Considerations like these are well calculated to teach us the knowledge of our own littleness; we seem to be lost in this innumerable multitude of the creatures of God, which would amply suffice to declare his power, though the whole human race were swept into annihilation. How immense is the empire of nature! in every element are beings created and preserved; every grain of sand is an habitation for insects which rank amongst the creatures of God, and are links in the vast catenation of created nature. The more we meditate upon the grandeur and diversity of the works of God, the more we feel the limits of our understanding, and our ideas are confused by infinitude; though we add number upon number, we shall never be able to find a sum equal to the amount of all the creatures which inhabit the earth. Let us then in silent reverence adore the wisdom of the immeasurable God.

MAY XXIV.

SPRING AN EMBLEM OF THE FRAILTY OF HUMAN LIFE, AND AN IMAGE OF DEATH.

At this season we need not search far for images of frailty and death; they every where present themselves connected with the beauties of nature. The design of the Creator in this seems to be, to warn us of the inconstancy of terrestrial things, and to check that dangerous inclination which we have to place our affections upon objects which, being vain and transitory, should be repressed. Spring is the season in which plants receive a new life, and in which many of them perish. However serene are the days of spring, they often suddenly become darkened by clouds, by showers, and by tempests. Sometimes the morning dawns in the fulness of beauty; when, ere the sun has gained the mid-heaven, the lustre which flattered our hopes of a fine day vanishes from our view; at other times our most favourable hopes are realized, and we enjoy all the attractions of spring in full perfection. But how fugitive are these happy days, and how precipitate their flight! Whilst we are eagerly courting their presence they vanish from our grasp; and thus fly the fairest hours of life, even as fleeting moments of spring. The morning often meets us with smiles, and promises us nothing but joy and happiness; but ere the evening comes, even before we have attained the noon, we experience the desolation of misfortune, and the bitterness of grief; wo marks our course, and affliction follows our steps. Let us pause for a space, and consider the years of our youth, which we may regard as the spring of our life; how fleeting were the pleasures of our then tender age! Many and various as they were, perhaps none of them now remain. Where are fled those happy moments when, strangers to care, we gave ourselves up to the intoxicating influence of joy, and the enthusiastic rapture of unrestrained.

imagination? Where is now that gayety of heart that was wont to sparkle in the countenance and cheer the admiring beholder? And where those roses which once bloomed in our cheeks? We now no longer feel the turbulence of pleasure, the enthusiasm of ardour, nor the rapturous fervour of delight, which were wont to fire our senses and intoxicate our souls. We remember those happy days no more, but as the illusion of a dream, or as some pleasing phantasy that plays upon the imagination, and suddenly leaves us in all the consciousness of a weary existence. But it is not so with those who in their morning of life looked forward to the time when to learn is painful, and again to grow young impracticable; who, instead of expending the ardour of youth in the pursuit of tasteless frivolity or hopeless dissipation, gathered with unceasing toil and unwearied assiduity the rich stores of wisdom, the enjoyment of which will ensure to them a measure of felicity, whilst the mere butterflies that flutter in the sunbeams are buried in the gloom of oblivion.

Every where does the spring declare, in the expressive language of truth, the decay of life and the uncertainty of time. We now see the trees in the pride of verdure, adorned with their beautiful blossoms; but in a few days these will be no more. All those tender flowers, whose beautiful forms diversify nature, will perish in the same season that gives them birth. Like these, the period of human life is short, and its longest duration may be compared to a day of spring. Death suddenly closes our eyes in night, even when the crimson tide of health promised us the succession of many years. Often the canker worm of disease is secretly gnawing the heart, whilst the countenance yet beams the lustre of health and the radiance of youth. Yet, though the charms of youth are blasted, as the glory of the valleys is sometimes darkened by the north wind, or as certainly as the pride of the garden fades; though we fall like the rose which blooms to-day, and to-morrow withereth; let us not repine nor mourn at our fate; but let us enjoy all the charms of spring, and the blessings of life, which the Creator has graciously bestowed upon us. The thoughts of death can never destroy the pleasure of the virtuous, nor lessen the delight of innocence and the enjoyment of purity. Far from filling the mind with dismay, and rendering gloomy the heart, the certainty of death teaches us the insignificance of all terrestrial objects, and leads us to repose upon the Supreme Being, in the hope of quitting a world where every thing is perishable, for the regions of eternal glory and endless felicity.

MAY XXV.

SPRING EMBLEMATICAL OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY.

Most of the flowers which we now admire, and which so beautify the earth, were lately rough and shapeless roots. This may present

us with a beautiful emblem of the resurrection of the righteous, and the reanimated state of their bodies. As the roots of the most exquisite flowers, while buried in the earth, are destitute of form and beauty, but when in bloom have a thousand charms-so the human body, which in the precincts of the tomb is the object of horror and aversion, in the day of resurrection will experience a most astonishing change; for what is sown in corruption is raised in incorruption; what is sown in dishonour is raised in glory.' As soon as the first mild days of spring appear, life and joy succeed the melancholy impressions excited by the rigours of winter; and cause the chilling blasts to be forgotten. So will man in the great day of resurrection forget all his troubles, and no longer remember with pain the afflictions of his past life. Whilst in this state of existence, anxiety lowers on our brow, and our countenance often expresses the language of sorrow; but soon as the cheering rays of a new creation shall enlighten our souls, grief will be no more; no clouds will obscure the serenity of our days, and a heavenly joy will gild all our moments.

Spring is the joyful season when the earth undergoes a general renovation; if in the winter it seemed dull and lifeless, it now appears altogether gay and attractive. Every object delights us, and we seem each spring to enjoy the pleasing variety of a new world. So also in the day of resurrection will the just man be transported into a new and delightful region. The new heaven and the new earth will be free from all the evils which now so often trouble us; peace, order, beauty, and justice, will render our future abode more happy than the most ardent imagination can conceive to be possible.

When the heat of the sun's rays has penetrated the earth, thousands of plants and flowers rise up out of its bosom. So will it be on the great day, when thousands of generations shall arise from the dust in which they have been buried. As the flowers of spring come forth from their seed decked in beauty and splendour, so the bodies of the righteous which have been deposited in the earth shall one day arise, encompassed with glory and arrayed in beauty. Spring is the epoch of vegetation for grass, flowers, and every species of plants; it is then that every thing which has pushed above the surface of the earth developes itself more and more every day, and visibly increases its strength and beauty: and the day of the resurrection shall be to the soul of the Christian the epoch of the boundless progress he will make in all good; no weakness will detain, no obstacle impede him on his way in the path of perfection; he will proceed from virtue to virtue, and from felicity to felicity. In spring all nature seems to arise as from a state of sleep to praise its Author; the notes of all the inhabitants of the air swell in one universal hymn to glorify the Being who formed them; and, in the joyful hour of resurrection, similar songs shall ascend from the children of God, who have received new life and immortality.

MAY XXVI.

ATTRACTIVE POWER OF BODIES.

We often see two bodies approach each other without being impelled by any external force. The canse which produces this effect is called attraction, or that principle whereby the minuter particles of matter tend towards one another. This power of attraction is one of the principal agents of nature; by its operation fluids ascend in capillary tubes; and it is in some degree the cause of the juices circulating in the capillary vessels of plants and animals. The expansive power of the air also contributes in plants to this effect, for a portion of air is found in the fluid by which they are nourished. Vegetables are also provided with air-vessels, which imbibe the external air, and assist the ascent of the sap; but the chief cause of this phenomenon is capillary attraction. It is well known that a series of capillary tubes exist in the human body, where the fluids are in continual motion; and this motion is partly regulated by the laws of attraction. Many of the phenomena we observe in the material world have this attractive power for their principle, and by it is most satisfactorily explained the motion of the heavenly bodies. These spheres, separated from each other by immense intervals, must be united by some secret bond, to form such a perfect whole as the solar system. It is now generally admitted, that the union of these heavenly bodies, their direction, the law which prevents them from deviating from their prescribed route, the motion of the planets and the comets round the sun, all depend upon the attractive power of that star, and the gravitation of these bodies towards him. How admirable is that wisdom which, by means of the same law, causes the vegetation of the motion of the universe!

grass and All these reflections lead us to glorify the Supreme Wisdom. If it manifests itself in the government of the celestial bodies, it is equally apparent in that of rational creatures. The Creator always acts upon principles equally wise, after the same laws, accomplishing every thing with the greatest simplicity. But we are often so blind as not to acknowledge him, because we imagine that he only appears in things which possess grandeur and brilliancy. When cities and provinces are devastated by an earthquake, inundated with water, or consumed by fire, our attention is arrested; and in these convulsions of nature we perceive the traces of Providence. But why do we not perceive him equally in small things? why do we not behold the marks of his wisdom in the common occurrences of life? Is it only extraordinary events that proclaim the power and justice of God? Is it not equally displayed in the smallest blade of grass as in the motion of the heavenly bodies? To be convinced of the wisdom and goodness which are manifested throughout the kingdom of God, we need not go to distant places, or seek amidst remote objects. We

need only dwell on what relates to ourselves, and the particular dis pensation of Providence in our own behalf.

MAY XXVII.

COMPLAINTS OF MEN AGAINST THE LAWS OF NATURE.

'Why is the human body, from its constitution, subject to so many accidents and infirmities? Let him who asks this question say, if it is possible to figure to himself a body which can unite more advantages than that which he has received from his Creator! It was incompatible with the nature and catenation of things below, that man should be provided with a body that was invulnerable. Though some are deformed, others lame, and deaf and dumb, we have no reason to murmur at the decrees of Providence. These defects are not so frequent as to give us occasion to repine; and those who are still disposed to complain would do well to reflect on the following truths.

It is useful to the generality of men that some examples of the defects to which the human body is liable should now and then occur; for when a healthy and sound person compares himself with one who is not so, he at once perceives all the advantages of perfect and well-formed limbs; he learns to prize a gift of whose value he was before ignorant, and is more careful to preserve it. How precious is each eye, each organ of sense, each joint and limb-more dear to us than the richest treasure! Our body is more beautiful and regular than the most superb building, more excellent than the most exquisitely wrought machine; and yet, inferior as these are, we are far from attributing them to blind chance.

'Why are some countries of the earth so different from one another; sometimes cold, sometimes wet, sometimes low, at others elevated? If thou, O man! hadst the power of forming a globe, where every thing should contribute to the welfare of men and animals, would thy understanding furnish thee with the plan of one better than that of our sphere? The countries of the earth produce, by means of their diversity, exhalations and different winds, from which results that medium of air, which experience teaches us is best adapted to the health and comfort of animal life, and the promotion of vegetation. It is, however, incontestable that the variations of weather are not advantageous to all men and to all countries.' But has not the weather which has preceded an influence upon that which follows? and the temperature of one country an influence upon that of another? Is it in our power to judge of the whole? Are a thousand husbandmen to sigh for a shower, because the continuance of a drought will accommodate the arrangements of one housewife? A certain state of air will occasion in some places a degree of sterility; but can that be called an evil which prevents the impurity of the atmosphere? Should an east wind, benefiting a whole country, cease