every thing on earth with wisdom! Wherever I turn my eyes; whether I examine the surface, or penetrate into the interior structure of the globe thou hast appointed me to inhabit, I every where discover marks of profound wisdom and infinite goodness. JAN. XX. Short Meditations on the Works of God, drawn from the Holy Scriptures. "HEARKEN unto this, stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God." "He hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his direction: for he is the former of all things t." "And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness: And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night t." "Thou, even thou, art Lord alone: Thou hast made the heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host: the earth, and things that are therein; the seas, and all that is therein; and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee §.” “O Lord my God, thou art become exceeding glo. rious: Thou art clothed with majesty and ho nour. Thou coverest thyself with light as with a garment, and spreadest out the heavens like a curtain: Who layeth the beams of his cham bers in the waters: Who maketh the clouds his chariots: Who walketh on the wings of the wind. Who maketh his angels spirits, his ministers a flaming fire. Who laid the foundations • Job xxxvii. 14. + Jer. x. 12, 16. ‡ Gen, i. 3, 4. 5. ? Jervix, 6: of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever. Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a a garment: The waters stood above the moun. tains *." "He stretcheth out the north over the empty space, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. He bindeth up the waters in his thick cloud, and the cloud is not rent under them. He divideth the sea with his power; and, by his understanding, he smiteth through the proud t." "For he maketh small the drops of water: They pour down rain according to the vapour thereof: which the clouds drop, and distil upon man abundantly. Also, can any understand the spreadings of the clouds, or the noise of his tabernacle? Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it, and covereth the bottom of the seat." "It is from thence, as from a throne, that he sometimes judgeth the people, and sometimes scattereth abundance on the earth." "God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doth he, which we cannot comprehend: For he saith to the suow, Be thou on the earth; likewise, to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength. Out of the south cometh the whirlwind, and cold out of the north. By the breath of God frost is given; and, the breadth of the waters is straitened. Also, by watering, he wearieth the thick cloud: He scattereth his bright cloud; and, it is turned round about by his counsels, that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them, upon the face of the earth. lle causeth it to come, whether for correction, or an effect of his favour and mercy towards man ." "God is wise in heart and mighty in strength: Who hath hardened himself against him and hath prospered! Who removeth the * Psal, civ. 1, 7. + Job xxvi. 7, 8, 12. Job xxxvi. 27, &c. Job. xxxvii. 5, &c. mountains, and they know not; who overturne them in his anger: Who shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble: who commandeth the sun, and it riseth not, and sealeth up the stars; who alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea; who maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south; who doth great things, past finding out; yea, and wonders without number." "Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: Thou driedst up mighty rivers. The day is thine; the night also is thine; thou hast prepared the light and the sun thou hast set all the borders of the earth; thou hast made summer and winter t." "He causeth an east-wind to blow in the heaven; and, by his power, he brought in the south wind 1." watereth the hills from his chamber. The earth is satisfied with the fruit of his works. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man, that he may bring forth food out of the earth §." "He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry." ---The eyes of all wait upon thee, and thou givest them their meat in due season." "Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things, that stretcheth forth the heavens alone, that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself." For, thus saith the Lord that created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth, and made it, he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited, I am the Lord, and there is none else ft." "Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is Job. ix. 4, &c. +Psal. Ixxiv. 15, &c. Psal. lxxvii. 26. Psal. cxlvi. 15. none else; I am God, and there is none like me." "I form the light, and create darkness: I the Lord do all these things t." JAN. XXI. Wonders of the Human Voice. THE human voice is the greatest master-piece of the Creator. Whether we consider its principle, its variations, or its organs, it is impossible to fathom its admirable mechanism. Let us now try to reflect silently upon it. What is it that en ables us to utter sounds? That faculty depends on the construction of the windpipe. The little opening that is in it, occasions a sound, when the air we have breathed is expelled with quick. ness.' The windpipe is composed of circular gristles, which are held together by an elastic membrane. At the entrance is a little lid, which opens to let the air out from that passage. It opens more or less, to modify and multiply the tones of the voice; and it closes when we swallow in order to keep out the food, which must pass over it, in its way to the stomach. Experience tells us, that the extent of the human voice is twelve full tones. To produce this variety, then, it was necessary that the windpipe should be divided into twelve equal parts. And, as its two sides, when stretched, are distant from each other the tenth part of an inch, one may calculate from thence, that each tone of the voice may be subdi vided into an hundred others; also, that a man is able to produce 2400 different tones, which may all be distinguished by the ear. However, in regard to these properties, though so sur. prising, we have few advantages over the ani mals. But the prerogative of man consists in this--That we can compress the air, and modify the voice, so as to pronounce letters and words. The palate, the teeth, and lips, contri. bute much to this operation. Let us dwell on the manner in which we utter the five vowels, which have only a simple sound. When we pronounce the letter a, the sound is quite different from that of e, o, i, u; though it was to be pronounced with the same tone. The reason of this difference is one amongst the number of the impenetrable mysteries of nature. To pronounce the five vowels, the mouth must be more or less opened; and, for this purpose, the human mouth is formed differently from that of animal. any Even those birds, who learn to imitate the human voice, can never distinctly pronounce the several vowels; and this is what makes the imitation so imperfect. As to the pronunciation of consonants, three of our organs contribute to it; particularly the lips, the tongue, and the palate. The nose also has its share. Try to stop it, and certain letters cannot be pronounced, but in an unintelligible manner. One thing, which proves the organization, which enables us to pronounce words, particularly wonderful, is, that no human art has ever been able to imitate it by any machine. Song, indeed, has been imitated; but not the articulation of sounds, or the pronunciation of different vowels. In several organs, there is a stop called the human voice; but it produces no tones, except such as resemble the diphthongs of ai or ae. And all the efforts of art cannot arrive at imitating one single word of those which we pronounce so easily. Let these considerations induce us again to reflect on, and to praise the ineffable wisdom and great goodness which God shows in the formation Vol. I. D |