of its light. How will it there, in the fulness of its rapture, drink of the source of all blessedness. Lord! what am I, that thou shouldst have exalted me to such glorious hopes? Yes! O Lord! by thy grace I am, what I am. My heart exalts itself with inward rapture, when I am inspired with the certainty that thou, thou inexpressibly good and benevolent God, amidst so many millions of worlds which thou hast created and maintained, and amidst so many millions of inhabitants which they contain, that thou lookest down upon me, that thou art pleased, when I love thee as a child loves its parent, and that I in all things perform thy will to the utmost of my power. O Lord, let thy grace and compassion be still poured upon me. Make me always wiser and better. I am certain that thou wilt this night spread thy guardian wings around me. Thou hast been my guide and support from my childhood. Thou hast conducted me on the slippery paths of infancy and youth, that no misfortune overtook me; thou hast protected me against so many evils, thou hast delivered me from so many dangers; thou hast watched over me during so many days and nights of my life; like a kind and indulgent father, thou hast conducted me through the whole of my life; why then should I be so full of anxiety, as to what my future fate may be, nor will I be alarmed when my death approaches, seeing that it will bring me nearer to thee? the earth will indeed vanish before me, but the gates of Heaven will be opened to me. My Redeemer will lead me into his sanctuary, and amongst the blessed, I shall eternally praise the living, the Almighty Father. FEBRUARY XI. THE YOUTH OF JESUS THE cradle of Jesus Christ was surrounded by perils and death. His parents were obliged to fly with the holy infant through the deserts to Egypt, to escape from the murderous sword of the sanguinary Herod, and it was not uutil they had heard that the King of the Jewish country had died at Jericho, and that his son Archelaus had ascended the throne of his cruel father, that they returned to the tranquillity of Nazareth. Great as was the sensation which the entrance of Jesus into human life had occasioned, yet all was forgotten by the people. The appearance of the Messiah was expected, but it was not believed, that he was already in the country, and that in the innocence of youth, he was playing amongst the flowers of Nazareth. The first noise of his arrival had subsided; many were not willing to believe that, which in the beginning had been related of him. The song of the angels at the hour of his birth had died away. What a life must Jesus Christ have led before he began tne glorious work of redemption, and accomplished the salvation of the human race. Full of blessing and of holy acts was his life, from the day, on which he was baptised by John in the Jordan. No one could have so usefully employed the time granted him by his Heavenly Father, and therefore he could look back upon the past without regret or contrition. : O that I could so act, as thou didst, thou my Redeemer, who now sittest on the right hand of thy Father. My look, however becomes obscure, when I look back upon my past actions. O who am I? and what should I have been? What could I have been, had I not carelessly and thoughtlessly pursued my ways, instead of seriously attending to my amendment, and seizing every opportunity of acting like my Jesus, with holiness, philanthropy, disinterestedness, and innocence? Do I not call myself his follower and successor ?—why then should I not follow his example, and conform in everything to his precepts and doctrine? O ye lost days-O ye lost hours-accuse me not before my God. It is true, I may have acted with integrity, I may have done every thing in my power to provide for my family: I may have spared no trouble to improve my wordly cir |