alike, it is right to observe it. Who, in reality, can think of sleep, without recollecting death also? As imperceptibly as we now fall into the arms of sleep, shall we one day fall into those of death. It is true, that death often gives warning of its approach several hours or days before: but the real moment in which death seizes us happens suddenly; and when we shall seem to feel the first blow, it will already be our last. The senses, which lose their functions in our sleep, are equally incapable of acting at the approach of death. In the same manner, the ideas are confused, and we forget the objects which surround us. Perhaps, also, the moment of death may be as agreeable as the moment of falling asleep. The convulsions of dying people are as little disagreeable a sensation to them, as the snoring is to those that sleep.

Let our devotion often bring this meditation to our minds. Every time we seek repose in bed, let us reflect on all the wonders of balmy sleep, and bless our Preserver, who, even while we sleep, does such great things for us. Great things, indeed, for, if he did not guard us with a protecting hand, to how many dangers should we not be exposed in the night! If God did not keep and direct the beating of our hearts, the circulation of our blood, and the motions of our muscles, the first sleep after we were born would have delivered as into the arms of death.

Let us reflect attentively on all these things, and our own hearts will point out to us the duties we ought to fulfil towards so great a benefactor. Then, with joy and gratitude, we shall bless the Lord, who shows himself to be our God in every circumstance through life.

JAN. X.

The Advantages of the Climate we inhabit.

LET us sensibly feel how happy we are in all respects. For the blessings of our heavenly Father are poured upon us on every side. The pros. pect of our forests, our meadows, our hills; the pure and temperate air which surrounds us; the day, the night, the seasons of the year, and the variations which attend them; all prove to us the goodness of God, and the greatness of our fe. licity. Can we then still be discontented with the lot which is fallen to us, and complain of the economy with which God distributes his blessings; murmuring that we have not a perpetual summer, that the rays of the sun do not constantly shine upon us, and that an equal degree of warmth is not always felt under one zone? What ingratitude! and at the same time, what ignorance! Indeed, we know not what we wish, nor of what we complain. Is it through carelessness or pride, that we disown the goodness of God, who has been particularly favourable to our countries? We murmur often at the severity of winter. We are mad enough to envy the inhabitants of places where this change of seasons is unknown: But it is precisely the winter which makes the climate we live in one of the most healthy in the world. In hot countries, they are more exposed to epidemic disorders than where the sun reflects less heat; and the people are not so long lived as in our climate. Besides, it is observed that men are less robust, and population not so great, as among us. And when the cold is at the highest possible degree with us, we are still much happier than the inhabitants of those countries where the cold is so much greater, and lasts so much

longer, that our severest winters would appear to them to have the mildness of autumn. Let us com pare, in imagination, our lot with that of the inhabitants of the northern part of our globe. Here, some rays of the sun come to brighten our cloudy days, and revive our spirits. There, neither days nor nights are ever enlivened by the light of that beneficent globe. Here, by means of warni fires, or in bed, we are perfectly secured from the severity of the cold. There, on the contrary, disturbed, attacked by fierce beasts, men dread them more than the cold; and their poor cottages cannot defend them from those different kinds of enemies. With us, the pleasures of society soften the inconveniences. of winter: But the unhappy mortals near the north pole, are almost shut out from the rest of the earth, and live dispersed in clans. We are so happy as to see the succession of day and night, while those unfortunate creatures pass most of their lives in darkness. In fine (and this is the most essential advantage,) after four or five stormy disagreeable months, we enter into a season, the charms of which make us amends for all we have suffered. They, on the contrary, only contemplate a dead nature, without ever seeing it revive. An eternal winter reigns with them. O let us bless the bountiful hand which has appointed for us so happy a lot! Far from lamenting our fate, let us glorify the Lord, who has planned it with so much wisdom and goodness; and if we, at present, in our houses, or in the society of friends, pass the winter agreeably, let us think of those unfortunate people who are deprived of these pleasures, to which custom, and the very enjoyment of them, makes us insensible. When we exainine nature, such as she appears in our countries, let us say, penetrated with joy and gratitude, "I give thee thanks, O Lord, for having fixed me in a climate, where thy bounty is so magnificently displayed. May my joy, my

gratitude, my endeavours to please thee, be proportionable to the blessings with which I am favoured preferably to other people; and may the fertility and beauty of the country I was born in, excite me to study and reflect upon thy works and thy blessings; and may I one day arrive at that heavenly habitation which our Saviour has prepared for us, and where I shall adore, with all the nations of the world, the miracles of thy goodness."

JAN. XI.

The Fertility which Snow gives to the Earth.

FROM appearances alone, one might say that show cannot be useful to the earth; and one would rather believe that the cold moisture with which it penetrates the ground must be hurtful to trees and plants. But the experience of all ages frees us from this prejudice. It informs us, that nature could not give a better covering than snow, to secure the corn, the plants, and trees, from the bad effects of cold. Though it appears cold to us in itself, it shelters the earth from freezing winds; it maintains the warmth necessary for the preservation of seeds, and contributes even to swell them, by the moisture of the saltpetre it contains. Thus, even at this season, God prepares what is necessary for the support of the beings he has formed, and provides beforehand for our food, and that of an infinite number of animals.

Nature is always active, even when she appears to us to rest; and she is doing us real services, when she seems to refuse it. Let us admire, in this, the tender care of the divine Providence. Behold, how, in the severest season, he is attentive to our welfare, and how, without any labour of ours, he silently prepares

for us all the treasures of nature! With such striking proofs of his beneficent care, who could give way to fears and anxiety? what God does every winter in nature, he does daily for the preservation of mankind. What appears to us useless or hurtful, contributes in the end to our happiness; and when we think that God does not interest himself about us, it is then that he is forming plans which are hidden from us, and which, in discovering themselves, work for our deliverance from such and such evils, and obtain for us such and such blessings as we did not dare to hope for.

In the mean time, God has not only designed that the snow should cover the earth, but that it should also make it fruitful. How much care and trouble it costs us to give the necessary manure to the fields, and how easily it is done by nature !--The snow, which possesses this virtue, is much more useful than rain and other manures. When it is softened by the sun, or, if a temperate air dissolves it by degrees, the saltpetre it contains enters deep into the earth, penetrates and gives life to the shoots of the plants.

Who is there that will not remember, on this occasion, the emblem under which God represents to us the wholesome efficacy of his word? "As the rain and the snow descend from heaven, and return there no more, but water the earth, and cause it to grow and flourish; as it gives the seed to the sower, and bread to him who eats; so likewise shall the word of my mouth be. It shall not return back to me without effect; but it shall do all that in which have taken a pleasure, and shall prosper fu the things for which I have sent it."We live at a time in which this prediction is accomplished in a very striking man. ner. Whole provinces, kingdoms, even great part of our globe, which was formerly buried in the darkest ignorance, superstition, and incredu