my talents and powers to the glory of God, and the good of my fellow-creatures. Strengthen me, by thy grace, O my God, and my Saviour, in this holy resolution.

JAN. XVIII.

The Laplanders.

I BEGIN this meditation with a lively sense of gratitude towards my Creator, and of pity to those of my fellow-creatures to whom nature has more sparingly distributed her blessings. I fix my eyes now on the Laplanders, and the inhabitants of the lands nearest the Arctic pole: mortals, whose taste and manner of living, when compared with ours, are not the happiest. Their country is formed of a chain of mountains, covered with snow and ice, which does not melt even in summer, and, where the chain is interrupted, is full of bogs and marshes. A deep snow overwhelms the valleys, and covers the little hills. Winter is felt during the greatest part of the year. The nights are long ; and the days give but a dim light. The inhabitants seek shelter from the cold in tents, which can be removed from one place to another. They fix their fire place in the middle of it, and surround it with stones. The smoke goes out at a hole, which also serves them for a window. There they fasten iron chains, to which they hang the caldrons in which they dress their food, and melt the ice which serves them for drink. The inside of the tent is furnished with furs, which preserve them from the wind, and they lie on skins of animals spread upon the ground. It is in such habitations that they pass their winter. Six months of the year are to them perpetual night; during which they hear nothing round them but the whistling of the wind, and the howling of the

wolves, who are running every where in search of their prey. How could we bear the climate and way of life of those people? How much we should think ourselves to be pitied, if we had nothing before our eyes but an immense extent of ice, and whole deserts covered with snow; the absence of the sun still making the cold more insupportable? and if, instead of a convenient dwelling, we had only moveable tents made of skins; and no other resource for our subsistence, but in painful and dangerous hunting for it; if we were deprived both of the pleasures which the arts produce, and the society of our fellow-crea. tures, to sweeten life?

Are not these reflections proper to make us observe the many advantages of our climate, so little attended to? Ought it not to animate us to bless the divine Providence for delivering us from such distresses and inconveniences, and for distinguishing as by a thousand advantages: yes: let us ever bless that wise Providence: and, when we feel the severity of the season, let us return thanks that the cold is so moderate where we dwell, and that we have such numerous ways of guarding against it. Let us also bless the almighty Governor of the universe, for granting us, in the midst of the desolate image which winter presents, the delightful prospect of spring, the very idea of which comforts and enables us to support the present evil.

But, is the inhabitant of northern countries so unhappy as we imagine? It is true, that he wan. ders painfully through rough valleys and unbeaten roads, and that he is exposed to the inclemency of the seasons. But his hardy body is able to bear fatigue. The Laplander is poor, and deprived of all the conveniences of life; but is he not rich, in knowing no other wants than those which he can easily satisfy? He is deprived for several months of the light of the sun;

but, to make the darkness of the night supportable, the moon and the Aurora Borealis come to light his horizon. Even the snow and ice, in which he is buried, does not make him unhappy. Education and custom arm him against the seve rity of his climate. The hardy life he leads, enables him to brave the cold and for the particular wants which are indispensible to him, nature has made it easy for him to obtain them. She has pointed out to him animals whose fur saves him from the sharpness of the air. She has given him the reindeer, which furnishes him, all at once, with his tent, his dress, his bed, his food, and his drink; with which he undertakes long journies, and which, in a word, supplies almost all his wants; and the maintemance of it is no expence or trouble to him. If, in the midst of all the misery of their condition, these poor mortals had a more perfect knowledge of God, a knowledge such as revelation gives us; if, less savage and insensible, they could draw from friendship those sweets which improve life, if it were possible, I say, to join these precious advantages to the tranquillity of mind which forms their character, those supposed unhappy people, whose kind of life frightens our depraved imaginations, would not be so much to be pitied as we think. And, if it is true, that the idea we form of happiness depends more on opinion than on reason; if it is true also, that real happiness is not fixed to particular people, or particular climates, and that, with the necessaries of life, and peace of mind, one may be happy in every corner of the earth; has not one right to ask, What the Laplander wants to make him happy?

JAN. XIX.

The Wise Ordinance of our Globe.

HOWEVER limited the human mind may be, however incapable it is of going to the bottom of, or even conceiving the whole of the plan that the Creator executed in forming our globe, we may notwithstanding, by the use of our senses, and the faculties with which we are endowed, discover sufficient to make us acknowledge and admire the divine wisdom. To convince us of it, we need only reflect on the form of the earth. It is known to be almost in shape like a ball. And with what view did the Creator choose that form? In order that it should be inhabited, over the whole surface of it, by living creatures. God would not have accomplished this purpose, if the inhabitants of the earth had not every where found sufficient light and heat; if water had not been easily spread in all parts of it; and, if the circulation of wind had met with obstacles any where. The earth could not have any form more proper to prevent these inconveniencies. This round form admits light and heat (those two things so necessary to life) all over our globe. Without this form, the revolutions of the day and night, the changes in the temperature of the air; cold, heat, moisture, or dryness, could not have taken place. If our earth had been square; if it had been conic, or an hexagon, or any other angular form, what would have been the consequence? A great part, and even the greatest part, of this earth, would have been drowned, while the rest would have languished with drought some of our countries would have been deprived of the wholesome circulation of wind, while others would have been torn to pieces with

continual storms. When I reflect on the enormous mass which composes our globe, I have new reason to admire the supreme wisdom. If the earth was softer, or more spongy than it is, men and animals would sink into it. If it was harder, more compact, and less penetrable than it is, it would resist the toil of the labourer, and would be incapable of producing and nourishing that multitude of plants, herbs, roots, and flowers, which now spring out of its bosom. Our globe is formed of regular and distinct strata; some of different stones, others of several metals and minerals. The numerous advantages which result from them, particularly in favour of mankind, are evident to all the world. Where should we have sweet water, so necessary to life, if it was not purified, and in a manner filtered, by the strata of gravel which are sunk a great depth in the earth? The surface of the globe offers a varied prospect; an admirable mixture of plains and valleys, of little hills and mountains. Who is there that does not see clearly the earth would lose if it was an even plain! Besides, how fa vourable is the variety of valley and mountain to the health of living creatures! How much more convenient to lodge so many creatures of different sorts! How much more proper to produce the various species of plants and vegetables! If there were no hills, the earth would be less peopled with men and animals! We should have fewer plants, fewer simples and trees: we should be totally deprived of metals and minerals: the va pours could not be condensed; and we should have neither springs nor rivers.

Who can help acknowledging that the whole plan of the earth, its form, its exterior and interior construction, are regulated according to the wisest laws, which all combine towards the pleasures and happiness of living creatures? *Supreme Author of Nature, thou hast ordered