another; thus producing a beautiful and variegated appearance over the whole scenery of nature. "Who sees not in all these things, that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?"

In the regular Succession of the Seasons, we have also a magnificent exhibition of the wisdom of Providence. By the course of the earth round the sun, Spring and Summer, Autumn and Winter, follow each other in regular and constant succession. The change of the seasons deserves our utmost attention and admiration : it is not effected by blind chance, for in accidental events there is neither order, constancy, nor regularity; whereas in every country of the earth the seasons succeed each other regularly as the day follows the night, and precisely in the expected time the appearance of the earth changes. We see it successively adorned with herbs and leaves, with flowers and fruits; it is then deprived of its ornaments till spring returns to restore them with increased beauty. Spring, summer, and autumn, nourish and gratify the animal creation by the fruits which blossom, increase, and ripen in luxuriant abundance. And though in winter nature seems to droop and die, this season is not without its benefits. The poet Thomson, beautifully expresses the various changes which take place as the year rolls round,

These, as they change, Almighty Father, these,
Are but the varied God. The rolling year
Is full of thee. Forth in the pleasing Spring
Thy beauty walks, thy tenderness and love.
Wide flush the fields; the softening air is calm;
Echo the mountains round; the forest smiles;
And every sense and every heart is joy.

Then comes thy glory in the Summer month,
With light and heat refulgent. Then thy sun
Shoots full perfection through the swelling year:
And oft thy voice in dreadful thunder speaks,
And oft at dawn, deep noon, or falling eve,
By brooks and groves in hollow-whispering gales.
Thy bounty shines in Autumn unconfined,
And spreads a common feast for all that lives.
In Winter awful thou! with clouds and storms
Around thee thrown, tempest o'er tempest rolled,
Majestic darkness! On the whirlwind's wing
Riding sublime, thou bid'st the world adore,
And humblest nature with thy northern blast.
Mysterious round! what skill, what force divine,
Deep-felt, in these appear! a simple train,
Yet so delightful mixed, with such kind art,
Such beauty and beneficence combined;
Shade unperceived, so softening into shade;
And all so forming a harmonious whole,
That, as they still succeed, they lavish still.

The wisdom of Providence may be seen in the ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE KINGDOMS.

Above 50,000 species of animals have been described by naturalists, besides several thousand species which the naked eye cannot discern,

and which people the invisible regions of the waters and the air. All these species of animals differ from one another in size, colour, and shape; in their dispositions, movements, and ways of life.

Now

And botanists are already acquainted with nearly 56,000 different species of plants, and yet it is probable that these form but a very small portion of what actually exists, and that several thousands of species remain to be explored by the industry of future ages. every one of these species of plants differs from another in its size, structure, form, colour, flowers, leaves, fruits, and the odour it exhales. They are of all sizes, from the mushroom, to the sturdy oak and the cedar of Lebanon, and from the slender willow to the banian tree, under whose shade 7000 persons may find ample room to repose. Some grow upright, others creep along in a serpentine form. Some flourish for ages, others wither and decay in a few months: some spring up in moist soils, others in dry; some turn towards the sun, others shrink and contract when we approach to touch them. Such is the wonderful diversity with which the Creator has adorned the vegetable kingdom.

Now, God's wisdom is displayed in the structure of all these animals and vegetables. Among them we see a most curious arrangement of all

their parts; a profusion of beauty and elegance in their form; the nicest workmanship, and the most astonishing art and design in their whole structure, "Consider the lilies how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin; and yet, even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these." The structure of every flower of the field, and of every leaf of the forest, display the wisdom of God.

There is not a flower

But shows some touch, in freckle, streak, or stain,
Of his unrivall'd pencil. He inspires

Their balmy odours, and imparts their hues,
And bathes their eyes with nectar, and includes
In grains as countless as the sea-side sands,
The forms with which he sprinkles all the earth.

CowPER.

And the peculiar feelings and habits which the animal tribes possess, display the same wise arrangements.

Is it not astonishing to consider the different degrees of care that descend from the parent to the young, so far as it is absolutely necessary for the leaving a posterity? Some creatures cast their eggs carelessly, and think of them no further; as insects and several kinds of fish. Others, of a nicer frame, find out proper beds to deposit them in, and there leave them; as the

serpent, the crocodile, and the ostrich; others hatch their eggs and tend the birth until the young are able to shift for themselves. Is it not wonderful that the love of the parent should be so violent while it lasts, and that it should last no longer than is necessary for the preservation of the young? But notwithstanding the natural love in brutes is much more violent and intense than in rational creatures, Providence has taken care that it should be no longer troublesome to the parent than it is useful to the young; for so soon as the wants of the latter cease, the mother withdraws her fondness, and leaves them to provide for themselves; and what is a very remarkable circumstance in this part of instinct, we find that the love of the parent may be lengthened out beyond its usual time, if the preservation of the species requires it; as we may see in birds that drive away their young as soon as they are able to get their livelihood, but continue to feed them if they are tied to the nest or confined within a cage, or by any other means appear to be out of a condition of supplying their own necessities.

And it is worth our observation, that all beasts and birds of prey are wonderfully subject to anger, revenge, and all the other violent passions which may animate them in search of their proper food: as those that are incapable of