n leaves, to enrich our mother
earth.

757

_The Greatness of God._--Said Dr. Guthrie, "If philosophy is to be
believed, our world is but an outlying corner of creation; bearing,
perhaps, as small a proportion to the great universe, as a single grain
bears to all the sands of the seashore, or one small quivering leaf to
the foliage of a boundless forest." Yet even within this earth's narrow
limits, how vast the work of Providence! How soon is the mind lost in
contemplating it! How great that Being whose hand paints every flower,
and shapes every leaf; who forms every bud on every tree; who feeds each
crawling worm with a parent's care, and watches like a mother over the
insect that sleeps away the night in the bosom of a flower; who throws
open the golden gates of day, and draws around a sleeping world the
dusky curtains of the night; who measures out the drops of every shower,
the whirling snowflakes, and the sands of man's eventful life; who
determines alike the fall of a sparrow and the fate of a kingdom; and so
overrules the tide of human fortunes, that whatever befall him, come joy
or sorrow, the believer says--"It is the Lord; let Him do what seemeth
Him good."

758

But as it is written, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for
them that love him."

--_I Cor. 2, 9v._

759

Every little blade of grass declareth the presence of God.

--_From the Latin._

760

THE FATHER'S LOVE.

Rest and be still:
Nought happens thee but of His blessed will.
There's not a wind that blows,
There's not a lily grows
Without His bidding--and His child shall He
Forget and leave uncomforted? Nay, see
How not a small brown sparrow (sorry thing!)
Without His hand can droop or raise a wing!
And thou art better far unto thy God!
Lo! if He calls thee to a way untrod
Where stones and rugged places tear thy feet,
And bitter herbs alone are for thy meat,
Or if He set thee high, and with a song
Fill thy rejoicing mouth, and make thee strong;
Yet know thou this: He loves thee just as dear
When dimpling laughter lights thy face, or tear
With bitter tear goes chasing down thy cheek,
And thy poor heart may break but cannot speak!

Rest and be still.
God hath not