their parents, they are thrown upon their own resources, with ample means of support and enjoyment. This contrast between the early condition of man and the lower animals, is described by a Roman poet, in lines elegant, but querulous, which may be thus translated :

The infant, first emerging into day,

Lies, like the shipwreck'd mariner, when toss'd
From the fierce billows,-naked, helpless, sad;
And weeps and moans, as well beseems a wretch
Cast on a world with grief and pain oppressed.
Not so the peaceful flocks and herds are rear'd,
Not so the savage beasts ;-for nought want they
Of cradled rest, or bland and prattling talk
Of watchful nurse, or clothing warm or cool,
As varying seasons rule the inconstant year.
No arms they seek, nor lofty walls, to guard
Their hoarded treasures; for, with bounteous hand,
Earth spreads her varied stores, and Nature yields
Her wond'rous powers, to bless their countless tribes.*

Con

The intention of the Creator in thus throwing the infant on the immediate protection and tender assiduities of his parents, is not unkind, but the very reverse. stituted as man is, such a state of dependence on the one hand, and of guardianship on the other, is of the highest importance to the developement of the moral and even of the intellectual faculties, and impresses a character of affection and of mutual sympathy on the human heart, which extends from the family circle to the whole relations of life; and while it binds society together by the strongest ties, sheds over it the most endearing charm. But it is not in this view that we are led at present to

*Tum porro puer, ut sævis projectus ab undis
Navita, nudus humi jacet, infans, indigus omni
Vitali auxilio, cum primum in luminis oras
Nixibus, ex alvo matris natura profudit;
Vagituque locum lugubri complet, ut æquum est,
Cui tantum in vita restet transire malorum.

At variæ crescunt Pecudes, Armenta, Feræque ;

Nec crepitacula eis opu' sunt, nec cuiquam adhibenda est
Almæ nutricis blanda atque infracta loquela:

Nec varias quærunt vesteis, pro tempore cœli.
Denique non armis opus est, non monibus altis,
Queis sua tutentur, quando omnibus omnia large
Tellus ipsa parit, naturaque dædala rerum."

consider the subject. We have to inquire how this naked and houseless creature finds shelter and protection from the rigors of winter; and this throws us into a wide but most interesting field of inquiry, leading, as it does, to a consideration of the peculiar provisions and adaptations by which the energies of the human mind are called forth and disciplined, a subject to which we formerly adverted, but which seems worthy of reconsideration, as applicable to this particular case.

"In

The sentence which has passed on fallen man is, the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground;" and, by the peculiar ordinance of a wonder-working Providence, that which is his curse is converted into the means of giving vigor and enlargement to his mental powers. It is by the pressure of necessity, and the urgency of want, that our natural aversion to labor and love of inaction are overcome. To prove this, we do not need to revert to the theories of philosophers, or to follow man through his fancied stages of advancement, from his lowest grade,—a savage roamer of the forest, feeding on nuts and roots,-till we find him, first a hunter and fisher, then a shepherd, next a tiller of the soil, and, last of all, a man of commerce, and an adept in the arts and sciences.

In the supposed steps of this progress, history does not bear us out; but we do know, from all history, as well as from daily experience, that the wants of man stimulate his ingenuity; that these wants increase with the power of gratifying them, while the ingenuity which supplies them keeps pace with his enlarging desires, and that thus there is a constant action and reaction, which, by a most wonderful and interesting process, urges man on from stage to stage of improvement, till he becomes, what we find him to be in the most advanced state of society,―a being as different, in his mental attainments, from the wandering savage, as the lordly elephant, in his physical powers, is from the blind worm of the earth. The human mind is mighty and various in its faculties; but before these become available to any great extent, they must be excited by external objects, trained and

moulded by discipline, and enlightened by the accumulated wisdom of ages; and to perform these important functions, the circumstances and condition of external nature are admirably suited.

This observation applies universally, and might be illustrated in a thousand different ways; but take the case immediately before us,-the necessity of protection from the vicissitudes of the seasons. In what state do we find civilized man? Think of the comforts and conveniences which he has accumulated around him, for the purpose in view. This naturally naked and helpless creature, makes the whole creation, both animate and inanimate, contribute to his defence from the wintry blast, and from the summer's heat. The hemp, the flax, the cotton plant, and the inner bark of various trees, yield their vegetable stores; the sheep gives its fleece; the silkworm its web; the cow her hide; the goose and the eider-duck their down; the beaver, the ermine, and the bear, their fur, that his want of natural clothing may be supplied; and that, by adapting his covering to the climate, he may either brave the rigors of a polar sky, or support, without material inconvenience, the fierce rays of a tropical sun.

Again, attend to his place of residence. What conveniences! what comforts! what luxuries! Within his own limited locality, Providence has given him every thing necessary for the supply of his wants. Every where there is to be found stone, and lime, and wood, and iron, or some useful substitutes. Of these, the cottage, the hall, and the palace, are all equally constructedThere is, elaborated by his industry from materials readily within his reach, glass, to admit the light and exclude the chilly blast; there are coals, or billets, or peat, for fire to warm; there are downy beds for necessary rest; and, if ambition or voluptuousness looks further, the East brings its perfumes and its gems; the West and the South their precious metals and their ornamental furniture; the North its oil, to afford artificial day; all climates and all countries contribute, of their abundance and their varieties, to supply the cravings of a constantly

increasing and never-satisfied appetite for accumulation and enjoyment.

And so it is, that the very privations and disadvantages, with which man comes into the world, become the means by which the desire of acquiring and improving is stimulated, till he not only equals the lower animals in those gifts, naturally withheld from him, with which Providence had endowed them, but rises far beyond them; and, by means of his mental qualities, deservedly earns for himself the title, which his bodily faculties could never have merited, of being emphatically lord of this nether sphere.

TENTH WEEK-FRIDAY.

II. MAN IN WINTER.-PROVISIONS FOR HIS COMFORT.

Ir is most interesting to look into the various features of that providential administration, by which, under a very peculiar and surprising discipline, the progress of society is advanced, and man rises in the scale of moral and intelligent beings. In the wants of his natural state, as regards the season of winter, we yesterday saw how a stimulus is employed, which, combined, doubtless, with other incentives, induces him to seek, first, necessaries, then conveniences, then comforts and luxuries, till he draws around him the resources of the world, and, by the ever-expanding views of an aspiring mind, calls progressively into action those mental powers, both in himself and his fellows, which might otherwise have lain dormant.

If, from this view of the exercise given to genius and talent, in counteracting the privations of winter, we turn to the provisions which have been bountifully made, in external nature, for affording scope to these faculties, we shall find additional cause of devout admiration.

The first thing worthy of remark, in this department of the subject, is, that, speaking generally, the materials by which exposure to the inclemency of the season may be obviated, lie apparent and abundant in those climates where such inconveniences are liable to be felt. In proportion as we penetrate into the colder regions, animals are found in greater plenty, whose coats of soft and downy fur, furnished beneficently by their Creator for their own protection, when transferred to the human body, defy the wintry storms. If we approach still nearer the polar circle, we discover a provision which renders even these regions of gloom and intense cold, habitable during the severest part of the year. The enormous tenants of the icy seas, which surround these inhospitable coasts, not only furnish the inhabitants with food; but, being enveloped in immense loads of fat, yield to them all that is needful, both for light and heat, in their dark and chilly winter months. Nay, the very snow, which clothes Nature as in a winding-sheet, and seems to augur nothing but desolation and death, is converted, by the ingenuity of man, into a comfortable habitation, and thus becomes a preserver of life, and a means of enjoyment.

Then, again, if we speak of fuel, how bountiful is Providence in supplying those exhaustless forests of pine in the northern regions of Europe, and those immense fields of coal in Britain, and other similar climates, by which frost is charmed away from the dwellings of the inhabitants! Can we believe it to be without a beneficent design, that such amazing magazines of combustible matter should be deposited within our temperate zones ? And does it not add to the wonder of this provision, that coal is known to be a vegetable production of a climate altogether different from that in which it is found,-a climate probably not inferior in warmth, and in the power of nourishing vegetation, to the most favored of our tropical regions?* When, and under what circumstances,

* The high temperature of the localities in which the vegetation was produced that has given rise to our coal fields, is inferred from the gigantic size of the ferns, mosses, and other plants, still discovered in the formation.