the earth, clothed with verdure, and rich with its variety of produce, and we shall be obliged to acknowledge that nothing has come from the hand of the Divine Creator, but what is excellent and perfect in its kind, adapted with infinite skill to its proper place, and fitted for its intended use. Happy are they who give themselves to the contemplation of these works, and find pleasure and improvement in the study of them. If we compare them with those of man, we shall find in every instance that Almighty God never appears so great, so powerful and so wonderful as when the works of his hands are placed in contrast with those of his creature.

It is, however, in the contemplation of the revelations of His goodness, by reflecting on His love and beneficence to his creatures, that we become aware of the mercies which have been

bestowed upon us. We have a free and open access to the throne of the glorious God of Heaven, if we ask for those blessings which he has promised. This will afford us comfort during the anxieties and miseries of this life, and procure us peace at our last moments. It will secure us from the torture and horror of the death-bed of an ill-spent and unprofitable life, when the mind, like that of a coward's, shrinks from a danger it cannot avoid.

It is an old remark that no sight is more beau

tiful and useful than that of an humble christian, bending with meekness and humility beneath severe calamity which has befallen him. He relies at that time more especially, with confidence on a compassionate Saviour. Religion is then as “a jewel making him rich in the midst of poverty

a sun giving him light during the darkest night a fortress keeping him safe in the greatest danger." He may then exclaim with an old and honest poet

This world is not my country-'tis my way;
Too much contentment would invite my stay
Too long upon my journey; make it strange,
Unwelcome news, to think upon a change;
Whereas these rugged entertainments send
My thoughts before me to my journey's end;
Guide my desires all homewards -tell me plain,

To think of resting here is but in vain ;

Make me to set an equal estimate

On this uncertain world, and a just rate

On that to come; they bid me wait and stay
Until my master's call, and then with joy
To entertain it. Such a change as this,

Renders my loss, my gain, improves my bliss."

In making these remarks, I have been influenced, I hope, by a wish, to draw attention to those attributes of the Creator from which so much peace and happiness are to be derived. What, indeed, is more calculated to bring the mind to a pure and tranquil state than the study of Natural History, not as a mere gratification of

curiosity, or as a vehicle only for amusing anecdotes, but as affording proofs of a superintending Providence," whose mercies are whose mercies are over all his

works."

O, Nature! all thy seasons please the eye

Of him who sees a Deity in all.

It is His presence that diffuses charms
Unspeakable, o'er mountain, wood and stream.
To think that He, who hears the heavenly choirs,
Hearkens complacent to the woodland song;
To think that He, who rolls yon solar sphere,
Uplifts the warbling songster to the sky;

To mark His presence in the mighty bow
That spans the clouds -to hear his awful voice

In thunder speak, and whisper in the gale;

To know and feel his care for all that lives;
'Tis this that makes the barren waste appear
A fruitful field, each grove a paradise.*

If we were asked to examine some curious piece of mechanism, we should not fail to express our admiration or wonder at its ingenious contrivance. It is, however, astonishing with what careless indifference many persons view the works of Almighty God. They see minute objects around them, and think little of them, forgetting that nothing is so mean, nothing is so apparently trifling, but that the wonderful order, and wise disposition of the Creator is perceptible in it. Indeed the stupendous economy of the Deity may be

*JAMES GRAHAM.

found by an humble enquirer, to pervade the whole globe, and he will be led to confess, not only that nothing has been made in vain, but that every thing has been formed with supreme wisdom, and with reference to the happiness and comfort of man. There is always something to gratify his taste, his sight, his smell, his hearing, or his other senses. One person may ask what the use is of those minute worms and insects we see in water, and another enquire the reason why nettles were made. Yet these will be found to be of essential service to us. The former are the food of fish and water-fowl, and the latter not only afford shelter to feeble birds, but are fed upon by the larvæ of numerous moths, butterflies and other insects, which are again preyed upon by birds, and thus man is ultimately benefitted.

So it is through all the works of creation. From the great globe itself to the most insignificant insect or plant, every thing is perfect. The earth is stored with fuel, and with the purest water for our use. The sun shines upon us by day, and the moon, "that refulgent lamp of night," is seen in the magnificent ceiling of the heavens, glittering on the ocean, and gleaming on the forest." Surely when we consider these things, and reflect what an atom our life is when contrasted with eternity when we compare our own insignificance, with the stupendous power and majesty

of the Great Creator of all things, we should pause before we either enter upon or continue in a state of sin, folly, or indifference. We have a kind and compassionate Saviour to intercede for usa merciful Father ready to forgive us - we are assured that the ways of religion are ways of pleasantness, and that all her paths are peace. The bible contains the most affecting promises, as well as the most awful denunciations. The mens conscia recti, that inward monitor, which every one possesses, may be stifled for a time, but it will be heard in the hour of sickness, misfortune or of death. Then comes that bitter agony, which it is the part of a wise and good man to use his utmost endeavours to avoid.

As I have remarked before, the study of the works of creation, are well adapted to assist us in acquiring a knowledge of the Great Creator, and of forming our minds into a tranquil and happy state. Our affections will be refined by it, our dispositions become gentle and kind, and we shall have an employment equally useful and agreeable. We shall then learn that what we now consider trifles in the scale of creation, are not so-but value them as convincing evidences of the wise controul of a beneficent Providence.

The very law that moulds a tear,

And bids it trickle from its source,
That law maintains the world a sphere,

And guides the planets in their course.