are not so easily penetrated; they are hidden from the foolishly wise, and are revealed unto babes; they are seen only with a spiritual eye, and their perfect comprehension is reserved for a more pure and exalted state of existence. When we meet with difficulties, and things which we cannot comprehend, whether in the ample volume of nature or in the pages of religion, let us not be impatient, but bow with resignation to the will of all-ruling Heaven; remembering, that however confined are our faculties and humble our intellectual attainments in this life, we are graciously favoured to hope and believe that a great portion of our felicity in a future world will be in that expansion of soul by which it will be enabled to know all that is now concealed from it, and approach in its nature nearer to its Almighty Creator.

JUNE XIV.

CHERRIES.

The cherry is a fruit, which, by its sweetness, blended with a pleasing acidity, quenches the thirst, allays the heat of the blood in summer, and prevents many disagreeable effects which a hot season might produce in our system. They quench the thirst, by their sharpness causing the salivary glands to contract, they cool the parched tongue, and moisten the dry palate. This mode of allaying thirst during hot weather is much preferable to drinking a large quantity of liquid, which distends the stomach, and tends to increase the heat and perspiration. Besides the cherries thus pleasantly appeasing our thirst, they possess a cooling property, which tempers the heat of the blood; and thus prevents the debilitating effects of the nerves being continually stimulated. Thus the beneficial juice of cherries, by its acidity and astringent virtue, refreshes us during fervent heats, purifies the blood, and preserves the fluids from putrefaction. How mercifully has the Creator provided us with fruits adapted to each season! During the hot months we require cooling and acid fruits; and we receive them in abundance, both salutary and agreeable, conducing to our nourishment whilst they gratify our taste. We possess them so plentifully, that the poor can enjoy them as well as the rich: let us make this consoling reflection, whenever we see a cherry-tree laden with fruit. How sorrowful would be the fate of the labourer who gains his daily bread with the sweat of his brow, if he had no other means of cooling himself than the delicious beverages which the affluent alone can procure! Merciful Father! Thou art mindful of the indigent; thou providest for his wants and condescendest to refresh him with fruits which thy kind Providence has placed within his reach; and cherries are more wholesome and refreshing to the weary labourer than lemonade and the most sparkling wines to the rich. We have great cause to be thankful for the abundance of acid

and cooling fruits this season affords; gooseberries, currants, cucumbers, stone-fruits, salads, &c. are so many agreeable preservatives of the health.

Whenever we enjoy the sweets of cherries, let us consider them as blessings from heaven, and acknowledge the goodness of our Creator. The heavens, the earth, the elements, and every living creature contribute to our happiness; wherever we turn our eyes they meet the blessings of our heavenly Father, which every where surround us. Animals, corn, vegetables, and fruit, in the valleys and upon the mountains, in the forests and in the seas, all serve for our pleasure and support. The all-beneficent hand of the Most High is continually open to us, and his blessings are for ever showering down from Heaven. When we walk abroad in the fields or in the garden, when we enjoy the beauties and the blessings of nature, let us think of him, the Source of every delight and of every pleasure.

JUNE XV.

WISDOM DISPLAYED IN THE STRUCTURE OF THE BODIES OF

ANIMALS.

The formation of the animal body furnishes the most convincing proofs of divine wisdom; for as some animals are designed to live principally in the air, others upon the earth, and others in the water, it was requisite that their structure should be adapted to their particular habitation, and conformable to their peculiar modes of life. And this we find they possess in a most admirable manner: they are each provided with that structure which is most appropriate to their nature; so much so, that any other arrangement would have been inconvenient, if not prejudicial.

Amongst birds, those which live upon prey are provided with strong talons and sharp-hooked beaks, that they may more readily seize and hold their prey. Those which are obliged to seek their nourishment in marshy places require a long slender bill, and long legs; and those which live in water should have the lower parts of their bodies large, a long neck, membranes like webs connecting their claws, enabling them to act as oars, and a kind of oil upon their feathers to render them smooth.

Insects which live upon prey have a mouth formed like pincers or claws, and those which live by suction are provided with a sting or proboscis. The eyes of hares and rabbits are large and project a considerable way from the head, that they may easily discover and avoid the dangers and snares to which they are exposed; and the eyes of the mole are small and sunk deep in the head, because being destined to live chiefly under ground, little light was requisite, and prominent eyes would have much impeded it in the operation of burrowing.

The crystalline humour in the eyes of fish is spherical, to remedy

the inconvenience which would arise from the refraction of the rays of light in an aqueous medium; while animals which live in the air have the crystalline lenticular, or plano-convex. Why have animals whose eyes are moveable only two, whilst those animals whose eyes are fixed have several? Why is the pupil of animals which seek their prey in the night large and brilliant? And why does the eye of the hen answer both the purpose of a telescope and microscope, if not to enable her to see the smallest seeds in the earth and among gravel, and that she may discover at a distance the birds of prey which threaten to seize her young?

How astonishing is that vast assemblage of organs by which animals perform their different motions! What a multitude of limbs ! What pliability and activity! What numerous muscles, nerves, bones, and cartilages, every motion puts in action! Some animals move slowly, others swiftly; some have two feet, others more; some have both wings and feet, others neither. The quickness or slowness with which each animal moves is regulated according to its necessities. Those which are well armed, which have courage, force, and skill to defend themselves against their enemies, move more slowly than those which are destitute of these properties. Who has given to serpents and other reptiles the power of contracting and extending their bodies, of coiling themselves into a circle, and of darting upon their prey? Who has so constructed the fish that by means of their bladder they can at pleasure ascend or descend in the water? Who has taught the snail to contract its body, and make water enter into its little habitation when it wishes to fall to the ground?

How skilful is the structure of birds, particularly their wings: and how well their body is adapted for flight! small and sharp before, and gradually increasing till they have acquired their proper size, they readily cut the yielding air, and are less impeded in their passage through that element. The feathers are all arranged with much art, lying one upon another in regular order, by which they facilitate the motion of the body, and at the same time serve it for a covering and a defence against stormy weather and the severity of winter. Though close and strongly joined together, they are capable of extending and erecting themselves; of swelling out and forming a larger volume, according as the necessities of the bird may require. The wings, which are the great instruments of flight, are placed in the most convenient part for keeping the body exactly balanced in so subtile a fluid as the air. How admirable is the construction of each single feather! The quill is stiff and hollow towards the lower extremity, which renders it both light and strong. The beard of feathers is arranged with regularity, broad on one side and narrow on the other; which is par ticularly useful in the progressive motion of birds, as well as in the strong and close texture of the wings. The feathers are also placed in the most exact proportion, so that each accords with the length and strength of those next to it; and the larger support the smaller. Im the bony parts of the wings there are numerous joints which opem and shut, or move as necessity requires, whether to extend the wings

or bring them closer to the body. The pectoral muscles are formed with much strength, to enable the bird to pass through the air with greater rapidity. The tail is so admirably constructed that it serves as a helm to direct the flight, and assist the bird in rising and descending in the air, whilst it keeps the body and wings in a steady position. The legs and feet are equally appropriate to their different motions; in some birds the claws are large, and provided with membranes which extend and contract to enable them to swim; in others the claws are sharp, and crooked at the points, that they may tread more firmly, perch, seize, and hold their prey; in some the legs are long, that they may walk in the water, and rake up their food from wet and marshy places.

In all this we must see and acknowledge the supreme intelligence of our Creator and merciful Benefactor. Is it possible that things so wonderful, regular, and admirably proportioned, can be the effect of chance! Or can any one be so weak as to imagine it was without design that all this series of vessels, of muscles, of joints, &c. &c. in each animal, were put in motion; and that every part, even the most minute, should bear so strict a relation to others, and all fulfil their different functions with such perfect harmony and regularity? It ought rather to excite in our minds the idea of some great First Cause of all, which is the Creator of the heavens and the earth; whose wisdom and goodness has formed all these creatures, and given them. that structure which is best adapted to their nature and situation. Let the presence of these objects then lead us to glorify and adore the Almighty; let us seek for that living wisdom which will teach us more and more of his ways, that we may become better and more intimately acquainted with that Being who has so gloriously manifested himself throughout the creation.

JUNE XVI.

DEW.

The wise Governor of nature, who continually watches over his children, and provides for all their wants, makes use of various means to render the earth fertile. Sometimes he effects this by inundations, which, though they may lay waste the fields, and excite the murmurs of those short-sighted men who only consider present evils, produce in the end the most beneficial consequences to the country in general. Sometimes they proceed from a vast river, which, like the Nile, at stated periods issues from its bed, to water a country and refresh the parched fields, where showers never fall; and at other times they are caused by heavy rains, which descend more or less frequently to cool the air, to moderate the heats of summer, and to irrigate the dry earth. But these means are neither sufficiently constant nor abundant; the most usual, certain, and universal, but that which perhaps

is the least valued and regarded, is the dew. This blessed gift of heaven, which even in years of the greatest drought preserves and supports vegetation, consists in those pure and brilliant drops that every morning and evening are seen collected in considerable quantities upon the leaves of trees and plants.

Dew does not descend from above, from regions more elevated than our atmosphere, as was formerly imagined; neither is it an exhalation from the heavenly bodies, as some have supposed. This pretended celestial origin occasioned that absurd notion of alchymists, which induced them to expect the formation of gold from the drops of dew. At present it is generally understood that dew is nothing more than a vapour, which during the warmth of day exhales from the earth and vegetable productions, and, condensed by the coldness of the night, falls in drops. To be convinced of this, we have merely to cover a plant with a bell-glass, and we shall observe a greater quantity of moisture collected upon its leaves than upon those which are exposed to the open air. This certainly could not happen if the dew descended from above, or if it did not arise from the earth. Nothing is more easy than to account for its formation; for no one can be ignorant that the rays of the sun, and the heat diffused over the surface of the earth, continually cause to exhale from different bodies a multitude of subtile particles, some of which ascend into the atmosphere, and others collect in the form of aqueous drops. This explanation of dew accounts for its being sometimes prejudicial, and at others not so; its nature considerably depends upon the properties of the vapours of which it is composed. The wind carries off the very subtile exhalations as soon as they are extricated, and thus prevents their forming in drops; hence it happens that the dew is most abundant when the air is calm.

By this wise provision of nature, plants are enabled to grow and increase in countries where it never rains; for the soil in those countries being sandy, porous, and very moist beneath, by means of heat, a copious supply of dew is effected, which surrounds the plants, and affords them nutriment. These different means which Divine Providence uses to moisten and fertilize the earth should recall to our minds those which he uses to ameliorate the hearts of men, and render them productive of good works. Chastisements more or less severe, blessings of every kind, exhortations and warnings, by the mouths of his prophets and ministers, with the examples of our fellow-creatures, and a thousand other means, are employed by a gracious God to draw us into his holy communion, to sanctify us, and render us capable of bringing forth the fruits of piety and of virtue. Sometimes a storm gathers, the sluices of heaven are opened, the rivers burst their banks, and the country far round is desolated with the wide sweeping inundation; at other times, God calls forth from the earth the sweet dew, and thus listens in secret to the prayers which the husbandman had uttered for rain. So also he operates in different ways for the salvation of man. To some hardened hearts he speaks in thunder and lightning as formerly from the top of Sinai;