but it is always preferable to be acquainted with the process, and to have some knowledge of the operations of nature in this respect.

When the food has been sufficiently masticated, and divided by the teeth into small portions, and moistened by the saliva, it is prepared to pass into the throat. This is the last function relative to digestion, in which the will assists; all the rest is done without our being conscious of it, and without our being able to prevent the process going forward. As soon as a portion of food enters the throat, it pushes the mass onward, and causes it to descend into the stomach by a peculiar mechanism, for the gravity of the food alone would not be sufficient. Having entered the stomach, the food is there reduced into a soft paste of a grey colour, which after being sufficiently attenuated, passes into the duodenum, or first intestine, where it undergoes new changes. Several small vessels which proceed from the gall-bladder, and from a gland situated behind the bottom of the stomach, and called the pancreas, open into the duodenum, and pour into it the bile and the pancreatic juice, which mingle with the food. There are also in the intestines a great number of glands, which distribute their humours through every part of the alimentary mass. It is after this mixture, that true chyle is discovered, and there is great reason to believe that it is in the duodenum that digestion is completed.

The alimentary mass continues its course through the other intestines, where it is continually moistened by the fluids which are secreted in the intestinal canal. The chyle then begins to pass into the lacteal veins, which every where open in the intestines, and terminate in a vessel called the receptacle of the chyle, which is situated near that part of the back where the first lumbar vertebra begins, and from it the thoracie duct rises, and ascends upwards through the chest, passing along by the side of the spine, and opens into the left subclavian vein near the internal jugular. The chyle then passes through this canal, and at length mixes with the blood, enters the heart, and having lost its white appearance is distributed through all the arteries of the body.

But there are always some parts of our aliment that are too gross to be converted into chyle, or to enter into the

lacteal vessels. These are propelled downwards by a motion peculiar to the intestines, called the peristaltic or vermicular motion, by means of which they are alternately contracted and dilated. When this motion has caused the mass of food to advance as far as the third intestine, it propels the remainder through the fourth, fifth, and sixth; which last is called the rectum, and is provided with a strong, circular muscle, the sphincter, which contracts, and prevents the residuum continually passing through the rectum; thus retarded, it remains till the quantity is so considerable as to occasion irritation, and is then finally evacuated. In this operation the muscles of the abdomen and the diaphragm assisting the action of the rectum, the contracting power of the sphincter is overcome. From the above slight sketch of the manner in which digestion is performed, we may obtain some idea of the great wisdom which God has displayed in a function so essential and important to our health, our comfort, and our very existence; we should be highly culpable indeed if we were inattentive to it; and if these wonders excited in our hearts no gratitude towards the author of so many blessings which we are continually enjoying.

SEPTEMBER XXI.

The Prevalence of Good in the World greater than that of Evil.

NOTHING is more consoling in our trials and misfortunes than to admit, as a fixed principle, that there is more good than evil in the world. If we ask the most wretched of men whether he can enumerate as many causes of complaint as he has motives for gratitude, he will make it appear that, however great are his afflictions, they do not equal the numerous blessings he has received in the course of his life. To render this truth more evident, let us calculate how many days we have passed in the enjoyment of health, and how few in which we have suffered from illness. Let us oppose to the small number of troubles and vexations which we experience in civil and domestic life, the numerous pleasures which we enjoy. Let us compare all the good and virtuous

actions by which men are useful to themselves and to their fellow-creatures, with the few actions they commit that are prejudicial to society. Let us enumerate, if we can, all the pleasures attached to every age, state, and profession; the gifts which nature abundantly bestows upon us, and which human industry uses to procure an infinite number of enjoyments and conveniences. Let us reckon all the delight we receive upon escaping a sudden danger, upon gaining a victory over ourselves, and upon performing some act of virtue or wisdom; and let us remember that it is the prevalence of good that renders us so sensible of evil that recent prosperity makes us forget former blessings; and that if our misfortunes make so deep an impression upon our memory, it is because they serdom happen, and we are not familiar with them. In this calculation, we must only oppose to the blessings, the fruition of which we recollect, those evils whose utility we do not yet know; for out of some evils great good is derived: if then we make this estimation in the moments of coolness and of serenity, and not at a time when we suffer from affliction, vexation, disappointment, or disease, we shall be sufficiently convinced, that the prevalence of good, even in this state of existence, is much greater than that of evil.

Why then do men concern themselves so little with the continual proofs they receive of God's goodness? Why do they love to dwell upon the dark side of things, and to torment themselves with unnecessary cares and anxieties? Has not divine Providence surrounded us with pleasing objects? Why then do we for ever brood over our infirmities, our wants, and the evils which may happen to us? Why magnify them in our imagination, and obstinately turn our eyes from all that tends to cheer and tranquillize our hearts? But such is our disposition, the least misfortune that befalls us arrests all our attention, whilst a long continuance of happy days passes unnoticed. We draw upon us distress and vexation which could not have happened, if we were more attentive to the blessings of God. Let us then in future abandon a disposition like this, which only renders us miserable; let us feel a strong conviction that God has impartially distributed his blessings over the earth, and that there is no man who has just cause to complain, or who has not on the contrary the most powerful and abundant rea

sons to express his gratitude in songs of joy, thanksgiving, and praise.

Blessed be God, who is our sovereign good! He pours joy and gladness into our hearts: if he sometimes tries his children with affliction, his consolations soon visit their de sponding souls; and his goodness promises them an uninterrupted, endless felicity. He leads us through secret and unknown paths to the infinite blessings he designs for us; the very trials which he sometimes sends have a beneficent purpose to accomplish, and which we shall one day know and acknowledge; till when he spares us from suffering more than we can bear, and his all-powerful and paternal hand still protects us, and the eye of his mercy watches over us for our good and eternal preservation.

SEPTEMBER XXII.

Enmity between Animals.

THERE is a continual enmity amongst animals; they are constantly attacking and pursuing each other: every ele. ment is a field of battle for them; the eagle is the terror of the inhabitants of the air; the tiger lives upon the earth by carnage; the pike in the waters; and the mole under ground. It is the want of food which induces these, and many other species of animals, to destroy one another. But there are some creatures whose hatred of each other does not proceed from the same source. Thus those animals which entwine themselves round the elephant's trunk, and press it till they have suffocated him, do not act so with the design of procuring nourishment. When the ermine leaps upon, and lays hold of, the ear of the bear and the elk, and bites them with its sharp teeth, we cannot affirm that this is done to satisfy the calls of hunger.

There is scarcely any creature, however small, which does not serve for food to some other animal. I know that many people think this arrangement of nature is cruel and unnecessary; but I can with confidence assert, that even this antipathy, and enmity among animals, is à proof that every thing is wisely ordered. If we consider animals in the whole, we shall find that it is highly useful that some should subsist upon others; for on the one hand, without

this arrangement many species could not exist; and on the other, these numerous species, instead of being prejudicial, are extremely useful. Insects and many reptiles feed on carrion; others establish themselves in the bodies of certain animals, and live upon their flesh and blood; and these insects themselves serve as food for other creatures. Carnivorous animals and birds of prey kill and feed upon other animals. Some species multiply so abundantly, that they would become burthensome if their numbers were not diminished. If there were no sparrows to destroy insects, what would become of the flowers and fruits? Without the ichneumon, which seeks out and destroys the crocodile's eggs, this terrible animal would increase to an alarming degree. A great portion of the earth would be desert, and many creatures would not exist, if there were no carnivorous animals. It will perhaps be urged that they might live upon vegetables; but if this were the case, our fields would scarcely afford subsistence for sparrows and swallows; and the structure of carnivorous animals must have been quite different from what it now is; and if fish did not live upon the inhabitants of the water, how would they be able to subsist? Besides, if the wars amongst animals were to cease, they would lose much of their vivacity and industry, the creation would be less animated, and man himself would lose much of his activity. We may also add, that we should be deprived of many striking proofs of God's wisdom, if universal peace was to prevail amongst animals; for the address, sagacity, and wonderful instinct which they use in laying snares for and surprising their prey, very evidently manifest the wisdom of the Creator.

So far then is the enmity which exists amongst animals from darkening the wisdom and goodness of God, that they receive additional brilliancy from what superficial observers think an imperfection. It forms part of the plan of the great system of nature, that one animal should persecute and feed upon another. We might indeed complain of this arrangement, if it occasioned the entire destruction of any species; but this never happens, and the continual wars amongst animals preserve a proper balance between them. Thus carnivorous animals are indispensable links in the chain of beings; and on this account their number is very small,. compared with that of useful animals. We may also re