gratitude, like Israel's shepherd king "How great are thy works, O Lord! Thou hast made all things in wisdom. The earth is filled with thy riches." (Ps. ciii.) Thus, they who work in the fields, may see a lesson in each flower, A story in each stream and bower; It has been already observed that there is a shady as well as a brilliant side to the happiest events. Being the precursors of frigid atmospheric changes, the foliage robes of autumn are gradually tinged with a russet hue— the emblem of decay and death;—they remind us of that prophetic warning: "we all fade like a leaf." (Is. lxiv.) "Ye wither'd leaves and flowers, oh! may you long impart Monition, grave and moral, stern, unto the erring heart. Oh! teach it, that the joys of earth are short-lived, vain, and frail, And transient, as the leaves and flowers, before the wintry gale! The sky's passing clouds, and speedy winds forewarn pilgrims, whether young or old, that this world's fashion. passeth away. With a mute eloquence, that no words can equal, even harvesting reminds that "all flesh is as grass;" and that from the highest to the lowest, in death's world-wide farm, mortals are cut down by the scythe ofthe universal reaper. Prodigal as God's bounty is, in autumn, especially, to the industrious children of men, yet, they should not forget to fear the Lord, their God, who giveth them, in His season," the early and the latter rain." Gratefully, moreover, all should love Him "who preserveth unto us the fulness of the annual harvest." (Jer. vi.) "When spring uncloaks the flowers, to paint the laughing soil, If in the last of nature's seasons, there be much that is repulsive; yet, even winter's cold aspect gives testimony to the providence of the Most High. "When God bloweth there cometh frost; and again the waters are poured out abundantly. He commandeth the snow to go down upon the earth, and the winter rain, and the shower of His strength." (Job.) "Hast thou entered into the store-houses of the snow, or hast thou beheld the treasurers of the hail? Out of whose womb came the ice; and the frost from heaven, who hath gendered it? The waters are hardened like stone, and the surface of the deep is congealed." (Job xxxviii.) Excepting the trees, called evergreens, other forest plantations, and garden shrubs, now look skeleton-like, desolate, and forlorn. During winter's sway, also, ice, snow, hail, floods, winds, and storms, lord it wide, and rule, in succession, the dormant earth. "By His commandment, (God) maketh the snow to fall apace. And as the birds alighting upon the earth, He scattereth snow; and the falling thereof, is as the com ing down of locusts. The eye admireth at the beauty of the whiteness thereof, and the heart is astonished at the shower thereof. He shall pour frost as salt upon the earth; and when it freezeth, it shall become like the tops of the thistles. The cold north wind bloweth, and the water is congealed into crystal, upon every gathering together of the waters, it shall rest, and shall clothe the waters as a breastplate." (Eccles. xliii.) "The birds of song are silent now, There are no flowers blooming; "Ask ye of the Lord, rain in the latter season, and the Lord will make snows, and will give them showers of rain, to every one, grass in the field.” (Zach. x.) In the meantime, (the Lord) "giveth snow like wool; and scattereth mists like ashes; He sendeth His crystal like morsels; who shall stand before the face of His cold? He shall send out His word, and shall melt them; His wind shall blow, and the waters shall run." (Ps. cxlvii.) "Through woods, and meads, in shade, and sun, Wave succeeding wave they go, A various journey to the deep. Thus, is Nature's vesture wrought, To instruct our wandering thought." A botanist remarks that snow is a protection to young vegetables beneath; so much so, that some plants would However uncouth perish for want of such a covering. its mien, or chilling its frown, still, snow-clad winter encouragingly proclaims, to young and old, that they must patiently endure what they cannot cure, until life's evening closes in celestial rest. A similar view of Nature's varied aspects, doubtless, suggested to England's martyr-poet, the following appropriate lines: "Not always fall of leaf, nor ever spring, Nor endless night, nor yet, eternal day; The roughest storm, a calm may soon allay; It is not to be said, "this is worse than that," for according to Holy writ, "all shall be well approved in their time. All things are double, one against another, and God hath made nothing defective. He hath estab lished the good things of every one; and who shall be filled with beholding His glory?" (Eccles. xlii.) "Thus, is man's spring-his summer such, With frosty winter, and life touch, With heaven-born hope, her end." "How great are Thy works, O Lord! Thou hast made all things in wisdom; the earth is filled with Thy riches." (Ps. ciii.) CHAPTER VIII. THE TESTIMONY OF PLANTS, FLOWERS, AND FRUITS—THE LILY, ROSE, DAISY, ETC. "All ye things that spring up in the earth, bless the Lord." (Dan. ii.) "There shall come forth a stem out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise out of His root." (Is. xi.) "The flowers appear upon the earth, stayed up with flowers." (Cant. ii.) 66 Among them, to the curious eye, A little monitor presents her page Of choice instruction, with her snowy bells- "I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys." (Id.) "Hear me, ye divine offspring, and bud forth as the rose planted by the brooks of waters: give ye a sweet odour, as frankincense; send forth flowers, as the lily, and yield a smell; and bring forth leaves, in grace, and praise with canticles, and bless the Lord in His works." (Eccles.) The Omnipotent was the first gardener. Microscopes show how the smallest seeds and leaves are miracles of His creative wisdom. "O stranger pilgrim! who art pleased to rove |