the wise laws of nature, so are the disagreeable accidents and the adversity which we sometimes experience in the world. Who can prevent the day from being obscured by dark clouds; or our happiness from being disturbed, sometimes by others, and sometimes by accidents? How is it possible the sky should be always calm and serene; or that our minds should enjoy uninterrupted repose? The present constitution of our nature will as little admit of our being always free from pain and disagreeable sensations, as the constitution of the corporeal world would admit of the air never being loaded with clouds. Passions, which often produce good, but often also produce bad effects, are exactly, in the moral world, what storms are in nature: and, as winter and frost are sources of fertility, so are afflictions and sufferings the means to attain wisdom and virtue. Dark ness teaches us the value of light. A continual light would dazzle and fatigue the sight. A serene day never gives us so much pleasure as when it has been preceded by dark and cloudy weather. In the same manner, we should be less sensible of the blessing of health, were we not taught to feel it by the painful ef fects of sickness. The excellence and advantage of friendship would touch us less sensibly, if we did not sometimes meet with faithless and false friends. After all, it is certain that we in general are too much inclined to exaggerate our evils. The events and accidents which happen to us are seldom as melancholy as we imagine. Our selflove, our pride, and our excess of delicacy, blind us often to such a degree, that we look on every thing that happens to us as real and great evils; while, on the contrary, we take no notice of our real advantages, and the sweets which attend us. It is at least certain, that all our troubles ought to be reckoned as nothing, in comparison of the multitude of blessings and pleasures that are be stowed upon us by Divine Providence. Those very evils of which we complain, will prove real, though disguised blessings, if we know how to make a good use of them; just as the snow, the storms, the frost, and other variations of the pre. sent season, are means which God makes use of to grant us new favours. When the sky has been long dark and stormy, the clouds at length dissipate, and calm and sunshine bring back joy and gladuess. The heavier the showers are, the sooner the clouds vanish. The darker they are, the sooner the rays of the sun disperse them. Misfortunes fill up but a short space of our lives, and when they appear to us the heaviest, when we seem sinking under them, it is a proof that they are soon to end. 1 will accept then, without murmuring, the portion of evil it has pleased God to allot me. 1 should be unreasonable to expect nothing but pleasure and days of happiness. No: let rain and sunshine, darkness and light, succeed alternately through the course of my life, I am, O Lord, resigned to it. If thou thinkest proper to rouse and shake my soul by the storms of adversity, thy will be done! What matter whether the cup that is given me be more or less bitter; that my troubles be more or less durable, while I am on this side the grave. I know in whom I have believed. I know, O my God! that thou wilt one day grant me eternal salvation. Those who sow here below in tears, will reap with songs of tri. umph. When the short miseries of life are over, I shall find how advantageous they have been to me; and I shall bless God, for having conducted me to heaven, through paths of tribulation and sorrow. These are the thoughts which will support me in every misfortune. As the expectation of spring makes the gloomy appearance of winter supportable, so does the sweet hope of futurity encourage me to bear with resignation and fortitude the present miseries. Through the darkness of this life, there opens to me the delightful prospect of an happy hereafter. What I foresee in eternity already sheds light on the path through which I walk; and by this way I shall imperceptibly arrive at the blessed abodes of peace, light, and happiness. FEB. XXVIII. Use of Mountains. WOULD it not be more advantageous to our globe, if its surface was not so uneven, and if it was not disfigured by so many mountains? It seems to me, sometimes, that the form of the earth would be much more regular, that our sight would extend farther, that we should travel more conveniently, and that we should enjoy many other advantages, if the earth was only a vast plain. But, perhaps I am mistaken in this opinion. I wish then to inquire into it, and reflect on the use of mountains, in order to see if I have reason to be discontented with the present plan of our globe. In the first place it is evident, that it is from the mountains and hills that the springs flow, which are produced either by heavy snows, or by the clouds with which those heights are al. ways covered. It is that which keeps up the course of great and small rivers. Those chains of high mountains which extend from east to west, and which traverse a great tract of country, serve to hinder the dispersion of vapours, and to condense them into water. They are so many stills, which prepare and render the water sweet for the use of man and beast. Their declivity gives a moderate fall to the springs, and from thence they flow gently into the valleys, which they wa ter and make fruitful. Besides this inestimable advantage of springs and fountains which the mountains procure us, they have many others. They serve for dwellings to several kinds of animals useful to us; they afford subsistence, without any trouble of ours, to multitudes of beasts, whose flesh and skins are very necessary to us. On the sides of mountains, there grow trees, plants, and an innumerable quantity of salutary herbs and roots, which are not cultivated with equal success in the plains, or have not the same virtues. It is in the bowels of the mountains that metals and minerals form themselves, which would not propagate so well in low and level countries, for want of necessary moisture. Mountains serve also to shelter us from blasts of the cold and cutting north and east winds. They are the fosterers of the most exquisite vines, and their bosoms contain precious stones. They are, in a manner, the bulwarks of nature, to guard countries from the fury of seas and tempests; and, like rainparts and natural fortifications, they defend several states from the invasion of enemies, and the ambition of conquerors. They perhaps preserve the ba lance of our globe. It is true that some of those mountains are dangerous and formidable. They occasion many shocks and earthquakes, and the volcanos spread flames and destruction all around. But we must consider, that, as sulphur, saltpetre, and other minerals, not only contribute greatly to the fertility of the earth, but are also necessary to the life and moistening of all sorts of plants, it was proper there should be a kind of universal magazine, where these materials should be deposited, in order to be afterwards scattered by the winds over the whole earth. And though there should be some inconvenience from thein, they cannot furnish any reasonable objections against the wisdom and goodness of God, since the blessings we derive from them are infinitely deprived of several superior to the evils they occasion. In this respect, then, we have no reason to complain of the contrivance of our globe. If there were no mountains, we should be sorts of stones and fossils. rivers, no springs, no lakes. become a stagnating marsh. great number of the finest and most salutary plants, and several sorts of animals. The priva tion of one single thing in nature might be sufficient to make our lives sad and miserable. Let us therefore conclude, that mountains, as well as every other part of it, prove the wisdom, power, and goodness of the Creator. Lord God Almightly, I adore thee, and I acknowledge, with the most profound veneration, the wonders of thy wisdom. Every thing that exists, every thing Thou hast created, from the smallest grain of sand to the highest mountain, combines, and is in harmony with each other, and full of benefit to thy creatures. On the heights, as well as in deep places, on mountains and in vales, above and below the earth, Thou shewest thyelf the Magnificent Benefactor of thy creatures. FEB. XXIX. Motives for Confidence in God. WHEN I reflect on the infinite perfections which are manifested in the plan of the universe, and on the manner in which God conducts and governs it, my confidence in Him must necessarily increase and strengthen more and more. How easy ought I to be, in regard to my life, since it it is in the hands of that great Being, of whose power, wisdom, and goodness, I have as many proofs as there are creatures in my sight? What wishes can I form for my happiness, which may |