BIRTHDAY THOUGHTS.



ness of heaven, that spirits see God, not only as refleeted in his
works, but face to face  God used our arms to sustain our Child;
has he not taken hin to a world whlere lie wvill lean more inllmedi-
ately on His own
     When 1 consider ]low interesting a moment the begijmninmr of
existence is to a reasonable l)bein, how infinite the ahyss b;etween
imon-existence and existence, I feel that we must alwavs look back to
the momenit and circumstances of' our birth wvith pecutiar emotions,
an(l thalt the beings to whom, under CGod, we owed our lifi, who
were tic instrLumellts of Providence in giving us bodily existence
and wvatchling over thle feeble spark, who were the first to welcome
and to love us, must always seem to be amollr our chief' benetfac-
tors. Will not the l)arental relation thus be a bond of union, a
source of happiness, forever The foundhling sigrls to k-now his
p)arents with eager andl burning (lesire. Is not this tilial atfliVtion
an instinct of the rational and moral nature which will act throlugh
all time fuature 
    Our child is lost to our sig1ht, but not to our faithr and hope,-
l)ermhal)s not to our beneficent influence. Is there no means of grati-
Iying our desire of promoting his happiness The living and (lead
make one comninunion.  ' Wh- born only to (lie  ' Birtl establishes
a connecetion1 With the human race. His birth ma(le oulr bov olle
of a great spiritual family. and intimately ulnite(d hiim with a few.
Will imot his eternal bein(g be influenced b)v this connection ....
    The loss of a child is, indeed, one of the greatest w Inch a inor-
tal can experience, - the loss of an object of' such tender love, of
a being possessing the noblest powers, wihich we had lopedl to see
uinfoklding beneath our care, to whom we had longed to (lo more
good thaim to any other being, an(l fromn whom we ha(l antieih)atel
recciving the most consoling and rejoicing returns of love. Surely
the affectionis excited by the parental relation bear a resemblance
to those 1)b- which God is united to his creatures."

  11ow much the vivid sense of his own. loss, and( the (lel)thl of love
thus ol)ened in his heart towards his children, a(l(Ie(I warmth to the
reverent gratitude by which lie was bound to his inother, alpl)pears
by the following letter.

  "Florence. April 7, 1823. When vou look at the (late of my
letter, you will see that I ain writing you on my birthday a;and, on
this dlay, to whom could I write with so mauch reason as to voun-
flor to vou, as well as to me, it is a memorable period. When I
think of thle be-inmning of mny existence, how natural is it tlhat my
thoughts should turn to one whose kindness towards me thlen coII-
                                23



35 3



1822-1823.1