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which shall open to them the prospect of a better world.

The sleep of the caterpillar is not lasting: it is but the forerunner of a state of perfection. Formerly it crawled on the ground; now it soars aloft, clothed in the loveliest form, and adorned with the most brilliant hues; no longer blind, it enjoys a thousand pleasures unknown to it in its former state; instead of the most homely food, it now wanders from flower to flower, extracting delicious honey, and sipping the rosy dew. In all this I see a lively picture of the resurrection of the just; their weak and terrestrial frame is exchanged for one of glory; while enveloped in their earthly coil, they were subject to passions, and occupied with sensual grovelling objects; but, after their resurrection, their body shakes off its earthly particles, and, light and glorious, it ascends above the stars, and at a glance embraces all nature. The souls of the virtuous rise towards the heaven of heavens; they approach the dwelling of the Omnipotent, and, wrapped in sublime meditations, contemplate their Maker face to face: before their death truth was concealed from them: now it appears clearly to their view, and they can support its dazzling brilliancy. Their bodies being now spiritualized, glorified, and incorruptible, they no longer demand gross food to satisfy their thirst and hunger: other sensations compose their felicity; a pure joy swells their heart, and celestial food forms henceforth their support.

What an important lesson does this furnish? If, my Christian friend, such is the happy revolution you are to expect, prepare duly for it. If your present state is imperfect and momentary, consider that it is not final, and that the short time you have to pass here below is as nothing when compared with eternity.

The republic of caterpillars, which are divided into two general classes, that is to say, into moths and butterflies, are subdivided into divers families, each of which has its peculiar properties and character. The

name given to one of these families is that of silkworm; this caterpillar is composed like the others, of several moveable rings, and it is provided with twelve feet, with which it moves or fastens itself; it has two rows of teeth, which do not move up and down like ours, but from right to left; with these it tears, cuts, and craunches the leaves on which it feeds; down the back of the insect a vessel is plainly distinguished through the skin, swelling and sinking alternately, acting as the heart does in other animals; on each side the silkworm has nine little apertures, which answer the purpose of lungs, assisting the circulation of the chyle and nutritious juices; under its mouth it has two openings, through which it exudes the drops of the gum that its bag contains; these may be called the storehouse, constantly supplying the matter with which it forms its silk. The gum which exudes from these two openings takes the form of two threads, losing immediately all fluidity, acquiring a consistency sufficient to envelop and suspend the caterpillar; the two threads are united into one by the two fore paws. This double thread is not only very thin, but also very strong, and is of an astonishing length: the silk thread of every cone is nearly five hundred yards long; and, as this thread is double in its whole length, one thousand yards is the actual quantity of silk one worm will spin; the weight of this silk is two grains and a half only.

The life of this insect in its worm state is very short: it passes, however, through several stages of existence, approaching by degrees its state of perfection. When it is first hatched it is a very small black worm, the head being conspicuous from its peculiar depth of colour. In a few days it assumes an ashy tint; this in the course of a little time becomes soiled and wrinkled, and then the insect throws it off; by degrees it increases in size, and its skin is of a greenish white; this arises from its feeding upon green leaves. Some short time after this, the length of which varies according to the degree of heat and the quality of its food, it ceases to

eat and falls asleep, in which state it remains for two or three days; it then appears greatly agitated, and exerts itself to so great a degree in throwing off its skin that it becomes of a reddish hue; at length it accomplishes this end, and throws it aside with its feet. This is the third dress it has appeared in; at the expiration of three weeks or a month it begins to eat again, and so greatly is its head, colour, and form altogether altered, you would hardly know it as the same creature. In the course of a few days, however, it falls into a second lethargy, at the conclusion of which it again assumes a new dress; after this it resumes its appetite for a season; and then, again renouncing all food, it prepares itself a retreat, and with its silken thread envelops itself completely. In this tomb it quietly reposes; and, at the end of a fortnight, it would pierce it in order to get out, if the cave were not exposed to the rays of the sun or put into an oven; the insect is killed by these means. The cones are then thrown into hot water, in which they are gently agitated by a little broom, which process in time loosens the ends of the silk; it is then wound off upon reels constructed for that purpose.

Thus we see that it is to a worm, a caterpillar, that we are indebted for our most luxurious clothing; by means of that liquor which it ejects beneath its mouth it furnishes us with silks and velvets. This reflection should teach us humility. What, shall we be proud of the silk which covers us? Let us consider to what we

Let us

are indebted for it, and how little we ourselves contribute to that dress of which we are so vain. reflect that the most despised objects have been produced for the advantage and ornament of man—a worm, which we scarcely deign to honour with a look, becomes a blessing to a whole province, a considerable object of commerce, and a vast source of riches. The inspection of this insect should cover with shame a multitude of persons; many people, it is true, resemble it in the early stage of its existence; they eat, they

sleep, and change their dress; but how few are they who, like it, render themselves useful to the world by their labours! Let us henceforth consecrate our talents and abilities to the welfare of our fellow-creatures; and let us labour without ceasing to promote their happiness.

FATHER WILLIAM.

ROBERT SOUTHEY.

"You are old, Father William," the young man cried, "The few locks which are left you are grey; You are hale, Father William, a hearty old man; Now tell me the reason, I pray."

"In the days of my youth," Father William replied, "I remember'd that youth would fly fast,

And abused not my health and my vigour at first,
That I never might need them at last."

"You are old, Father William," the young man cried, "And pleasures with youth pass away,

And yet you lament not the days that are gone;
Now tell me the reason, I pray."

"In the days of my youth," Father William replied, "I remember'd that youth could not last;

I thought of the future, whatever I did,

That I never might grieve for the past."

"You are old, Father William," the young man cried, "And life must be hastening away:

You are cheerful, and love to converse upon death; Now tell me the reason, I pray."

"I am cheerful, young man," Father William replied, "Let the cause thy attention engage;

In the days of my youth I remembered my God;
And he hath not forgotten my age!"

132

THE WELSHWOMAN AND HER LODGER.

REV. J. S. SPENCER, D.D.

A MAN who was entirely a stranger to me, whose appearance convinced me he was poor, and whose address showed that he was not very familiar with the subject of religion, called upon me one morning; and with some agitation, desired me to go to a distant street, to see his wife, who was sick. On making some inquiries, I learned that his wife was in a consumption-was not expected to live many days-had not expressed any desire to see me-but that he had come for me at the request of an aged Welshwoman, who lived in the same house. I immediately went to the place he described. I found the woman apparently in the last stages of consumption. She was an interesting young woman, of about twenty years of age, and had been married little more than a year. All the appearance of her room was indicative of poverty, though everything manifested the most perfect neatness. She was bolstered up in her bed, her face pale, with a bright red spot in the centre of each cheek. She appeared exceedingly weak, while her frequent cough seemed to be tearing her to pieces. Her condition affected me. Manifestly her youth and beauty were destined to an early grave. She must soon leave the world; and how tender and terrible the thought that she might still be unprepared for a happier one!

As I told her who I was, and why I had come there, she offered me her hand, with a ready and easy politeness, and yet with a manifest embarrassment of feeling, which she evidently struggled to conceal.

I have seldom seen a more perfectly beautiful woman. Her frame was delicate, her complexion clear and white, her countenance indicative of a more than ordinary degree of intelligence and amiability, and as she lifted her languid eyes upon me, I could not but feel in an

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