contributes its share to it, at least in plants; for there is a portion of air amongst the fluid which nourishes them. Vegetables are also provided with veins, which suck in the outward air, and, at the same, time help to draw up the juices: however, attraction is certainly one of the chief causes of the phenomenon. No one is ignorant, that the human body is a series of numberless capillary vessels, where the humours are continually in motion; and this motion is partly regulated by the laws of attraction. A great number of the phenomena we observe in the corporeal world, have this attractive power for their principle; and it is the most satisfactory way of accounting for the motion of the celestial bodies. Those enormous globes, separated from each other at such immense distances, must be united by some secret connection, to form such a whole as our solar system. And it is probable, that the union of the celestial bodies, their direction, the law which obliges them not to deviate from the course prescribed them, the motion of the planets and comets round the sun, all depend on its attractive powers, and on the gravitation of the bodies which incline towards it. How admirable is that wisdom, which, by means of one and the same law, produces the vegetation of a blade of grass, and the motion of all the whole system of worlds!

These reflections naturally lead us to adore the Supreme Wisdom. If it appears in the celestial bodies, it is no less visible in. the government of rational creatures. The Creator acts, in this respect, upon principles equally wise, according to the same laws, and all with the most wonderful simplicity. But, we are so blind, that we are not always sensible of it, because we do not think

any

any thing worth our attention, that is not strikingly great. But why should we not see, in the things which appear to us of little importance, the traces of wisdom so evidently impressed upon them! When cities and countries are swallowed up by earthquakes, or laid waste by fire and water, we become attentive: we then see, that such revolutions are the works of the Master of the universe; and his wise providence is acknowledged. Does not the greatness of the supreme Being appear as much in the smallest blade of grass, and in the poorest insect, as in the motion and harmony of the spheres? Yes, in the small as well as in the great, God manifests the glory of his attributes. It is owing to our inattention and negligence, if we do not every where see it, even in the smallest beings, and most trifling events. To be convinced of the wisdom and goodness which presides in the government of Providence, we need not go to distant objects; we need only dwell on what relates to ourselves, and on the particular dispensations of God in this respect. Our own lives, and the events with which they are marked, may teach us how wise the means he has chosen are to make us happy; how many little circumstances his providence has made to concur towards the execution of his designs; and how numerous the means are which he makes use of to preserve us from evils, or to prepare for us blessings.

MAY

MAY XXVII.

COMPLAINTS OF MANKIND, RELATIVE TO CERTAIN INCONVENIENCES IN THE LAWS OF NATURE.

"WHY is the human body, from its consti"tution, liable to so many infirmities and acci"dents?" Whoever asks this question, let him say, if it is possible to form one's self a body, which unites more advantages in itself, than that which we have received from our Creator. It was incompatible with nature, and the chain of things of this world, that man should have an invulnerable body. If one of our fellow-creatures is deformed, another lame, a third deaf or dumb; is it a reason to murmur against God? Are those defects so common as to give us reason to complain? If, after these questions, any one should still think they have reason for dis. content, let them reflect on the following truths. It is of use to men in general that they may not want examples of the defects to which the human body is liable. For, when a person, perfect and well made, compares himself with one that is crooked and deformed, he is sensible of all the advantages of well formed limbs; he learns to value properly a gift till then unthought of, and to take more care to preserve it. How valuable is each eye, each ear, each organ of sense, each joint, each limb, if we only observe the condition of the few people who are deprived of them!— Would any of us part with a limb, in exchange for the greatest treasure? Are not our bodies more beautiful and regular than the finest building, or the most curious machine? And, though

the

the latter are very inferior to it, we are far from attributing the assemblage of their parts to chance. "Why are the countries of the earth

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so different from one another, sometimes cold, "sometimes damp, sometimes low, and sometimes "high" But, O man, if thou hadst the power to form a globe, wherein every thing was to be for the advantage of men and animals, would thy understanding furnish thee with a plan better than this? The countries of the earth, by means of their difference, produce variety of exhalations and winds, which occasion that mixed air, wherein, experience tells us, that men and animals live healthy and content in most places, and wherein plants also grow and propagate. "It is, however, allowed, that the variation in weather is not "beneficial to all men, or to all countries." But, has not the preceding weather influenced the following, as the climate of one country often influences another. Are we capable of judging of the whole? Must a million of farmers sigh in. vain for rain, because dry weather would suit the private convenience of one family? A certain temperature of the air may occasion, here and there, a transient barrenness; but, can it be called an evil, if it was necessary in order to hinder the air from corrupting? Ought the east wind,. which is favourable to a whole country, to cease to blow, because its violence may cause some shipwrecks, or be hurtful to some consumptive people? Is it reasonable, when we cannot take in the whole, to find fault with a part? "Why are there so many hurtful animals?" Would it then be better to have no beasts of prey, small or large upon the earth? They put a stop to the number of animals, that would otherwise overpower us; and, it is because many animals serve for

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food

food to beasts of prey, that the number of living creatures increases every year, If these beasts of prey did not exist, the carcases of the animals on which they feed, would not only be useless to living creatures, but would be hurtful. Every year, animals thus devoured, are replaced by others; and, in most cases, population depends on the quantity of sustenance. Thus gnats, and other insects, would soon want food, if the animals, whose prey they are, did not prevent them from multiplying too fast. "Why has the Creator "regulated the course of nature by such invari"able laws?" It is in consequence of such regulations, that man's experience and labour enable him to make use of his understanding and powers, so as to be, in some measure, master of his own welfare. Would we choose to inhabit a world, where, when we were hungry, we had only to wish, and we should be satisfied; where our clothes should fall from the clouds, if, when travelling in a cold night, we neglected providing any? Or would we, at pleasure (without recourse to other methods) walk sometimes on the ground, sometimes in the water, sometimes in the air; a world where the stomach should never be overloaded with the weight of food; where an iron hatchet would swim, if, by accident, we let it fall into the water; where bodies, going out of their natural direction, should describe an oblique line, lest their fall should hurt any body? Would we wish to inhabit a world, where we should have no occasion to do any thing; where we could not in any way promote our own pleasures; where there should be no rule, no fundamental law; where, in fine, the best, the bad, and the worst, being equally unknown, nothing could make us attend to the laws of nature?

Doubtless,