it was bare. So God spake, and things grew out of the ground.
Trees came out of it; they were covered with green leaves of different shapes. Some were called oak trees, and some were called elm trees, and some beech trees. And some bore nice fruit, such as plum trees, apple trees, orange trees and fig trees.
Vegetables grew out of the earth; potatoes and beans, cabbages and lettuces: they are called vegetables.
Corn came out of it. Some corn is called wheat, and some corn is called barley, and some is called oats. The ears of corn bend down when they are ripe, and look yellow like gold.
God made the soft green grass to spring up, and flowers to grow among the grass: flowers of all colors, and of the sweetest smell. The yellow buttercup, the white lily, the blue violet, and the rose, the most beautiful of all flowers.
I have told you of five sorts of things that grow out of the earth:
1. Trees. 2. Vegetables. 3. Corn. 4. Grass. 5. Flowers.
The world looked very beautiful when it was covered with grass and trees. But only God and the angels saw its beauty.
Afterward God placed the sun in the sky, and bade it shine all day, and go from one end of the world to the other. God made the moon to shine at night, and he covered the sky with stars.
You never saw anything so bright as the sun. It is very large indeed, only it looks small, because it is a great way off. It cannot fall, for God holds it up. God makes it move across the sky. Did you ever hear this pretty verse about the sun?—
My God, who makes the sun to know
His proper hour to rise,
And to give light to all below,
Doth send him round the skies.
The moon does not shine as brightly as the sun, for God lets it be dark at night, that we may rest and sleep soundly.
Who could count the stars?—No one but God. He knows their names and their number too. When we look at the moon and stars, let us think, How great God is! Yet he cares for the little birds, and loves little children.
CHILD.
I saw the glorious sun arise
From yonder mountain gray;
And as he travel’d through the skies,
The darkness went away;
And all around me was so bright,
I wish’d it would be always light.
But when his shining course was done
The gentle moon drew nigh,
And stars came twinkling, one by one,
Upon the shady sky.
Who made the sun to shine so far,
The moon and every twinkling star?
MAMMA.
’Twas God, my child, who made them all
By his almighty skill;
He keeps them, that they do not fall,
And guides them as he will:
That glorious God who lives afar,
In heaven, beyond the highest star.
LESSON VIII.
THE WORLD.—PART III.
Genesis i. 20-25.
God had made a great many things, but none of these things were alive. At last he made some living things. He spoke, and the water was filled with fishes, more than could be counted.
Some were very small, and some were very large. Have you heard of the great whale? It is a fish as long as a church. Fishes are cold, and they have no feet, and they cannot sing, nor speak.
God made some creatures, more beautiful than fish, to fly about in the air. The birds:—they perched upon the trees, and sang among the branches.
Birds have wings, and are covered with feathers of all colors. The robin has a red breast; the goldfinch has some yellow feathers; and the jay some blue ones: but the peacock is the most beautiful of birds. It has a little tuft upon its head, and a long train that sweeps behind; sometimes it spreads out its feathers, and they look like a large fan. The thrush, the blackbird and the linnet can sing sweetly: but there is one bird that can sing more sweetly still—it is the nightingale. At night, when all the other birds have left off singing, the nightingale may be heard in the woods.
Some birds swim upon the water; such as geese, and ducks, and the beautiful swan, with its long neck and its feathers like the snow.
Some birds are very tall. The ostrich is as tall as a man. It cannot fly like other birds, but it can run very fast indeed.
The eagle builds its nest in a very high place. Its wings are very strong, and it can fly as high as the clouds.
The gentlest of the birds is the dove. It cannot sing, but it sits alone and moans softly, as if it were sad.
I cannot tell you the names of all the birds, but you can think of the names of some other kinds.
There is another sort of living creatures, called insects. God made them come out of the earth, and not out of the water, like fishes. Insects are small, and creep upon the earth; such as ants. Some insects can fly also; such as bees and butterflies. The bee sucks the juice of flowers, and makes wax and honey. How gay are the wings of the butterfly! they are covered with little feathers, too small to be seen.
All the insects were good and pretty when God made them.
CHRIST RAISING TO LIFE THE LITTLE MAID.
At last God made the beasts. They came out of the earth when God spoke. Beasts walk upon the earth; the most of them have four legs. You know the names of a great many sorts of beasts. Sheep and cows, dogs and cats, are beasts. But there are many other sorts besides: the squirrel that jumps from bough to bough, the rabbit that lives in a hole underground, and the goat that climbs the high hills; the stag with his beautiful horns, the lion with his yellow hair, the tiger, whose skin is marked with stripes. The elephant is the largest of beasts, the lion is the strongest, the dog is the most sensible, the stag is the most beautiful, but the lamb is the gentlest. The dove is the gentlest of the birds, and the lamb is the gentlest of the beasts.
Now God had filled the world with living creatures, and they were all good; even lions and tigers were good and harmless. I have told you of four sorts of living creatures:
1. Fishes. 2. Birds. 3. Insects. 4. Beasts.
All these creatures have bodies, but they have not souls like you. They can move and breathe. God feeds them every day, and keeps them alive. The Lord is good to them all.
When God first clothed the earth with green
And sprinkled it with flow’rs,
There was no living creature seen
Within its pleasant bow’rs.
Soon by his word God fill’d the earth,
And waters underneath,
With things above the plants in worth,
That feel and move and breathe.
The fishes, cover’d o’er with scales
In ocean swiftly glide;
With their vast tails the wondrous whales
Scatter the waters wide,
The birds among the branches sing,
And