THE earth is fixed in the clear blue ether. It there takes its course round the sun; and, at the end of three hundred and sixty-five days, it returns to the same place from which it first set

out.

The time which the earth takes to go round the sun is called a year. The year is divided

into twelve months; namely:

seasons; namely:

SPRING,

SUMMER,

AUTUMN,

WINTER.

THE spring begins in March, and ends in June. In spring, the trees put forth their blossoms and leaves; the flowers begin to shoot up in the fields and gardens; the young lambs are seen sporting in the fields; and the cuckoo is heard in the woods.

Spring is like childhood; because in childhood the human character unfolds, as the buds open upon the trees. If we see no blossoms in spring, we expect no fruit in autumn; and that child who puts off seeking God, thinking it is time enough in youth or old age, perhaps may then be refused that repentance which is the blossom of salvation, and without which and faith in Christ none can taste the fruit of the salvation of Jesus. God has said, Because I have called,

and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you; then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: they would none of my counsel; they despised all my reproof: therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil. (Prov. i. 24-33.)

THE spring is followed by summer, which begins in June, and ends in August. Summer is that season of the year when the sun is most powerful. It is pleasant at this time to walk under the shade of tall trees, and to take the air in solitary woods.

In summer, holy persons have often taken pleasure in walking out into the fields to meditate upon the works of God, and to praise Him who has adorned the earth with such a number of beauties.

In summer, the fields are covered with thick grass, which affords food for the flocks and herds, the hedges are adorned with many flowers, and the wild rose and honeysuckle scatter their fragrant odours in every breeze.