peasant gain new vigour and recruited force; and when the philosopher shall be obliged to cease from the intense thinking which would destroy his powers, that he may rise and pursue his investigations with redoubled energy?

JANUARY XV.

Reflections upon Self.

It is reasonable that every man should sometimes withdraw his attention from foreign objects, and fix it upon himself. By continually thinking of the things which surround us, we are apt to lose sight of ourselves, and forget the gratitude which the contemplation of the starry heavens, and the enjoyment of the blessings showered down upon the earth, ought to excite in our bosoms. To be convinced that man is as excellent an example of the perfection of God's divine power and wisdom, as are those objects which by their grandeur astonish the faculties, I wish that every individual would deeply reflect upon all that most intimately concerns his structure. How admirable is the union of the body and the soul! How incomprehensible their action! We daily experience that when the rays of light, reflected from external objects, strike upon the retina, the mind receives an idea of the size, figure, and colour, of such objects. We find certain vibratory undulations of the atmospherical air convey to the mind, through the medium of the ear, an idea of sound. By this power of perception we obtain the knowledge of all the changes which occur in surrounding bodies, as well as an acquaintance with the thoughts of other men. We find whenever a desire for motion from place to place arises in our minds, the body obeys the impulse; and whether the trunk, the head, or the limbs, are required to move, obedience follows the will. These are facts well known and daily experienced, but it is beyond the power of man to explain them. In this reciprocal influence of the soul upon the body, and the body upon the soul, there is displayed which we cannot search into, and the

a wisdom

result of

our profoundest investigations into this exquisite union of body and soul must be admiration and astonishment.

If we consider the body separately, we find it every where displays the power of the creating Hand; each limb is ordered in the most convenient manner for utility as well as beauty; no change that man can devise will be of benefit to him, so admirably is the human frame organized-so wisely is it constituted. Its internal arrangement is still more wonderful. The body has different, ends to answer, different functions to perform; it is the medium through which the soul receives cognizance of external objects. For this great purpose we find it furnished with the organs of sight, of hearing, of taste, of feeling, and of smell, each in itself worthy the highest admiration. But to enable the body to transmit to the soul the sensations of external objects, it is necessary motion should be readily performed, for which purpose we find various parts provided by nature: the bones, muscles, joints, ligaments, and cellular substance, all exquisitely arranged, give the power of moving in every direction : but a machine like this, in frequent motion, must be liable to a continual waste; to supply which loss, and keep it in proper order, it will be necessary to receive aliment, to comminute it, to separate its nutritious juices, to circulate them through the whole machine with such proportion and regularity that each party may receive the quantity necessary for its due support; for all which purposes suitable functions are provided.

We have reason then to praise the Lord, who has thus wonderfully formed us, all of whose works are so admirable. To thee, O God! be rendered all adoration and thanksgiving. Let us celebrate thy praises with the sound of the harp, and with the song of joy and of gladness. We are the prodigies of thy power; as our faculties and our senses display thy Divine wisdom. May we ever be permitted to glorify and exalt thy holy name; and may we, when time here shall be to us no more, rejoice in thy goodness through a blessed eternity!

JANUARY XVI.

The Damage occasioned by extraordinary Cold.

WHY do we so readily notice those effects of nature which seem to be injurious? Why do we so willingly dwell upon and even murmur at them, whilst we slightly pass over all the striking advantages which they procure us? Men in such cases act towards God as they are accustomed to do with their fellow-creatures. A trifling offence, a slight injury they may have received from their best friend or benefactor, often effaces from their memory the essential benefits they have received; their pride and their ingratitude cause them to overlook the benefits, while they magnify the injury. At this season of the year we have a memorable instance of their disposition: men seem only to regard the evil which may result from the cold, and never consider the good it may produce. If they discover the least injury, if some parts of the great whole suffer, they think themselves authorized to murmur against God, without at all considering that nature, taken as a whole, deduces great advantages from the cold. If we weigh with impartiality the advantages and the evils which may be attributed to it, the result will convince us how little cause we have to arraign the government of the Almighty.

It is true a severe season causes many inconveniences, and induces some distressing consequences. Sometimes the water is frozen to such a depth that it is not possible to obtain a supply of this necessary article; the fish die in the ponds; rivers swelling above their banks, their torrents increased by the melting snow, and containing vast masses of floating ice, burst their boundaries and devastate the neighbouring country. The working of water-mills is stopped; vegetables suffer; wood and fuel entirely fail, or become excessively enhanced in price; grain, potatoes, &c. if not well covered, are spoiled, and plants and trees die. Many animals perish from cold and hunger, and the health and safety of man is often endangered.

These are some of the most striking evils which the rigour of a severe season may produce; but how many winters do we not pass without witnessing such a degree of extreme severity? Admitting, however, that these disastrous effects oftener occurred, what right have we to complain, when the advantages much more than compensate for any evils we may endure? Knowing so little of the great chain of causes which links together this world, how are we poor finite beings to pronounce and decide upon what is best for nature, or upon what is most prejudicial to her? Let us not then expose our ignorance and absurdity by blaming or condemning the laws of nature, because we see but a very minute part, and are totally incapable of grasping the whole. Let us rather acknowledge our incapacity, and acquire a confidence in the ways of Providence which shall induce us to believe and to feel assured, that He who has created the heavens and the earth has likewise ordained a portion of happiness and of good sufficient for our present condition, and far exceeding all the accumulated evils we can possibly endure. With this reliance upon the rock of ages, we shall remain firm and unmoved, amid the warring of elements and the general wreck of nature; whilst we ascribe praise, honour, and thanksgiving, to our wise and beneficent Creator.

JANUARY XVII.

Nature reposes during the Winter.

THE days of winter are the days of nature's rest. In the preceding months she has been exhausted with incessant labour for the good of man. How rich has the spring been in flowers; how the seed have expanded and the foliage sprouted! What abundance of fruits the summer prepares for the autumn's maturing hand! Every month, every day, we receive some fresh gift from nature. As the tender mother provides for her young with anxious care, so nature is busied from morning to evening in supplying our wants, and in procuring us a succession of comforts and blessings to make

life's fleeting moments smile with joy and with delight. Food, raiment, and the chief sources of our pleasures, are all derived from her fostering bosom. For us she makes the seeds to open and expand, the herbs to bud, the trees to look gay with foliage, beautiful with blossoms, and to pour forth their riches in fruit of every kind that can please the eye or gratify the taste. For us, the golden grain waves over the fields, the vine offers her varied treasures, and the whole creation is clothed in verdure, and presents to the delighted observer an infinitely varied and beautiful field of attractions. Wearied by so many labours, nature, for a space, reposes, in order to acquire new force, that she may again be equally fruitful, and again be enabled to assume her wonted resplendency.

Here also, O beneficent Creator! I adore thy wisdom. The repose of nature in winter is not less interesting to us, nor less worthy of entering into the plan of thy Divine Providence, than her utmost activity in spring and summer. Thou hast prepared the different revolutions of the earth; thou hast established the most intimate relation between them; and with an impartial hand hast distributed labour and rest. It is Thou who hast willed that each sun should vary the seasons of nature, in such times and ways as are most fit for the perfection of the whole. If I have ever been foolish enough to blame any thing in the government of the world, O God! pardon my temerity. I now see, and am fully persuaded, that all the arrangements of thy Providence, however extraordinary they may appear to my feeble intellects, are full of wisdom and goodness. Now, that I see the earth mantled with a deep snow, I think of the good which will result from it, and bless the wisdom of God; for I now know that unless nature, at certain intervals, enjoyed a state of rest, we should no longer see the flowers and the fruits which so beautify the creation and increase the comforts of life; no more would the joyful harvest-home gladden the swain, nor the fields exchange their dusky hue for the sprightly green.