its voice, which used to make such sweet music for its father and mother, is hushed, and never sings again on this earth. And so you see, that they who did not know what was the matter with it, and could not cure it, could not have made it. Who, then, did make it? It must have been a Maker who is much wiser than the wisest of men. God made it; and he made us all.

And not only did God make all men, all human beings, but he made all things. God made everything that you behold, and everything that is. Do you not suppose that the great and mighty sun, which gives light and heat to the whole world, must have been made by a Being greater and mightier than the sun? How calmly and softly the moon shines down upon you, on a pleasant summer night, as if it loved to watch over good children, and cover them all around with peace and moonbeams. Do you not think it must have been a great and good Being who placed it in the sky, and gave it all that quiet and gentle light? Then there is the multitude of stars, twinkling over your heads like so many lamps burning up in a grand arch.

But almost every child knows that they are not lamps, but vast worlds, larger than the whole earth, and as large as our sun, which is more than a million times as large as the earth. Every star is a sun; and it seems like a lamp, only because it is so far away from you. So, when you see the twinkling stars, you see mighty suns. There they certainly are, shining gloriously like our own sun, and very probably giving light and heat to thousands of worlds, which are full of creatures like our own earth, but which are so far away that we cannot see them at all. It must be a very powerful Being who made all these suns and worlds. That Being is God.

Now that I am speaking of the stars, I will tell you what has sometimes happened to me, when I have been in grief or trouble, and my heart has felt sad and heavy. If, at such a time, I have looked at the stars, and considered that they are mighty worlds, and that they all stand quietly in their places, and do their duty under the eye of their Maker, I have thought that the same God who made them made me too, and that he must be so wise and good as to know what is best for me,

and to take care of me as well as of them. And after I have thought this so strongly that the stars almost seemed to speak it into my heart, I have been comforted, and my sadness has left me. Perhaps when you are older, and are in any trouble or sorrow, the stars may speak comfortably to you, in the same

manner.

But, my children, it is not only these high and stupendous things which require the hand of God to make them. Much smaller things, which we see about us on the earth, could only be fashioned by the same hand. The green grass, and the gray moss, and the sweet and lovely flowers, and the little birds, and the yet smaller insects are made by God; and no one else could make them. In all such things there is something curious for us to learn, and much besides which is past our finding out. Do you think that the most ingenious man on earth could make a butterfly? He might make something to look like a butterfly, but he could not cause it to live and to feel. No; he could no more make a butterfly than he could make a star. For my

own part, I would as soon undertake to make

a magnificent starry world, and hang it up, millions of miles away in the sky, as to make a real living butterfly or a beetle or a creeping worm. Therefore, children, you should be careful never to despise those little things as some people very unwisely do. It is much wiser to study and admire them. But if you should not have time or inclination to study them, I do hope that you will never be so silly as to despise them; for you may rest assured, that what God, in his wisdom, has seen fit to make, and nothing but his wisdom and power could make, it does not become you or any one else to treat with contempt.

My children, hearken unto me a moment longer, and then I shall finish this sermon. In explaining to you how you may know that God made you, and all things, I spoke only of your bodies, and did not mention your souls. But if God made your bodies, much more must he have been the Maker of your souls, those souls which think and remember and feel and are listening to me now,for those souls are even more wonderfully made than your bodies, or than the stars of the sky. Or, if they are not more wonder

ful, they are certainly more important to each one of you. But as I shall have occasion, at some other time, to speak to you more about your souls, or that most important part of you which thinks and understands and acts, I will only say now, that the soul of every child is dear to God who made it; and I sincerely believe, that though God is pleased to see the sun and moon and stars shining to his praise, and the grass springing, and the flowers blowing on his own earth, and all creatures enjoying the life which he gave them, he is more pleased to see the soul of a child shining with the light of virtue, and growing up in goodness and usefulness and joy, like a beautiful and healthy plant.

If I find that you understand this sermon, and are interested by it, I shall preach to you some more discourses, which I hope will be pleasant and instructive. And now let us, together, ascribe unto Almighty God, our Creator and heavenly Father, all praise and glory forever.