DIVINE POWER AND PROVIDENCE. 'He commanded, and they were created.'-Psa. cxlviii. 5.

'The Lord is good to all; and His tender mercies are over all His works.'--Psa. cxlv. 9.

'Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.'-Matt. x. 29, 30.

THE

HE sun, the moon, the earth, the stars, The hills and rocks, their peaks and scars, Each wood and vale, with tree and flower, Proclaim Almighty power.

The day for work, the night for rest,
The wealth of food from Nature's breast,
The pouring shower, the warm sunshine,
Declare that power benign.

The beasts that roam with earthward gaze,
That have no soul for prayer or praise,-
Down to the velvet mining mole,-

Know Mercy's sweet control.
The fish that swim in ocean vast,
And in the stream that wimples past,-
The monster whale, the minnow small,-
God owns and cares for all.

The happy birds that skim the air,
And pour their music everywhere,-
No lifeless tit can touch the sod

Without the eye of God.

The gnat, the bee, the butterfly,
The worm, the newt, the polype,
Are objects of His ceaseless care
Who governs everywhere.

And shall a little child like me,
Who wonders what I am to be,
Doubt that I share the care and love
Of Him who reigns above?
No; for my Saviour one day said
That every hair upon my head
('Tis written in His blessed word)
Is counted by the Lord.
Then I shall try to do His will,
His holy purpose to fulfil;
For I desire to see His face

Within His holy place.

D. ANDREW.

PRIZE BIBLE QUESTIONS. Competition is limited to those under 14 years of age. The answers to be sent to the REV. JOHN KAY, 2 Cumin Place, Grange, Edinburgh, by the 25th of each month.

22 In one epistle the importance of good works is stated in four different passages. Give the verses.

23 From the same epistle give a verse which clearly states that salvation is not by works. 24 What believer did Jesus commend for having done a good work?

98

L

LITTLE ANNIE'S PRIZE. ITTLE Annie has just brought home a volume of 'The Dayspring,' which has been given her as a prize for regular attendance at the Sabbath School.

Annie, and her sister Jane, both love the Sabbath School, and are very attentive to their lessons. They can always repeat their verses correctly, and their teacher never requires to reprove them for coming late or for disturbing the class in any way. Their exemplary conduct is a great help and encouragement to their teacher. If the others in the class would only imitate these two sisters, how happy she would be.

Annie is much pleased with her nice prize, and only sorry for her sister who could not get one,—having been prevented by sickness from attending during a few weeks in winter. Annie knows well that it was God who kept her strong and well during the whole year, and she wishes Jane to enjoy her prize the same as if it had been her own. She may have it to read whenever she pleases. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.'

The two sisters are enjoying the book together; look at them admiring a picture of a thrush singing on a branch.

It

Those of our readers who have got the volume of The Dayspring' for 1875, will find, at page 49, the very engraving at which Annie and Jane are looking. illustrates an interesting account of a Sabbath spent at Bearsden. The thrush in the early morning is singing his song of praise to God. But the children wish to see all the pictures before they begin to read the stories. Turning over the leaves they stopped at an engraving of Andrew Melville, that bold reformer, standing before King James, and saying to him: There are two kings and two kingdoms in Scotland; there is King James, the head of this commonwealth; and there is Christ Jesus, the King of the Church, whose subject James the Sixth is; and of whose kingdom he is not a king, nor a lord, nor a head, but a member.’

Then they found a picture of Aberdeen, with an account of good Samuel Rutherford, who was so long imprisoned in that town and who wrote so many beautiful letters there. A picture of John Welch praying for Scotland, with his bible open before him, interested little Annie so much that she could not turn over any more leaves till she had read the story connected with it, and then she resolved to read all the stories of the early Reformers.

Jane thought she would like to read all about the Plants of Scripture.' The picture of the grass seemed to her so wonderful, and she also wished much to know about the cedar, the olive, and the vine.

Annie and Jane were both fond of singing, and it gave them great pleasure to find that their prize contained some nice hymns with music, which they resolved to learn and sing together. They began with the one on the last page, Yield not to temptation,' and in a few days they were singing the sweet chorus,

Look ever to Jesus, He'll carry you through.

LESSONS FROM THE BOOK OF NATURE. SWALLOWS, OR THE LITTLE BUILDERS. HA AVE you ever watched the building of a house, my young friends? What an interesting and busy scene it is! There go the active workmen up the ladders and along the scaffolding; all have their special departments of labour to attend to,-masons, joiners, and plumbers, -and each has been taught his particular kind of business by a master of the trade.

But the little builders' of which we are now to speak 'have no guide, overseer, or ruler,' and yet their work is exceedingly well done. Who has been their teacher? God, the same great God in whose presence the seraphims veil their faces with their wings, crying, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts!' made the birds, and has given to them that kind of