APRIL. 



Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it ; thou greatly enrichest it 

 with the river of God, which is full of water ; thou prepares! them 

 corn, when thou hast so provided for it. 



Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly ; thou settlest the fur- 

 rows thereof; thou makest it soft with showers; thou blessest the 

 springing thereof. 



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, and the valleys also are 

 covered over with corn ; they shout for joy ; they also sing. 



PSALMS Ixv. 9-13. 



THE month of April is proverbial for its fickle- 

 ness; for its intermingling showers, and flitting 

 gleams of sunshine ; for all species of weather in 

 one day ; for a wild mixture of clear and cloudy 

 skies, greenness and nakedness, flying hail and 

 abounding blossoms. But to the lover of nature, 

 it is not the less characterized by the spirit of 

 expectation with which it imbues the mind. We 

 are irresistibly led to look forward, to anticipate, 

 with a delightful enthusiasm, the progress of the 

 season. It is one of the excellent laws of Provi- 

 dence, that our minds shall be insensibly moulded 

 to a sympathy with that season which is passing, 



