Every man may say, Alas! I feel my helpless state; I have no power to remove the infirmities that afflict me, nor ability to disperse the dangers that threaten; subject to a heavy train of bodily diseases, and mental imbecility, I feel that, without the support of the Almighty, I should indeed be miserable. The wonderful connexion between my soul and my body, the continua! pulsation of my heart, the constant secretion and circulation of various fluids in my body, all depending neither upon my will nor my power, contribute to assure me there is a great and powerful Being, at whose command these functions proceed with order and regularity, or stop, and my present existence

If my breast still continues to heave, if the ruddy stream still warms my heart, if my muscles act with vigour, my senses remain preserved, it is from God alone I derive such choice blessings. Why then do I so seldom think, with gratitude, upon the ways of Providence?

Ought not the reflections now presented ever to be deeply graven on the tablets of memory; and should it not be our morning and our evening care to muse upon, to admire, and to hail with gratitude, the blessings of our Creator?

JANUARY IV.

Uses and advantages of Fire.

FIRE is a very universal agent in perfecting the arts, and contributing to the comforts of life; and we find the principles of it are diffused throughout nature in water as well as in air, and in all oleaginous substances. How useful to man are those combustible matters which supply him with fuel, and without a sufficiency of which he must suffer the greatest inconvenience, and lose incalculable advantages. Were it not for the fire which cheers us in winter, a great portion of our time must be passed in dreary darkness: without artificial light all our occupations and our amusements must cease with the departing sun; we should be obliged to remain at rest, or to wander with uncertainty and danger in midnight gloom. Consider how melancholy

our lot must be, had we been obliged to pass the long evenings of winter without the enjoyments of society, and those superior sources of pleasures and instruction derived from reading and writing. How many of the productions of the earth would be useless to us were they not softened and prepared by means of fire! If fire was not had recourse to by artists, how many necessities would be unprovided for, and of what benefits should we not be deprived! Without this element we should not be able to give to our garments the brilliancy of the scarlet, nor the richness of the purple; our metals incapable of being melted, would remain useless in the depths of the earth: glass could not be formed from the sand; the beautiful utensils now in common use could not have been fashioned from the yielding clay; nor could our stately edifices rear their tops among the clouds, and bid defiance to the elements. Without fire, in vain would nature teem with riches; all her treasures would be useless, and her charms of no avail.

But we have no necessity to traverse nature to prove the blessing of fire! let us return from our flight, and contemplate our own apartment. Here, the fire diffuses a genial warmth through the whole room, and the air is rendered mild. Without the stimulating influence of fire, during the strong frosts, we should become inactive, and subject to many unpleasant sensations; the aged and the weak would perish and what would become of the little infant, if the chilly blasts were not tempered to its delicate limbs? Oh! unfortunate poor! ye who, with scarcely bread to support your miserable existence, are at this severe season obliged to deprive yourselves of a portion of that pittance to proeure fuel to warm your shivering body; how I feel for your wants! how my heart bleeds for your distressed condition! But your hard lot recalls to my mind the great favours I have received from Heaven, for which I am not sufficiently grateful. I feel the obligation I am under to a gracious God; who, I pray, as he has given me the means will open my heart to relieve those afflictions in others from which I myself am exempt. O God, my Creator and Benefactor, condescend still to look down upon me! Behold my heart swells with praises and thanksgivings to thee my Eternal Parent, the Author of all the comforts which I now enjoy. Continue to grant me the benign influence of

fire; and may this element never become the instrument of vengeance to me or my brethren!

JANUARY V.

Amusements of Winter.

DURING this season, which many people imagine possesses few charms, each individual following his inclination endeavours to find amusements to enliven the long winter evenings. Many pursue one continual round of riot and dissipation. It is indeed truly lamentable to see so many people by indolence, or frivolous pursuits, contriving to lose the days already too short. The course of the day is commonly filled with a circle of occupations, which neither correspond to the dignity of man, nor the destination of his soul. Late in the morning the voluptuary rises from his bed; during breakfast he plans out the amusements of the day, then abandoning himself to every species of idleness, awaits the hour of dinner; which arrived, he gives himself up to the pleasures of the table. Gorged with excess he throws himself upon a couch to recruit his exhausted powers. The hour comes when he is to meet a numerous party. He sits down to play. For the first time since the sun-beams irradiated the east, he appears to possess a soul: with cards in his hand the hours fly rapidly. At length this sensual wretch quits his cards for another debauch, and reels from table to bed; but sleep does not gently overpower his senses, and wrap his soul in sweet forgetfulness. Pain and watching oppress him, or frightful dreams disturb his troubled slumbers.

How ingenious is man in devising trifling amusements to abridge the few moments allotted him! Sometimes the pleasures of the chase call him from his home, that he may enjoy the gratification of seeing the timid hare, and the panting deer, fly with the speed of wind to escape their cruel pursuers; or that he may have the satisfaction of viewing them in their last sad agonies, torn and mangled, and hear their piercing cries, mingled with the savage howl of dogs and men, reverberated from the neighbouring hills.

The ball allures with meretricious charms; and there innocence of heart is often exchanged for sorrow and disease. At one time feasts invite, at another diversions and public places; all tending to mislead and corrupt. Having enumerated a sufficient specimen of the amusements of winter, let me conclude by reminding my fellow creatures of the part they ought to act respecting such diversions. I wish not to-discourage and repress that inclination for social intercourse which, particularly at this season of the year is highly delightful; but I wish you not to suffer it to take such firm hold of your mind as to become a passion. Allowing that when you meet together nothing passes that can derogate from virtue and good manners, yet such par. ties may be hurtful by consuming too much of your time, and occasioning the neglect of your domestic economy. Pleasure is not the business of our lives; the power of obtaining it is granted us by a beneficent God, to serve for a relaxation from the severer duties of business or study. To be too eager in the pursuit of pleasure is at the risk of never obtaining your end, or of acquiring that which may ultimately produce sorrow and remorse. Be very eareful then with what society you mix; lavish not your time in those amusements which you cannot enjoy without injuring your virtue, your reputation, or the peace of your family. Let not those heedless pleasures that disturb your neighbours, excite their lamentations, and fill them with sorrow, and by which you may be lost to the duties of so. ciety and of religion, ever find access to your heart. Suffer not even the most innocent gratifications to render you insensible to the pure and permanent pleasures of Christianity, or to make you dissatisfied with your more serious occupations.

Oh God! govern with thy gracious influence our hearts; and grant that amidst earthly enjoyments we may never forget thy most holy name. That in our intercourse with men, the remembrance of thy presence may secure us from temptations, and that from day to day we may become more and more devoted to the exercise of our duties as Christians, parents, and citizens; whilst we shun those fleeting pleasures which so easily allure us from the path of rectitude, and diminish our zeal for good works. What inducement can we have to seek for frivolous amusements

when we possess within ourselves the sources of the most pure and refined pleasures? The contemplation of the great works of nature at all times is grand, and filis the mind with wonder and reverence for the Creator. In winter, as well as in the other seasons, they shine forch equally manifest. The starry heavens, the fields, far as the eye can reach, covered with snow, inspire the noblest and most sublime ideas, create a constant succession of pleasure, and elevate and dignify the soul.

JANUARY VI.

God's providential Care of the Animal Creation during Winter.

MILLIONS of rational beings, dispersed among the various nations of the earth, are provided at this season with every thing necessary to supply their wants, or add to their comforts. But Divine goodness is not extended to man alone, it is diffused over the whole creation; and infinitely more numerous than the children of Adam are the animated beings partaking of it. Admirable as is the preservation of the human species, God gives still greater proofs of his wisdom and power in the care which he ma nifests for the brute creation. That the innumerable tribes of animals existing on this globe find, during the continuance of summer, food and shelter, is not surprising; all nature teeming with fertility conduces to this great end; but that in this season of the year such numbers of creatures -birds, quadrupeds, reptiles, insects, and fishes-should continue to exist, must demand the admiration of every reflecting being. Nature has provided most animals with a covering to defend them from the winter's cold, as well as from the summer's heat. Those wild animals which dwell amid the forest and the desert are so admirably organized, that their hair, as summer advances, begins to fall from their skin, and grows again in winter with such luxuriance as to become a thick fur, capable of preserving them from the severity of the season.