David said that the hill of God was a high hill, as the hill of Bashan,' and that he would remember the Lord from the hill Mizar;' Jeremiah spoke of the measuring line going forth over against the city, 'upon the hill Gareb;' and the apostle Paul 'stood in the midst of Mars' Hill' when he addressed the men of Athens."

"What a number of hills you can recollect!" "Hills greatly add to the beauty of the natural creation. Fairburn Hill swells up boldly from the valley below. The bottom of it is covered with yellow-blossomed broom; and the top with short, fine grass. As you stand on its summit and look towards the west, you have one of the sweetest views you can imagine. There is the village below you, and meadows, and pasture lands, and corn-fields, spreading all around you; so that, what with fine oaks and elms, goodly farm-houses, cattle and sheep, green_grass and golden grain, you seem to be gazing on a land of peace and plenty, and are ready to repeat the words of the psalmist: "Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing,' Psa. lxv. 11-13."

"Fairburn Hill will be as good a picture, I expect, as any that you will give me."

"Ragstone Top is a hill of a different kind, for it is rugged and bare, and rears up its head almost perpendicularly from the river. Nature wears here a stern appearance; for in looking round from the head of the hill, instead of gazing on verdant trees, and green meadows, and corn-fields, the eye rests on the rushing river forcing its way between the rifted rocks, and on the craggy cliffs of grey stone, that rise in all forms and in all directions around. A hawk has built her nest at the point of the cliff, where the stunted bush springs from the dark fissure; and they say that a reckless climber once fell from the peak above it, right down into the river." "What a fearful fall!"

"Fearful indeed! but falling into sin is worse than falling from a high crag into a river. See the goodness of God, Edwin, as set forth in the following text: "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand,' Psa. xxxvii. 23, 24."

"I shall keep away from Ragstone Top, for I like Fairburn Hill better."

"Piercefield Point is a favourite hill of mine. Often have I sat on a bank near its

top, beneath the shelter of a spreading tree. Woods and coppices stretch themselves out for miles; towns and cities are seen in the distance; rivers and brooks sparkle in the sunbeams; and blue mountains appear to mingle with the clouds."

"Piercefield Point would just suit me, if I could stand at the top of it without falling."

"May Hill is a sweet place, though it is not very high. Once I was on the top of it on a sunshiny day, when the birds sang so sweetly in the copse, and there was such a burst of bright yellow daffodils in the dell below, that I began to sing for joy—

"The grateful breeze was breathing round,
And golden flowers bedeck'd the ground;
Health, peace, and calm content were there,
Mercy and goodness everywhere."

"May Hill for me! May Hill for me!" "Colton Hill looks over the Common; but for all that I like it. I can fancy myself there now. The Common stretches right and left at least a dozen miles; and here and there the ground is broken into ridges and hollows, as rich to the eye as the yellowflowered furze and the purple heath-flower can make them. A flock of geese are pulling away at the grass, and sheep are grazing in all directions. On the edge of the Common a gang of gipsies have pitched their tent, and their pot is now boiling over the fire."

G

"The Common, the furze-bushes, the rough ground, the geese, the sheep, and the gipsies, make a very good picture.

6

It is

"I must finish my account by telling you of the old shepherd who lives at the foot of Colton Hill. One day he stood at his cottage door as I made for the hill. I am going up the hill, shepherd,' said I. 'Have there been many at the top of it to-day?' 'Why no, sir,' replied he; but there were people enough there yesterday. I wish, sir, that all who go to the top of Colton Hill could say with sincerity, like David, 'I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help;' for then they would be wiser and happier, and have a clearer prospect of another world than they have now. the custom of many to climb high hills, who seldom think about climbing to heaven. We may say-The Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also,'-when admiring his creation; while we altogether forget the salvation he has wrought out for us in his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. We may see a little more of the earth, certainly, by ascending a high hill; but, with God's blessing, we see more of heaven from the valley of humiliation, than from the highest mountain on this side the stars." "

Valley scenery-Some of the valleys mentioned in the word of God-The valley of Humiliation-The large valley with the silvery river-The small valley with the cottage of Michael Grove-The valley of the mountains, the sea, and the rocky fragments.

"THE last pictures you gave me were hill pictures, father; now, if you please, let me have some valley pictures. I have no doubt that you will sketch them nicely."

"If I do not, it will not be the fault of the valleys; for many of them are very beautiful,