remorse, and the upbraidings of a conscience ill at rest, he may spend his days in peace and in joy.

DECEMBER XXVIL

Care which God takes of Men from the Time of their Birth. THE wants of our infancy are numerous. With pain and difficulty we come into the world; and should soon lose the life we had but just begun to feel, if the various things necessary for our food and clothing were not prepared beforehand, and if there were not persons to take care of us in our weak and helpless state, when we are destitute of all things; or, rather, if our heavenly Father himself did not watch over us for our preservation. He took care of us whilst we were in our mother's womb, at a time when no human wisdom or industry could assist us. It is he who fashioned our bodies, and arranged and connected together all their various parts. He has given to each of the veins its particular direction, and pours through them all the vital fluid. He has clothed us with skin and with flesh, and has given us bones and nerves; and by diffusing through all these an intelligent and a rational spirit, has formed a being worthy of bearing his own Divine semblance. The same Providence which watched over us at the time of our first being, has graciously continued his paternal cares, and has never forgotten us. And he is not merely satisfied with providing for all our necessities, by giving us fond and affectionate parents, who, whilst we are unable to do any thing for ourselves, tenderly cherish and preserve us as their greatest blessing and delight; but he has done more, he has laid the foundation of our future happiness. At the time of our birth the causes which would influence our future welfare already existed, and began to operate according to the views of a wise Providence. How much the comforts or the misery of our lives depend upon our parents; their opinions, ranks, fortune, and connexions! How much the happiness of our lives must be influenced by our early education, the examples that are be

fore us, the connexions that we form, the opportunities that occur of exercising our powers, and developing our faculties ! And is it not God,, our Father, whose wisdom and goodness ordered all these things for our present and eternal happiness? How conseling, then, is the thought, that a Being infinitely good, wise, and powerful, has watched over us before we were born, guarded our tender infancy, and deter mined and regulated all that we shall require in the course of our lives?

DECEMBER XXVIII.

Period of Human Life.

EVERY man dies precisely at the time that God, in his eter nal wisdom, has appointed: as the time of our birth is fixed. so also is that of our death. But the term of life is not subjected to an inevitable fatality or necessity; such things do not exist. Every thing that occurs may happen sooner or later, or not at all; and the man, who died to-day might have died sooner, or lived longer. God has not numbered the days of any particular individual by an absolute and arbitrary decree, or without having a regard to the circumstances in which the individual may be placed. God, being infinitely wise, can do nothing without motives that are worthy of his divine nature. He must, then, have just reasons for determining that such a man should leave the world at one time rather than at another. Yet, though the term of life be in itself neither affected by necessity nor fatality, it is cer tain, and can never be really changed.

Whenever a man dies, some causes must infallibly lead to his death these, however, may at any time be suspended by the Supreme Being. One man dies of some mortal disease, another by a sudden and unforesen accident. One perishes by fire, another by water. All these causes God has foreseen: neither has he been an idle or an indifferent spectator! he has examined them all with care, compared them

with his views, and has seen whether he will approve of them or not. If he approves of them, they are determined; and, in that case, there exists a Divine decree, by virtue of which a man will die at a certain time by some particular accident or contingency. This decree can neither be revoked nor prevented for the same reasons which might influence God to take a man from the earth at this present time were known to him from all eternity, and his wisdom would enable him to form the same judgment then that he would in the present instance. What, then should induce him' to revoke his decrees?

It may, however, happen that God, foreseeing the causes of the death of a particular individual, did not approve of them. In this case he has at least determined to permit them, or otherwise they could not have taken place, nor the individual have died. And if the permission of these causes of death has been determined, God then wills that we should die in the time when these causes shall exist. It is true he might have been disposed to grant us a longer life, and not approve of the causes of our death; but it was inconsistent with his wisdom to counteract their operation. He saw the universe collectively, and found reasons which induced him to permit that a man should die at a particular time, though he neither approved of the causes, manner, nor circumstances, of that death. His wisdom finds means to direct that death to the most useful purposes: or he foresaw that a longer life, in the particular circumstances in which a man was placed, could neither be of advantage to him, nor to the world in general: or he saw, that to prevent that death, a new and perfectly different combination of things. was requisite; a combination that could not accord with the general plan of the universe, and which would prevent still greater good from taking place. Thus, although God may sometimes disapprove the causes of a man's death, he has, nevertheless, sufficiently wise and just reasons to permit them to take place; and consequently, to determine that a man shall die at a particular time, and by certain means. These

considerations are well calculated to make us regard death with christian resignation and fortitude. What principally renders it so formidable is the uncertainty of its approach, and the manner in which it seizes us. If we knew beforehand how and when we should die, we might prepare to meet the awful hour with resolution. But as that is very seldom the case, nothing is more effectual to strengthen our minds and tranquillize our thoughts upon that event, than the belief in a Providence which watches over our lives; and which, from before the foundation of the world, has determined, with infinite wisdom and goodness, the time, the manner, and all the circumstances, of our death. The term of our lives is then appointed; and nobody can die sooner or later than God, in his infinite mercy, has determined for the good even of the individual himself. Persuaded of this consoling truth, let us calmly await the hour of death: and since its arrival is uncertain, let us be wise enough to prepare for it at all times, and be found in a state of readiness whenever it may happen; knowing that the period will be that which God has judged will be the best for us. It is true, we are ignorant what will be the manner of our death, and the particular circumstances attending it; but it is sufficient to know and to believe that we can only die in that way, and at that time, which our heavenly Father shall deem to be the best for ourselves, and for all those connected with us. Strengthened by this belief, we shall continue to pursue our terrestrial pilgrimage withcut inquietude; submitting patiently to all the dispensations of Providence, fearless of the dangers to which the performance of our duty may expose us.

DECEMBER XXIX.

The Instability of earthly Things. NOTHING exists in nature whose state and manner of being is not liable to change. Every thing is the sport of frailty and inconstancy; nothing is so durable as always to retain

its present appearance. The most solid and compact bodies have not such a degree of impenetrability, and so close a union of the parts which compose them, as to be exempted from dissolution and destruction. Every particle of matter insensibly changes its figure. How many changes have our bodies undergone since their first formation in our mother's womb! every year we lose some of our constituent parts, and again acquire new ones. Every thing upon the earth grows and decays by turns, only in some bodies these changes are not so frequent and great as in others. The heavenly bodies appear to be the same as they were at their first creation; and perhaps they are the least changeable of all bodies. Yet attentive observers have noted the disappearance of certain stars from the heavens; and the changes which take place in the spots that appear on the sun prove that he is not always in the same state. Besides, his motion subjects him to different variations, and we have reason to believe he undergoes at times various internal revolutions. All that we can know of them is conjectural, because of the immense distance that we are from him; and, no doubt, if we were able to observe them near enough, we should discover as much instability in all the heavenly bodies as we do upon our earth.

The year which in two days more will terminate, furnishes abundant proof of the uncertainty and frailty of all earthly things. Confining ourselves to the small circle in which we move, how frequent are the changes that we witness! Many of those people whom we have known for years are no more: many whom we have seen smiled upon by fortune are now grovelling in poverty, or reduced from a state of rank and influence to mediocrity and dependence. If we examine into ourselves, we shall also find we have undergone various changes. Our health and activity may have decayed; we may have been subjected to misfortunes, sickness, and the infidelity of those whom we trusted.

Such reflections are gloomy and sorrowful, and might even reduce us to despair, if we were not supported and consoled