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O Christian! be this thine only care: if called to suffer, see that thou suffer with Christ.

O Saviour! when shall I,

From earthly bonds set free!
Expand my gladsome wings, and fly
To reign and rest with THEE?

SEVENTH DAY.

"I MEDITATE ON ALL THY WORKS; I MUSE ON THE WORK OF THY HANDS."-Ps. cxliii. 5.

I have watched the butterfly in the sunny day of its evanescent, but happy existence; I have seen it expatiate, on light and buoyant wing, hither and thither, as this or that form of beauty, radiant in hue, or fragrant in perfume, attracted its attention, and invited it to settle for a while on the soft and silken surface. It does not live in vain; it has its place and its office in the creation of God;

it is a part of his works, a beautiful specimen of the skill of his hands. True it may apparently exist but to enjoy; and even were it so, could no higher purpose be discerned for its little life, even this, as a single principle, would serve to magnify the glorious and benign Creator. It is the work of God-life in joy: but it is more;-it is an image and figure of a something far more high and blessed: "I muse on the work of thy hands ;" and, musing, I ascend, as by steps, from the minute to the magnificent; I think of life in its higher degrees, in its nobler expansion; I think of the cherubim and the seraphim; of living intelligence, the radiance of holiness, and the joys of glorified spirits: these also are the work of thy hands." Again I meditate; my thoughts return; they fall inward, and fix upon myself. God hath given me life; and for a purpose, and to an end. Let the fly traverse the element for which it is fitted ; there let it display the beauty, and enjoy the

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volatility, of its embroidered wing. God has enriched my soul with more exalted and holier powers. I am not yet an angel !—but angel!—but

to this I am predestined: I shall be as the angels; if counted worthy to be one of the children of the resurrection. I shall wing my way over all the wonderful works of the Almighty; and shall know the joy of existence-not with the worms of the earth-not with the re-animated chrysalis—but with the saints in glory! And my sunny day will never be overclouded, will never have an end; for that day is ETERNITY! and its sunshine is THE LIGHT OF THE GLORY OF GOD! THE LORD WILL BE TO ME AN EVERLASTING LIGHT, AND MY GOD MY GLORY. Isa. lx. 19. And is there not a lesson which even now, for my present improvement, this little creature may read to me. Although I am yet, for a season, shut up in this prison of clay; I may soar by faith-yes, on the wings of faith and loveI may soar, and pass over the miry swamp

and dusty path of this world's sterile surface; and settle in heart upon the blossoms of hope; and drink in all that is fragrant, and delight myself in all that is fair and blessed; in the Paradise of God's revelation.

If the dust of thy creation,

God of wonders! baffle me;

How shall thought, or meditation,

Scale the heavens, and reach to THEE?

WEEK X.

FIRST DAY.

"THEY SHALL HUNGER NO MORE, NEITHER THIRST

ANY MORE, NEITHER SHALL THE SUN LIGHT ON THEm, nor ANY HEAT."-Rev. vii. 16.

My God! I love to meditate on Thee!

To think upon thy words, thy works, thy ways!
And in another world my joy will be

To bless thy holy Name, and sing thy praise.
I love to think upon that world of light ;
That world where Jesus reigns, the world above;
Where faith and hope are perfected in sight;
Where Thou art known in truth and served in love.

The surges beat not on that happy shore;
No wave of sorrow there shall ever rise;
For sin, in all its forms, is known no more,
And death, with all its power, for ever dies.

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