generous; the carriage endearing; the life ho nourable and useful.

O! that governors of families, and masters of schools, would watch, with a conscientious solicitude, over the morals of their tender charge! What pity it is, that the advancing generation should lose these invaluable endowments, through any supineness in their instructors!-See! with what assiduity the curious florist attends his little nursery! He visits them early and late; furnishes them with the properest mold; supplies them with seasonable moisture; guards them from the ravages of insects; screens them from the injuries of the weather; marks their springing buds; observes them attentively, through their whole progress; and never intermits his anxiety, till he beholds them blown into perfection.-And shall a range of painted leaves, which flourish to-day, and to-morrow fall to the ground-shall these be tended with more zealous application than the exalted faculties of an immortal soul?

Yet trust not in cultivation alone. It is the blessing of the Almighty Husbandman which imparts success to such labours of love. If God "seal up the bottles of heaven," and command the clouds to withhold their fatness, the best manured plot becomes a barren desert. And if He restrain the dew of his heavenly benediction, all human endeavours miscarry; the rational plantation languishes; our most pregnant hopes, from youths of the most promising genius, prove

A teneris assuescere tanti est! Virg.

- 8 γαρ μικρόν διαφέρει, το όπως η όπως ευθύς εκ ντων εθιζεσθαι, άλλα πάμπολύ, μάλλον δε το παν. Aristot. The principles we imbibe, and the habits we contract, in our early years, are not matters of small moment, but of the utmost consequence imaginable. They not only give a transient or superficial tincture to our first appearance in life, but most commonly stamp the form of our whole future conduct, and even of our eternal state.

abortive. Their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom will go up as dust.-Therefore, let parents plant; let tutors water; but let both look up to the Father of Spirits, for the desired increase.

On every side, I espy several budding flowers. As yet, they are like bales of cloth from the packer's warehouse. Each is wrapt within a strong enclosure, and its contents are tied together by the firmest bandages: so that all their beauties lie concealed, and all their sweets are locked up.-Just such is the niggardly wretch, whose aims are all turned inward, and meanly terminated upon himself; who makes his own private interests, or personal pleasures the sole centre of his designs, and the scanty circumference of his actions.

Ere long, the searching beams will open these silken folds, and draw them into a graceful expansion. Then, what a lovely blush will glow in their cheeks; and what a balmy odour exhale from their bosoms!-So, when divine grace shines upon the mind, even the churl becomes bountiful. The heart of stone is taken away; and a heart of flesh, a heart susceptible of the softest, most compassionate emotions, is introduced in its stead. O how sweetly do the social affections dilate themselves, under so benign an influence! Just like these disclosing gems, under the powerful eye of day. The tender regards are no longer confined to a single object; but extend themselves into a generous concern for mankind, and shed liberal refreshments on all within their reacht.

Isa. v. 24.

The prophet, describing the charitable temper, very beautifully says; if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry This, I think, may not improperly be illustrated by the circumstances observed above. The opening of those buds into a large and extensive spread, is a pretty portrait of the amplitude of a generous heart; which cannot shut up its compassion, or remain unconcerned at any human calamity, The freeness and copiousness, with which the

Arise then, thou Sun of Righteousness; arise, with healing under thy wings, and transfuse thy gentle but penetrating ray, through all our intel lectual powers. Enlarge every narrow disposition, and fill us with a diffusive benevolence. Make room in our breasts for the whole human race; and teach us to love all our fellow-creatures, for their amiable Creator's sake. May we be pleased with their excellencies, and rejoice in their happi ness; but feel their miseries as our own, and, with a brother's sympathy, hasten to relieve them!

Disposed at proper distances, I observe a range of strong and stately stalks. They stand like towers, along the walls of a fortified city; or rise like lofty spires, amidst the group of houses. They part, at the top, into several pensile spiky pods from each of which we shall soon see a fine figure displaying itself; rounded into a form which constitutes a perfect circle; spread wide open into the most frank and communicative air; and tinged with the colour which is so peculiarly captivating to the miser's eye.

But the property I chiefly admire, is its passionate fondness for the sun. When the evening shades take place, the poor flower droops, and folds up its leaves. It mourns all the long night, and pines amidst the gloom, like some forlorn lover, banished from the object of his affections. No sooner does providence open "the eyelids of "the morning," but it meets and welcomes thè returning light; courts and caresses it all the day; nor ever loses sight of the refulgent charmer, so

expanded flowers are continually pouring out their choicest essences, may represent the various acts of an unwearied liberality; together with those endearing words, and that cordial affection, which embalm, as it were, a gift: double its value; and constitute what, the sacred penman styles drawing out the soul. pant deproimpseris animam tuam. Isai. Iviii. 10.

Illa sunm, quamvis radice tenetur,
Vertitur ad solem

Ovid.

long as he continues above the horizon!-In the morning, you may perceive it presenting a golden bosom to the east; at noon, it points upward to the middle sky; in the evening, follows the same attractive influence to the west.

Surely, nature is a book, and every page rich with sacred hints. To an attentive mind, the garden turns preacher; and its blooming tenants are so many lively sermons. What an engaging pat tern, and what an excellent lesson, have we here! So, let the redeemed of the Lord look unto Jesus, and be conformed to their beloved. Let us all be heliotropes (if I may use the expression) to the Sun of Righteousness. Let our passions rise and fall; take this course or that; as his word determines, as his holy example guides. Let us be so accommodated, both to his commanding and providential will, as the wax is turned to the imprinted seal; or, as the aspect of this ena moured flower to the splendid star which creates our day.

In every enjoyment, O thou watchful Christian, look unto Jesus; receive it as proceeding from his love, and purchased by his agonies t.-In every tribulation look unto Jesus; mark his gracious band, managing the scourge, or mingling the bitter cup; attempering it to a proper degree of se verity; adjusting the time of its continuance; and ready to make these seeming disasters productive of real good. In every infirmity and failing, look unto Jesus, thy merciful high-priest; pleading his atoning blood, and making intercession for trans gressors. In every prayer look unto Jesus, thy prevailing advocate; recommending thy devotions,

Heb. xii. 2.

+ He sunk beneath our heavy woes,
To raise us to his throne:

There's not a gift his hand bestows,
But cost his heart a groan.

Watts.

and "bearing the iniquity of thy holy things." In every temptation look unto Jesus, the author of thy strength, and captain of thy salvation; who alone is able to lift up the hands which hang down, to invigorate the enfeebled knees, and make thee more than conqueror over all thy enemies.But especially when the hour of thy departure approaches; when "thy flesh and thy heart fail;" when all the springs of life are irreparably breaking; then look unto Jesus with a believing eye t. Like expiring Stephen, behold him standing at the right-hand of God, on purpose to succour his people in this their last extremity. Yes, my Christian, friend, when thy journey through life is finished, and thou art arrived on the very verge of mortality; when thou art just launching out into the invisible world, and all before thee is vast eternity; then, O then, be sure to look stedfastly unto Jesus! "See by faith the Lord's Christ: view him as the only way to the everlasting mansions, as the only door to the abodes of bliss.

Yonder tree, which faces the south, has something too remarkable to pass without observation. -Like the fruitful, though feeble vine, she brings forth a large family of branches; but, unable to support them herself, commits them to the tuition of a sunny wall. As yet the tender twigs have scarce gemmed their future blossoms. However, I may anticipate the well-known productions, and picture to myself the passion-flower, which will, in due time, with a long and copious succession, adorn the boughs.

I have read, in a Latin author, of flowers in

Exod. xxviii. 38.

+ Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. Isa, xlv, 22.