erhaps," added his mother, "that bright sun carrying all its
attendant worlds round some larger and brighter sun, whose distance
is too great to be calculated. By the aid of powerful telescopes may
be seen in the extremity of our firmament, appearances which those who
have devoted themselves to this glorious science have decided are other
firmaments, each one containing its countless systems. Oh! Louis, God
is infinite--what if these wondrous creations have no limit, but circle
beyond circle spread out to all eternity! We may see the infinity of
our Maker in the smallest leaf. There is nothing lost. What we destroy
does but change its form."

"Mamma, I once remember cutting a bit of paper into halves--that is to
say, I first cut it into halves, and then cut one half into halves and
so on, till my scissors would not divide the little bit. I was very idle
that day, but I remember thinking that if I could get a pair of scissors
small enough I could cut that speck up _forever_--and even if there only
happened to be a grain left, I could not make that nothing."

Louis paused; he was lost in thoughts of wonders that human imagination
cannot grasp: the immensity and mystery of the Almighty's works.
Presently he added, "I cannot imagine it, mamma, my mind seems lost
when I try to think of _forever_. But there is a little hymn you used
to teach me that I cannot help thinking of--I often think of it--it was
the first I ever learned:

''Twas God, my child, that made them all
By His almighty skill;
He keeps them that they do not fall,
And rules them by His will.
How very great that God must be!'"
HYMNS FOR INFANT MINDS.

"Do you remember learning that hymn?" said his mother; "I should have
thought it had been too long ago."

"Oh, no, mamma. I remember once very distinctly, you had drawn up the
blind that I might look at the stars, and you leaned over my crib, and
taught me that verse. Mamma, even when I did not love God, I used to
like to hear _you_ tell me Bible stories and hymns sometimes, but I
did not think much of them after they were over; but now, almost every
thing reminds me of something in the Bible; or seems a type or a figure
of some of our heavenly Father's dealings with us."

"That is what the Apostle says," replied Mrs. Mortimer: "'The weapons
of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty, through God, to the pulling
down of strongholds; casting down i