It is pretty enough to see children make their cat's cradles with a piece of string; tie up their buttercups into a posey, and blow their bubbles of soap and water; but surely it is high time for us to be differently occupied, to anticipate other things.

If the symbols of coming decrepitude; if the dim eye, the grey hair, the wrinkled brow, and the declining strength of a man, do not persuade him to think less of earth, and more of heaven, what will suffice? If they do not convince him that the time is short, and dispose him to hear Moses and the prophets, and the apostles, would he listen if one were to rise from the dead? Oh no! the heart needs changing. May Divine grace turn our hearts and hopes from earth to heaven!

"When I was a child," says the apostle, "I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things." Ay, and let us put them away too; let our anticipations be of a more exalted character; let us look forward to, and long for, a home in heaven! a white robe! a golden crown! a burst of hallelujahs! the society of saints and angels, and the presence of God! Happy those of whom it was said, "Ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the

heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel," Heb. xii. 22-24.

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FEW PASSING THOUGHTS.

ALWAYS carry a few crumbs of Scripture about you, that you may nibble at them as opportunity may serve. It is a bad thing to fast too long, either as it respects the bread that perishes, or that which endureth for ever.

The clock-face not only tells us the hour of the day, but also how much of that day we have lived and died.

A Christian may learn a lesson from the swallow. He may build a temporary house on the earth, but his desires should be ever on the wing heavenward.

Venture not on the precipice of temptation; the ground is deceitful, and a false step, or a sudden blast, may bring about your destruction.

When you see in a pottle of strawberries, that the finest fruit is placed purposely at the top, take the following hint :-There are toppers in dress, toppers in trade, toppers in learning, and toppers in religion, as well as toppers in strawberries.

Never take the humble and the proud at their own valuation; the estimate of the former will be too low, that of the latter sadly too high.

If you want to see a melancholy sight, look at a man professing Christianity, giving way to passion, and bristling up like a hedgehog twenty times a day.

Bad as it is to bite a man's fingers with your teeth, it is worse to mangle his reputation with your tongue.

The dearest of all dinners may be that for which you do not pay a crust of your own is better in the end than a haunch of venison given by another.

Afflicted Christians, like Paul and his companions may be sadly buffeted by the waves; but whether they "cast themselves into the sea," or ride on boards, or on broken pieces of the ship, it is one comfort that they are sure to get "safe to land."

It is a fearful thing to tempt His wrath, holds in his hands the lightnings of heaven.

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He who hopes to go to heaven on account of his good works, and he who expects to go there without doing any, may shake hands, for one is as deep in the mud as the other is in the mire.

When I see the profusion of daisies, primroses, buttercups, and cowslips of the fields, and the

hips, the haws, the sloes, and the blackberries of the hedges, I burst into the heartfelt ejaculation, "What bountiful supplies are provided for the little birds and insects!"

Never do we so truly value our bits and drops, as when we see the hand of God stretched out to bestow them.

True religion embraces the highest degree of love for God and man. When I meet a man too wise, too upright, and too virtuous, then I shall expect to meet with one too religious.

He who punishes an enemy has a momentary pleasure; he who forgives one has an abiding satisfaction.

The Christian's heart cannot always be merry; but it must be sadly out of tune when it cannot sing of mercy.