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that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

2 Cor. iv. 4. The God of this world hath blinded the eyes of them which believe not.

Dan. xii. 3. They that be wise shall shine as the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever,

1 Cor. xv. 41. One star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.

LESSON VII.

THE BEE.

HERE is a piece of pure white honey. comb. How exactly it is formed into cells, all of a size, and all of the same curious and convenient figure, with six sides or walls, and the bottom so contrived as to answer to the cells on either side. Yet, exact and wonderful as this honeycomb is, the bee made it and measured it in the dark! No man could have made it ju the light; because no man hat the fingers or the wisdom of the bee.

The bee, to look upop, is a poor little brown fly, with no beauty to make us admire

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admire it; yet it is the wisest of all insects. So is the nightingale, with all its musical notes, which fill the woods, and charm the ear in the spring time, a little brown bird, not so handsome as a sparrow. The excellence of these creatures is in their art and wisdom, not in their outward form and beauty. The painted butterfly is very much admired, but it never makes any honey. The peacock has feathers embroidered with gold, and shining like the rainbow; but its voice is little better than the braying of the ass.

The bee, like the ant, is a pattern of diligence. As often as the sun shines, she goes out to work, and never loses any opportunity of gathering and laying up her honey. There is an idle sort of bees in the hive, which are called drones; these are killed and cast out by the busy bees; and it is a rule amongst them, as it ought to be amongst Christians, that if any will not work, neither should he eat; as being one who is unworthy to live. If any man eat without working, somebody else must work the more for it. If one of the legs should be benumbed, and will not walk, the other leg must do the work of both.

When

When the bees swarm, a royal bee, larger than the rest, is their leader, who is said to be a female; her motions they all obey. Wherever this bee pleases to alight, there the swarm settles; and they live orderly under her government in the hive.There is one who keeps watch toward the mouth of the hive, to ob serve all that pass in and out. If one bee is overloaded, others go to help it: and if one hath suffered from the weather, or any other accident, another goes to it to comfort and cure it. They are armed with stings to defend themselves, and they all fight together in a body against an enemy, so that neither man nor beast can resist their power.

Happy is the man, and happy are the people, who are directed by such rules of wisdom and policy as the bees are!

THE QUESTIONS.

Q. Can a man make a honeycomb ? A. No art can make it but that of the bee.

Q. And who taught the bee?

A. The Creator of the world.

Q. Does it want the day-light when it is busy?

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A. No,

A. No, it measures its work in the dark.

Q. What is the other example of industry among the insects?

A. The ant, whose ways are very instructive to us.

Q. How does the swarm treat the idle bees?

A. They kill them and cast them out. Q. Have the bees a royal leader? A. Yes; and they are all obedient subjects.

Q. How do the bees. defend themselves?

A. With their stings.

Q. Against what enemies?

A. Against wasps and other robbers.

THE TEXTS.

Ecclus. ix. 23.

Commend not a man for his beauty; neither abhor a man for his outward appearance. The bee is little among such as fly, but her fruit is the chief of sweet things. 1

Jam. i. 5. If any lack wisdom, let him ask of God...

Prov. vi. 6. Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways, and be wise.

2 Thess.

2 Thess. iii. 10.

This we commanded

you, that if any would not work, neither

should he eat.

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THE BLOWING FLOWER.

IN the spring the plant groweth up, and its seeds are ripe in the summer and the autumnu. Its leaves are green and its flowers are painted with colours; some are red, some blue, some yellow, some mixed and spotted, and some of a pure white, like the lily. The fine painted leaves of the flower are the cloathing which covers the seeds while they are young and tender. For this reason, the leaves of the flower shut close together in the evening to guard the young seeds from the cold of the night; as the hen covereth her young brood under her wings. But in the day-time, the rays of the sun spread the flower open, and tlie seeds receive the benefit of the warmth to cherish them, aud make them grow.

When

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