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The following beautiful and impressive
illustration of life is from the celebrated Bish-
op Heber's farewell sermon, delivered ma
ny years since upon the eve of his departure
for India, to his parishioners al Hodnet in
England.


Life bears US on like the stream of
mighty river Our boat, at first. glides swift
ly down the narrow channel through the
playful murmurings Of the little brook, and
windings of its grassy border. The trees
shed their blossoms over our young heads
and the flowers on the brink seem to offer
themselves to our young hands; we are in
hope, and we grasp eagerly at the beauties
around US; bat the stream hurries US on, and
still our hands are empty.


"Our course in youth and manhood is a.
long wilder and deeper food, and amid
| objects more striking and magnificent. We
animated by the moving picture of enjoy
ment and industry passing before US, we are
excited by short lived success, or depressed
and rendered miserable by some equally
short lived disappointment. But our energy
and our dependence are both in vain. The
stream bears us on. and our joys and our
oriefs are left behind us; we may be ship
wrecked but we cannot anchor our voyage
@Is.eter,aA hat bc Delayed
whether rough or smooth the river hastenS
towards its home. but the roaring of the
waves is beneath our keel and the lands les
sen from our eyes, and the floods are lifted
up around us, and we take our last leave O
earth and its inhabitants, and of our further
voyage there is no witness but the Infinite
and Eternal


t.And do we still take so much thought fol
the future days. when the days which have
gone by have SO strangely and uniformly
deceived us2 Can we still set our heart;
upon the creatures Of God, when we find
by sad experience, that the Creator only j:
permanent Orshall we not rather lay aside
every sin which does most easily beset us
and think of ourselves hencefor:h as wayfar
ing persons only who have no abiding IN
heritance but in the hope of better world
and TO whom even that world would be worse
than hopeless, lift were not for our LORD
Jesus Christ. and the interest which we have
obtained in his raercies?'