NOVEMBER IV.

Inconveniecne of the Night.

AT this season the nights become considerably longer, and certainly this arrangement is in some respects unpleasant. Though a part of the night is allotted to strengthen and refresh us by sleep, this very operation is a proof of our weak and frail nature. At the commencement of night all our labours are interrupted, not only from the want of light, but equally as much from the necessity of reposing our wearied nature, and recruiting our exhausted strength.

It is, then, by no means extraordinary, that the nights appear long and tedious when we are restless and sleep eludes our desires. How anxiously the sick man counts the hours, and longs for the approach of morning!

Another inconvenience of night is that we are liable to lose our way, and encounter fatal disasters. When the sun has withdrawn his light, and night has spread her mantle over the earth, the traveller wanders uncertain of his way, and, unable to trace the path, falls among briers and thorns, bogs and quagmires; or, stepping over the precipice, is plunged into the gulf below. In the night-time we are also exposed to the attacks of the villain and the depredations of the plunderer, either abroad, or when we are retired to rest; for darkness conceals the steel of the murderer, and veils the deeds of iniquity. Another inconvenience of night is the cold that then generally prevails; and by their regular return we are constantly presented with an emblem of death.

There is neither continual day nor night upon the earth; and though the hours of darkness are so many during the winter, that even during the summer the return of darkness constantly divides the day, it is yet certain that God has favoured our globe with more light than darkness; an advantage which is still more increased by the twilight, as well as the light of the moon and stars. Blessed, then, be the Lord for the light of the moon and of the stars; for the rays of the sun, and the splendour of the noon-day! And more

especially may his name be blessed for the glorious light which his gospel has diffused through the deep night of ignorance, of error, and of misery. Pure rays have descended from heaven to illuminate the gloom in which we were involved; and let us ever remember in our darkest nights, in our moments of sorrow and adversity, that we are hastening on towards the regions of light and joy. Should it at any time happen that in the midst of midnight darkness sleep forsakes us, and disease or afflictions cause us to number the melancholy hours, let us console ourselves with the reflection that we are not plunged in the hopeless certainty of an eternal night; but that we are advancing towards the heavenly kingdom, the happy region, where night will not exist, where darkness will cease to alternate with light, and where will be no sickness, distress, or sorrow.

Blessed be the Almighty that the night of ignorance and misery which envelopes us in gloom is not eternal. Heaven and endless glory shall be the portion of the righteous. Hasten on, thou sun, and ye radiant stars, that blaze in the firmament, hasten to finish the course which is prescribed to you; that the time of trial, the revolutions of day and of night, the months and the years which are allotted me, may be speedily terminated. Enable me, thou light of faith, to hail the dawn of that glorious day when the season of night and the darkness which now encompass me shall vanish for ever! Blessed morning of eternity, hasten to open the brigh portals, and crown my anxious hopes! My soul longs to wing its flight to those happy abodes of the righteous, to tha fair city which endureth for ever, where eternal day reigns, and no night, no weariness, retards the progress to all perfection, knowledge, and felicity.

NOVEMBER V.

Woods and Forests.

THE surface of the earth presents not to the eye a more beautiful picture than that of woods and extensive forests

and an enlightened observer, who calls every thing excellent that is good and useful, finds in them much that is worthy of his attention. Let us, then, visit these woodland scenes, which will supply us with so many sources of admiration and gratitude.

While our walks in the fields and meadows are less agreeable than they were in the late fine season, the forests will be more interesting, and productive of real pleasure. There is no place more proper to dispose our minds to reflect upon the grandeur and beauty of the works of nature, than a lonely wood: the solitude of the place, and the profound silence which reigns there, dispose the mind to look back upon itself, and awaken the powers of the imagination.

At first, the number and variety of the trees attract our attention. What distinguishes them from each other is not so much their height, as the difference that is observable in their manner of growing, in their leaves, and in their wood. The resinous pine is not remarkable for the beauty of its leaves, which are narrow and pointed, but, like those of the fir-tree, they last long, and their verdure during the winter is very pleasing. The foliage of the lime-tree, the ash, and the beech, is much more beautiful and diversified; their verdure is admirable, it cheers and refreshes the sight; and the broad dentated leaves of some of these trees are beautifully contrasted with the narrower and more fibrous leaves of others. We are yet but imperfectly acquainted with their

fecundation, and the different properties of their fruits. any uses are made of the wood of trees! The oak, whose growth is very slow, and whose leaves do not appear till those of most other trees are in bloom, supplies us with a very hard and durable sort of wood, which art knows how to employ in a great variety of works, which are so lasting as in some instances to brave the ravages of time. The lighter kinds of wood serve for other purposes; and as they are the most abundant, and grow quicker than any other, they are of more general utility.

It is to forest trees that we are indebted for great part of

our houses and our ships, for fuel, and for various implements, furniture, and utensils. The industry of man leads him to polish, turn, and carve wood into a variety of works not less elegant than useful.

The Divine wisdom has distributed forests over the earth with more or less abundance. In some countries they are very distant from each other: in others they occupy many leagues, and rise majestically into the air. The want of wood in some countries is compensated by its abundance in others; and neither the continual use that men make of it, the destruction of it by accidental conflagrations, nor the great quantities consumed in severe winters, have been able to exhaust this rich gift of nature. In the lapse of twenty years we may see a forest, where we before only saw some low copse, or a few scattered trees.

All this ought to convince us of the power and goodness of our heavenly Father, whose wisdom is so superior to that of mortals, and who has foreseen the necessities of men in all possible circumstances. In those countries where the cold is most severe, or where wood is chiefly wanted for the purposes of navigation, the most extensive forests grow; and from their unequal distribution a very lucrative source of commerce is derived, forming a new bond of connection amongst men. We all participate in the numerous advantages which woods afford; and in creating forests God has provided for the good of each individual. Blessed be our heavenly Father, who has mercifully vouchsafed to interest himself on our behalf, before we even felt our wants, or could represent them to him! In every thing he has anticipated our desires; and may we each individually endeavour, by fulfilling the great ends of our creation, to pay the tribute of gratitude, of love, and of praise, so justly due to the God of all goodness!

It has not been intrusted to the care of man to plant and maintain forests; God has reserved this labour to himself: he plants and preserves the trees, while man has little share in their cultivation. They grow and multiply independently of our cares; they continually repair their losses by new

shoots and are always sufficiently abundant to supply our necessities. To be convinced of this we need only consider the seeds of the lime-tree, the maple, and the elm: from these small seeds vast trunks proceed, whose leafy tops rise into the clouds. It is the Almighty God who alone has established them, and who supports them for ages against the efforts of winds, and the shocks of tempests. It is he who sends the dew and rain yearly, to recruit their verdure and preserve their youth.

The earth which bears the forests does not create them, neither to speak correctly, does it nourish them. The verdure, the seeds, and the blossoms of trees, which they yearly lose, and yearly renew, and the sap which is continually dissipated, are losses which would at length exhaust the earth if it alone supplied them. Of itself it is a heavy, dry, and barren mass, which draws from other sources the juices and nourishment which it conveys to trees and plants. The principles of their growth do not proceed from the earth; the air furnishes in abundance water, salt, oil, heat, and all other matter which trees require.

Let us, thus favoured with so many blessings, contemplate that Being who is the Author of all our good. The forests and the woods are the heralds of his bounty; and we should be guilty of the basest ingratitude if we did not acknowledge this benefit, which we witness daily in our houses and in our gardens, or wherever we direct our view.

NOVEMBER VI.

The sense of Feeling in Animals.

FEELING may be justly regarded as the universal sense of animals, and the foundation of all other sensations; for seeing, hearing, smelling, and tasting, cannot take place without an impression being made. As the sense of feeling operates differently in seeing from what it does in hearing, and in hearing from what it does in the other organs of sensation, we may with propriety distinguish the sense of touch, properly