itself. How forcibly it dilates the air which surrounds it, whilst the air itself renders the fire more active! It gives fluidity to the water, fertility to the earth, and health and life to man and animals.

Earth, when pure, is distinguished from all other bodies by its having neither taste or smell, by being insoluble in water and spirits of wine, and by its friability. It at first <appears to be very different from all the other elements, and yet has so much conformity with them, that some naturalists believe that water is nothing more than earth in a state of solution, and that earth is water in a condensed state. According to these, the water upon our globe is continually diminishing, and gradually forming compact substances, and that our planet formerly was only a fluid mass, and at a still more remote period only water.

All these different elements are essential to our existence and preservation; and whenever we reflect upon their wonderful properties, and the numerous and diversified effects which they produce, our admiration must be called forth. With how many properties, all differing from each other, has God endued his works! How many agents, in the heavens and upon the earth, are continually in motion for the preservation of the universe, and each individual in particular! What wonderful revolutions and phenomena are effected by the elements alone! It would be more easy to number all the works of God, than to calculate the multiplied forces which are in action! How great, then, is the power of that Being, in whose hand are all the elements, and all the different agents in nature; who directs them all to the greatest and most noble ends; unto whom be ren dered honour, glory, and praise, for ever and ever!

verse.

DECEMBER XVII.

Influence of the Sun upon the Earth. THE sun is a very powerful agent in the system of this uniHe is the constant source of the light that is so abundantly diffused over our globe. This light of the sun is the most subtile fire: it penetrates all bodies, and, when it is in sufficient quantity, puts all their parts in motion, attenuates and decomposes them, dissolves those that are com

pact, rarefies those which are fluid, and adapts them to an infinity of motions. Is it not evident, then, that from these diversified effects of the sun upon bodies must depend most of the phenomena and revolutions of the globe? When the force of the sun's light increases, that is, when the rays fall less obliquely, and in greater quantity upon a given place, and when they continue each day to act longer, which is the case in summer, it must necessarily effect great changes, both in the atmosphere and upon the surface of the earth. And when the rays fall more obliquely, and consequently more feebly, and the days are shorter, and their action is less prolonged, as is the case in winter, how different are the changes observable in the atmosphere! How gradually we perceive the alterations, when, from the remote sign of Capricorn, the sun advances nearer to the equinoctial line, till by the time of spring, the days are equal to the nights! And what new phenomena are seen, when this luminous body returns in summer from the tropic of Cancer toward the line, till the days and nights again become equal in autumn, and the sun removes from our zenith!

It is chiefly on the distance of the sun from the earth that all the diversity observed in the vegetation of plants, and in the internal constitution of bodies in all climates and seasons, depends. Hence each climate and season has plants and animals that are peculiar to it, and the progress of vegetation is more or less rapid, and the productions of nature continue a longer or shorter space of time.

It is impossible, however, to describe or even point out all the various effects of the sun upon the earth. All the changes and revolutions of the globe are principally owing to the action of this luminary, because upon it chiefly depend the different degrees of heat and cold. And it requires but a slight share of attention to be convinced of the numerous and sensible effects of which the sun is the prime cause. At one time he rarefies, at another condenses, the air; one while raises vapours and fogs, at another precipitates them down in the form of rain, or different meteors. He causes the sap to rise in vegetables and trees, which makes the leaves and blossoms shoot, and ripens the fruit. He animates all nature, and is the source of that vivifying heat which gives to organized bodies their power of deve loping, of growth, and of perfecting themselves; there is no

place where his influence is not felt; it penetrates the rocks and the mountains, and extends to the depth of the sea. This alone is sufficient to convince us of the power of our Creator; and if we consider with what art and wisdom God has drawn a multitude of great effects from one and the same instrument, and made use of the sun's heat to produce so many phenomena of nature, we should more and more clearly perceive the omniscience, nothing short of which could have effected so many wonders.

DECEMBER XVIII.

Winter Rains.

WHAT a difference there is between the effects of the rains which now fall, accompanied with cold and dreariness, and those of the refreshing rains of summer! This change gives a sorrowful aspect to nature. The sun is veiled, and the whole heaven appears to be one vast cloud. We cannot see far; a gloomy obscurity hangs over us, and we are threatened by the gathering tempest. At length the heavy clouds break, and the earth is inundated; the air seems an inexhaustible reservoir of water; the rivers and brooks swell, and, overflowing their banks, sweep over the distant fields and .meadows.

However disagreeable and unpleasant such weather may appear to us, we must still acknowledge that it is ultimately for our good. The earth, almost exhausted by its fruitfulness, requires a renovation of its strength; to accomplish which, it is not only necessary that it should repose, but also that it should be moistened. Rain waters and refreshes the dry land, soaks into it, and penetrates the lowest roots of plants. The dry leaves that cover the earth rot, and form an excellent manure. The abundant rains of winter fill the rivers, and supply the springs and fountains with water. Nature is never idle, but is continually working, though her activity is not always apparent. The clouds, by continually pouring down snow or rain, prepare the fertility of the ensuing year, and the riches of summer; and when the heat of the sun brings back the dry season, the abun dant springs which the winter rains had formed diffuse their

-waters, irrigate the meadows and the valleys, and adorn them with new verdure.

Thus the wise Creator provides for the future, and that which appeared to us destructive and inconvenient, becomes the source of all the beauties and riches which in spring and summer are lavished in such profusion. The gifts that we thus receive are more innumerable than the drops of rain that fall from the clouds; and at the very time when man, ignorant and blind, is murmuring and complaining, be ought to be singing songs of joy, for eternal immutable wisdom is then continuing to fulfil its beneficent designs. Our preservation, then, is the principal end that God proposes in sending rain upon the earth; and the Divine wisdom knows how to combine various designs together, and from the happy combination results the order and harmony of the universe.

As the earth is benefited by the visitation of the tempest, and prepared for fertility by the repose and gloom of winter, so is man improved by adversity. To bring forth good works, it is not meet that the sun of prosperity should always bless us with his rays. From the nature of our constitution, and the design of our being, we must suffer trials, and occasionally experience disappointment and affliction. Let us, then, receive adversity from the hand of God with resignation, under the firm conviction that all his dispensations are ordered by unerring wisdom and infinite good

ness.

DECEMBER XIX.

Supposed Influence of the Planets and Fixed Stars, THE prodigious distance of the heavenly bodies, and the little connexion that our globe has with them, scarcely renders it probable that they should have much influence upon it; yet many superstitious people believe in such an influence, and affirm, that there are continual emanations passing from the stars and planets that act upon our atmosphere and terrestrial bodies. But what are these emanations? If by them is meant the proper light of the stars, or the light of the sun reflected from the planets, that will be found to be very little, much less than what proceeds from

the moon alone. And as the light that we receive from the moon has no sensible influence upon the earth, or upon the atmosphere, surely that which we receive from the planets and fixed stars, at a distance so much greater, cannot affect our globe. And the supposition that other matters emanating from these stars affect us is equally void of foundation; for if these emanations were really to take place, upon being collected in the focus of a burning-glass, they would produce some evident change in terrestrial bodies; but this is contradicted by experience. It seems, then, that nothing is emitted from the heavenly bodies but the light which they send us, or if any other emanations do proceed from them, they must be of such a nature as to pass through terrestrial bodies without effecting in them any sensible change, or the least derangement in their particles. Thus those astrologers, who either deceive themselves or wish to impose upon others, deserve the utmost contempt, when they tell us of the benign influence of Jupiter, the malignancy of Saturn, the wit-inspiring Mercury, the warrousing Mars, and the amorous influence of Venus.

Planets not only cannot singly produce the peculiar effects that astrologers attribute to them, but even taken collectively cannot have any influence. What shall we say of the rain-bringing Pleiades, the stormy Orion, the melancholy Hyades, the setting of Arcturus, and the rising of Capricorn, portending hail and tempests? What influence can the constellation Taurus have upon peas and beans, and that of the star Sirius upon mad dogs? Or what relation can Scorpio have with the harvests and produce of the fields? If the rising and setting of the different constellations were observed only as they denote the proper period for the different labours of agriculture, and not as the causes of natural things, it would be excusable. In the first ages of the world, the beginning, middle, and end of each season was not marked by the names of months, but by the rising and setting of the stars in conjunction with the sun, or by their immersion in and emersion from his rays. Hence the vulgar opinion, that the different aspects of these stars produced effects that in reality should be attributed to the sea sons, and of course to the sun. Orion rises in autumn, and sets in winter: hence he is said to occasion tempests. When the dog-star rises with the sun. it is extremely hot in our