smite thee, and take carcases of the host address of the son of Jesse to this man of Gath!" Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will thine head from thee; and I will give the of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands." 1 Sam. xvii. 45-47. The Fly. "Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour; so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour" Eccles. x. 1. It is the exceeding insignificance of a dead fly that gives force to this image; but thus it is, that at times the most trifling thing, coming by surprise on a very correct person, causes him to commit himself; and the precious ointment which should be all fragrant, (that is, his profession of the name of Christ, whose "name is as ointment poured forth," Cant. i. 3) is defiled by this neglect of watchfulness and dependance on God. The Leech. When you see this little insect, most valuable in its place, crying, "Give, give," I think the lesson to be learnt is not imitation, but the reverse. A craving after gifts is most undesirable, whether in grown up people, or children. (Prov. xxx. 15.) *The Earth Worm. This is the lowest insect in the scale of Creation; and yet, Job, in the deepest humility, thus speaks of himself," I have said to corruption, thou art my father; and to the worm, thou art my mother, and my sister," Job xvii. 15. But Job had hopes beyond this relationship,-" Dust he was, and to dust he would return." But how glorious his hope, "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me," Job xix. 26-27. Blessed, indeed, was the hope of Job; and happy, and only happy that man who has the same hope; he can look beyond the sorrows of the grave, and rejoice in the thought, that even over the bodies of the saints alive at the Lord's appearing, death shall have no power. How beautiful the language of St. Paul,-" Behold I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." This will be the triumph of the Lord and His church; and then will death be : *Our blessed Lord, in Ps. xxii. says of himself, "I am a worm, and no man:" this was in the deepest hour of his sorrow: but in the very same Psalm, in the fulness of his anticipated joy, the word is, "My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation." v. 25. swallowed up in victory:-"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Cor. xv. 57. And now, my beloved children, I must bring my long series to a close. Very happy have I been in thus endeavouring to search out, both through the fields of nature, and especially in God's blessed word, instruction for you. Imperfectly I feel it is done; but still, I trust, the Lord will own it. May you, and OUR DEAR ABSENT ONE, be indeed found children of God, and adopted into his happy, holy family; and know in your own souls the power of this word,-" Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation," Heb. ix. 28. How sweet the invocation of our Poet Cowper, "Come, then, and added to thy many crowns, Receive yet one,-the crown of all the earth,— Thou who alone art worthy! It was thine By ancient covenant, ere Nature's birth, And thou hast made it thine by purchase since, And overpaid its value by thy blood. Thy saints proclaim thee King; and in their hearts, Thy title is engraved, with a pen, Dipp'd in the fountain of eternal love. Come, then, and added to thy many crowns, Receive yet one, as radiant as the rest, 396 Farewell, my beloved children; my first and last prayer shall be for you, that you may love the Lord; and, resting alone on the precious blood and righteousness of Christ, may be faithful in every good word and work-blessed of God-and a blessing to others. Believe me, Ever your affectionate Father. APPENDIX. FRONTISPIECE. The arrangement of the names, on the inner circle, is to meet the desire of those who have friends going abroad, or already settled there. How often is the question asked, in every family where those dear to them are far away, "I wonder what our brother, or sister, or friends are doing now?" One glance at the Dial, will, at least, in part, answer the question. The line of the steam voyage to Bombay, Calcutta, China, is marked by Malta, Alexandria, the entrance to the Red Sea, Bombay, Calcutta, Canton, Chusan; and the long sca voyage by the Cape of Good Hope, &c. The voyage to Australia, and Otaheite, may be also traced. Those having friends in the United States, and Canada, and the high Northern Latitudes, where the fur trade is, will see they are not forgotten. Nice, in the South of France, will be interesting to those who have friends in those quarters. And lastly, with the object of showing, that even places so near as Dublin have a sensible variation of time, that city is marked, though it is not quite 7 degrees West of us; but it was inserted, being so well known. LIGHT-page 9. The opinions of learned men, as to light, are various; but certain principles all agree in, viz., that it is compounded of seven different colours, that is, violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red; these mixed in their due |