How is it possible that we can so often see all these objects without experiencing the most profound admiration and reverence for the infinite Being whose power is so gloriously manifested? Never should we breathe the pure air of spring without such feelings being awakened; let us never contemplate a tree in leaf, a field waving with corn, a flowery mead, a majestic forest, or a beautiful garden, without reflecting that it is God who has given us the shade of the trees, and the beauty and fragrance of the flowers; that it is He who clothes the woods and the meadows with the verdure which delights and refreshes; and that He, by whose will and power we exist, has given to every creature life, and all the happiness they enjoy. As nature feels the influence of spring, so the true Christian feels ecstatic bliss, when after having hidden his face for a while, his God approaches and breathes into his soul the happy testimony of his grace and salvation.

MAY XXII.

LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS.

Man may be considered as the only animal which enjoys the gift of speech; and in this his superiority over other animals is most especially manifested. By means of speech he extends his empire over all nature, and raises himself towards his Divine Author, whom he contemplates, obeys, and adores. By the faculty of speech he is enabled to make known his wants to others, and to render them subservient to his interest. All animals, except man, are deprived of this faculty, because they are destitute of that reason by which we are enabled to acquire languages, and to know the use of speech. But as animals possess the power of expressing their wants and feelings by natural signs, and certain sounds or cries, we must allow them a sort of language, though very inferior, formed entirely from the diversity of the tones which they utter.

To form a just idea of this, no very laborious researches or profound investigations are necessary; it will be sufficient to observe the animals which daily come under our notice, and with which we live in familiar intercourse. Let us examine the hen and her chickens; when she has found any thing, she calls and invites them to partake of it; they understand her call, and instantly come. If they lose sight of her, their plaintive cries express their distress, and the desire they have for her guardian presence. Observe the different cries of the cock when a stranger or a dog advances, or when some bird of prey hovers near; or when he calls to or answers his hens. Hear the lamentable cries of the turkey, and see the young brood instantly hide themselves; the mother anxiously looks upward, and what has she discovered! a black point that we can scarcely distinguish; and this is a bird of prey, which could not escape the vigilance and piercing

eyes of the mother carefully watching for her flock. The enemy disappears, and the hen utters an exulting cry; her anxiety ceases, and the young ones again joyfully assemble round their mother.

The cries of the dog are very various, copious, and expressive: who can witness without emotion the joy which this faithful animal expresses at the return of his master? He leaps, dances, runs about him with eagerness; now stops and eyes him with the most earnest regard, full of tenderness and affection; approaches, licks, and caresses him repeatedly; then again renews his frolicksome gambols, disappears, returns, assumes a variety of sportful attitudes, barks, and declares his joy by a thousand playful gestures. How different are these joyful sounds from those which he utters at night upon the approach of a thief! If we follow a hound or a pointer, how different will be their cries and their motions, according to what they wish to express, and how significant are the movements of their ears and tails.

This may afford us another opportunity of admiring the wisdom of the Supreme Being, who has thus manifested to all creatures his tender cares, by giving them power to express by sounds their feelings and their wants. From their peculiar organization it is impossible for them to utter the language of man; but though destitute of that qualification, they are, through the mercy of God, enabled to communicate their sensations to one another, and even to man himself. They possess the faculty of producing and varying a certain number of sounds, and the structure of their organs is such, that each species has peculiar tones by which it conveys its meaning, with as much perfection as their nature and the end for which they are created requires.

How superior then is man to other animals by his powers of speech! Their language consists in the utterance of imperfect sounds; they are incapable of combining and comparing ideas, and their knowledge of external objects is very limited; whilst man possesses faculties which enable him to ascend from particulars to general notions, and to separate the object from the qualities which distinguish it; and having obtained this knowledge, he is enabled through his powers of speech to convey it to other individuals. Let us then pour forth the tribute of our praise to the Almighty for the superiority of our nature, and the great faculties he has bestowed upon us; never forgetting that the most grateful incense which ascends to Heaven is the prayers of the afflicted for those that comfort them; and the blessings of the ignorant who have been rescued from the bondage of darkness, and restored to the cheerful precincts of day by the superior intelligence of a fellow-being who has devoted his days to the cultivation of his mind and the improvement of his heart.

MAY XXIII.

NUMBER AND MAGNITUDE OF CREATURES UPON THE EARTH.

"The works of the Lord are vast and numerous:' we should have acknowledged this if we had only known those which the earth contains; for how immense is this globe, the abode of so many nations differing from each other; and how many solitudes and deserts are still uninhabited by man! What is still more striking is, that the solid earth does not occupy near so much space as the water; and if the earth itself is an example of the greatness of the works of God, how much more so is that diversity of creatures which it contains!

We find innumerable species of stones, minerals, and metals, concealed in the bosom of the earth; whilst an astonishing variety of trees, plants, herbs, and fruits, adorn its surface. Notwithstanding all the care which has been taken to observe and classify their different species, the work is still far from being completed. Let us next consider the extreme diversity of living creatures which offers itself to our attention! How great the disproportion between the eagle and the fly, the whale and the gudgeon, the elephant and the mouse! and yet the interval which separates them is filled up with living creatures. The various species of animals approach each other so nearly that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish them; and yet these are so multiplied, that from the fly to the elephant they form one vast chain, all the links of which are connected. On the seas, lakes, and rivers, upon the surface of the earth and within its bosom, there is scarcely any space that is not occupied by some living creature.

But however great may appear the number of creatures which come under our observation, it is not to be compared with those which are so small as to elude our perception. With the microscope almost incredible discoveries have been made, of which all who choose may convince themselves. By its means we are presented with a new world, which was before entirely unknown to us; we there see living creatures whose extreme minuteness the imagination can scarcely imbody, some of them not equalling in size the millionth part of a grain of sand. And it is not only their number and diversity, but their beauty and delicacy of structure, which excites our astonishment. What nearly escapes the naked eye, when viewed through a microscope has an inconceivable fineness and beauty. Brilliant particles, which art cannot imitate, glitter in a grain of sand, and particularly in some insects; for example, in the head and eyes of a small fly; and we observe in the structure of the most insignificant of beings the utmost symmetry and most admirable order: in short, we find millions of creatures so small that the eye cannot distinguish them without a glass, which have, notwithstanding, an organization as perfect in their species, and are as proper to fulfil the design of their creation, as the larger animals with which the earth is peopled.

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 the earth, were lately rough and shapeless roots.

which so beautify This may present