of the sea— surely you do not think that He could thus be for ever working to produce such evervarying beauty, unless He too loved it, and delighted in it? We cannot for a moment suppose that all this beauty and perfection is for our teaching or enjoyment only. The great God delights in beauty and perfection, and therefore beauty and perfection are upon all His works. Let us, too, love beauty-let us not only enjoy it, but let us love it, dear children; for when we love what He loves, P |