about twenty-eight years since, has some beautiful specimens of sculpture of this kind.

The Mahogany Tree is a native of Jamaica and Cuba; it grows to a great height, and is used for all kinds of furniture.

The Caouchouc. I must not forget this singularly useful tree; for though many plants, in a measure, yield a juice of this character, yet the Siphonia Elastica, or Elastic Gum-tree, supplies the principal demand. It is found in America, 20 and 30 degrees each side of the equator; in the Brazils it grows about 60 feet in height: its leaves are green above and white beneath. The Indians have, from time immemorial, known its value; they use it for bottles, boots, cups and flambeaux, and even cloth. The gum is got simply by tapping the tree, and receiving the flowing juice in shells. In England, the difficulty would be to say what it is not used for. There are India rubber great coats, India rubber pens-guards-boots, &c. It is a most valuable gift to man.

Ebony is the darkest of woods, and very durable: it is a native of the East Indies.

Then there is the Sandal-wood tree; the Rosewood; the Brazil wood, of a beautiful red; the Box tree; with many others, all most useful to man. But I stayed longer among the trees of the English forest, as being more familiar to us.

And now, my dear children, I must conclude this long letter; and long as it is, it is only a brief outline of the subject ;-my

anxiety, you know, is, that in our walks it may not be the mere beauty and loveliness of creation that we should admire; but searching into these manifold gifts of God, we may see goodness and loving-kindness crowning all his works. How sweet is that language of David; and especially in this busy month of harvest :-"Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn when thou hast so provided for it. Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers; thou blessest the springing thereof. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness; and the little hills rejoice on every side." Ps. lxv. 9-12.

Believe me, my dear children,

Your affectionate Father.

The parts of vegetation I here dwell upon, are those more immediately in relation to man; but if I introduced the animal creation at large as benefited, both in their dwelling places, food, and medicine, the subject would be endless. The trees, grasses, flowers, fruit, herbs and leaves, both green and dry, all afford a boundless variety to them; for the Lord opens his hands, and fills all things living with plenteousness. And in winter, when all nature seems at rest, then the strength is gathering for the spring. And how wonderful is the mutation of nature!-look at that heap of dried leaves and all kinds of things swept together: death seems to reign there; but it is for a time only; for in the spring (that great type of resurrection) all this apparent hideous deformity shall nourish the seeds sown therein, and they shall spring up in every form of fruitfulness and beauty-sown literally in weakness, raised in power.

LETTER VI.

"AGAIN, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE UNTO A MERCHANT MAN, SEEKING GOODLY PEARLS: WHO, WHEN HE HAD FOUND ONE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE, WENT AND SOLD ALL THAT HE HAD, AND BOUGHT IT."-Matt. xiii. 45, 46.

My dear Children,

I was struck, some months since, in reading the account of the ceremony that takes place in the Brazils when a slave finds a *Diamond; and it brought forcibly to my mind the passage in our Lord's ministry, concerning "the pearl of great price;" for though the analogy is not perfect in all its parts, yet in its great features it is. And who can tell the emotions of the poor slave

• When a negro finds a diamond in the mines of the Brazils, he instantly stands upright, claps his hands, and holds the gem between his finger and thumb: an overseer receives it from him, and it is registered, and the slave's name who found it, attached to it. In the evening of the day, the precious stones are weighed, and if any slave has been so fortunate as to find one without flaw, of 17 carats; that is, 70 grains, his freedom is certain, and on an appointed day, he is crowned with a wreath of flowers, and carried in procession to the Administrator, who having purchased of the owner of the slave his freedom, he is declared free; and from that moment he works on his own account; and in addition to this, he is arrayed in new clothes, which are his own.

as he held up the precious gem and clapped his hands, exulting in his prize? and who can look unmoved on his intense anxiety, until he heard the word from the Administrator's lips," it has been weighed in the balance, and past the demand;" there is no speck or flaw in it ;- -THE SLAVE IS FREE! Life is in that word. So in the pearl of great price :-BEYOND PRICE,—it * MORE than answers the demand for freedom (for the Lord magnified the law and made it honourable); there is no speck or flaw in it, for He was the beloved Son in whom his Father's soul delighted; for the Lord was well pleased for his righteousness' sake, Isaiah xli. 1, 21, Matt. xii. 18. The possessor of this precious pearl is free-he is freed by the great Administrator, who purchased his freedom by His own life; and now he goes forth to work indeed --not for life, but from life, and clothed with beautiful raiment, the gift of God; an habitation awaits him, of joy unspeakable, and full of glory. If, when the tidings reached the Islands of the West, that England had wiped away, at a national expense of £20,000,000, the great blot of slavery from her laws, and had decreed that all born in her dominion should be free, the joy was unbounded, how much more should the Christian rejoice when the glorious proclamation is gone out, "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life?" John iii. 18.

"Feed the Church of God, which He hath purchased with his own blood." Acts xx.

This is indeed freedom; and God gave not for the redemption the most glorious thing he had created;-that would have failed, and been utterly without avail;-but he spared not his Son, his only Son, but gave him up for us all. Rom. viii. 32. O dear children, think on this; and whilst you rejoice (and every one ought to rejoice) that the man-stealer has been stopped, both in the taking of his prey, and in the market, yet rejoice still more when the strong man armed, that kept the city, is bound and cast out, and the Holy Spirit has taken his place, dwelling in, and ruling over the new-born man, devoting himself entirely to God.

How glittering must the breastplate of Aaron have looked with those twelve precious gems set therein, in the curious embroidery of the blue, purple, scarlet, and gold, of the Ephod; which, with a chain of wreathed gold, was fastened to the two shoulder-pieces, wherein were also two precious stones, and the NAMES of the twelve Tribes engraved on both. The names also of Christ's children, the Israel of God, are engraved on his heart and are more precious to him than the glowing ruby, the sparkling diamond, the sapphire, the jasper, and all the gems on Aaron's breastplate: indeed, he calls his people his jewels, his peculiar treasure. Mal. iii. 17. The affection of the High Priest, and the power of the High Priest are wreathed in one, as set forth by the golden chain that fastened into one of the precious stones on the heart and shoulders of Aaron; and there is never