secret chamber like a crane, or chatter like a swallow. It was well for Hezekiah that he knew the only true source of consolation under affliction; he not only bewailed his misery to those around him, but he uttered his complaint unto God, and the Lord regarded the voice of his supplication and of his prayer, and brought him up again from the gates of death, to praise His name in the land of the living. We can never be brought into circumstances too low for Sovereign mercy to reach us, or for Almighty power to rescue us; and when every other means fail, prayer may yet be availing; and the prayer of faith assuredly will, either in procuring the removal of the affliction, or its being sanctified and over-ruled for greater good.

The Dove.

The dove, from its harmless and endearing manner, has ever been a favourite with mankind in every age and nation both civilized and rude, and the references of scripture to this pleasing bird are both numerous and important. There are several species of doves or pigeons, and many minor varieties. Those principally demanding notice, and which indeed comprehend all the varieties alluded to, are, the stock-dove or domestic pigeon, the ring-dove, and the turtle.

The stock-dove in its natural state is of a deep bluish ash colour, the breast dashed with a fine changeable green and purple, its wings marked with

two black bars, and the tail barred near the end with black.

These birds breed every month, laying two white eggs, which commonly, though not uniformly, produce young ones of different sexes. They are remarkably attentive to the business of hatching their eggs and attending their young, the labour being divided between the parent birds: the hen sits from three or four o'clock in the afternoon till nine the next day; the male then takes his place, and releases her to take food and exercise. If either parent should be dilatory, and delay returning to the nest at the appointed time, the other pursues and drives the loiterer home.

The hen-pigeon is, however, so constant to her eggs, that one was observed whose legs were frozen and dropped off, notwithstanding all the pain she endured. to maintain her station until her young ones were hatched.

So abundant is the produce of the pigeon in its domestic state, that it is said nearly fifteen thousand may in four years be produced from a single pair. What a mercy that this extraordinary fecundity and early maturity, together with the parental assiduity and the familiar reliance upon man, on which both so much depend, are not bestowed upon birds of ferocious natures and destructive habits!

The ring-dove is considerably larger than the common domestic pigeon, it inhabits the woods, building its nest with a few dry sticks on the boughs of trees.

This bird is strongly attached to its native freedom; all attempts to render it domestic have proved fruitless, for though the eggs of the wood-pigeon have been hatched in a dove-house by a tame pigeon, as soon as ever the young ones could fly, they betook themselves to their native woods.

The turtle is a smaller and much shyer bird than either of the former. It may easily be distinguished from the rest by the iris of the eye, which is of a fine yellow, and by a beautiful crimson circle that surrounds the eyelids. The turtle is a bird of passage, seeking a warmer climate for the winter season. These birds delight in open, mountainous, sandy countries, and build in the holes or clefts of rocks, or in excavated trees. They fly in flocks, yet are remarkable for their conjugal attachment and fidelity. The tender cooings of these innocent creatures are among the most soothing and pleasing of rural sounds. They never forsake each other until death terminate their union,* and even then the survivor continues in mournful strains to deplore its loss, generally until death puts a period to its sorrows.

Among the numerous references of scripture, the following are some of the principal. It is meutioned,

1. As a clean bird, and not only permitted for food, but also enjoined in sacrifice. "A turtle-dove and a young pigeon" were a part of the sacrifice pre

The amiable Cowper has an exquisitely beautiful poem on the conjugal tenderness and fidelity of the dove.

scribed to Abraham preparatory to a Divine communication about to be made to him of the destinies of his posterity for ages to come, Gen. xv. 9. There is a general permission (Lev. x. 14.) to use these birds in sacrifice; also directions for offering them, on occasion of the consecration of a Nazarite, Numb. vi. 10.; and some particular instances specified in case of poverty, as a substitute for the more expensive offering of a lamb, as for the purification of a woman after childbearing, Lev. xii. 6, 8. and for the cleansing of a leper, Lev. xiv. 22, 30.

How condescending and encouraging is this merciful provision! Let none be discouraged on

account of the smallness and meanness of their offering, compared with that of others; if presented with a humble and a willing mind, it is accepted, not according to the value, but according to the will; thus the turtle-dove or young pigeon was as acceptable in the eye of Heaven as the lamb ; and the widow's two mites were estimated above all the splendid offering of the self-righteous and vain-glorious Pharisees. It is interesting to know, that when the Lord of glory condescended to take on him our human, that he might impart to us his heavenly nature, and to become poor for our sakes that we through his poverty might be made rich; so mean was the sphere of life on which he entered, that his virgin mother, though of royal extraction, was in cir-. cumstances that compelled her to accept the merciful provision alluded to, and to offer, not the costly lamb,