invigorating breeze;-even reptiles, who lie buried during the night in the earth, crawl forth to enjoy the reanimating blessing of light. See the bees, ranging from flower to flower, collecting honey for a winter store. See the industrious ants, laden with a grain of wheat!-see how they toil!-and shall man, be idle-shall he dare disgrace the image of his great Creator, and defile his immortal soul with sloth!-Surely no! he should collect improvement from every occurring circumstance, and lay up a treasure in his mortal career to insure him everlasting happiness.

How truly doth the psalmist exclaim, "Oh, Lord, I am fearfully and wonderfully made!" Man is distinguished by his walking erect, and by the superiority which reason gives him over the brute creation. Man sees with his eyes, hears with his ears, smells by his nostrils, and is sensible

of

of feeling in every part of his body.Animals do the same, but to man alone God hath granted the gift of rational speech, and the powers of reflection and thought; and yet more to render his gifts beyond all height of praise, he hath bestowed on him an immortal soul.

Memory retraces to man what he has heard, seen, touched, or tasted, objects of pleasure, pain, or dislike. He contemplates the sun in its glory, the moon in her resplendent light, the stars in their brightness, and the glorious works of God scattered around him. This knowledge is not the work of the hand, nor even of the head, but is the innate spirit of the soul, which must endure to all eternity.

ON NIGHT.

NIGHT, by depriving us of the sight and use of natural objects, recalls to our thoughts the original state in which we lay before the creation, and makes us the more readily sensible of the blessings of day. Sleep appears to retrench a part of our lives by depriving us for several hours of all active power. Yet how necessary to man, and how great the amends it affords, for even the wearied labourer rises with renewed health and renovated strength, and whistling, hastens to his daily occupation.

Without

Without rest the springs of the brain. would decay, the muscles of the frame would grow languid, our food would remain undigested, and our limbs sink under the weight of our bodies. Rest obviates these evils, and the spirits, which in the day were employed externally, recede to gain fresh strength to support and renovate the whole system..

God has reserved the disposal of sleep to himself, and has made it an agreeable necessity to man, who can neither command it when it is refused, nor refuse it when it is offered..

Night obliges man to quit his avoca tions, and the deprivation of light obviates impressions that might too powerfully affect his mind, she introduces a general silence, deprives him of the images of nature, and plunges

E 3

plunges both his mental and bodily powers. in happy oblivion.

In the gradual approach of night, observe also the wisdom of the directing hand that guides it.-Darkness does not come suddenly nor unexpectedly upon us, at the close of day it creeps gradually on; the husbandman knows when to return from his labour-the traveller retires to his inn, and all are prepared, according to the beautiful words of Young, for the "awful pauseof nature."

Again observe the wisdom of Providence-while man reposes, his domestic animals and his poultry also sleep; -some beasts, indeed, who from their savage state might be formidable to man, prowl to seek food under the sanction of darkness.Carnaverous animals, as rats, mice, ferrets, &c. also seize the opportunity to clear the

houses..