anxious hopes! My soul longs to wing its flight to those happy abodes of the righteous, to that fair city which endureth for ever, where eternal day reigns, and no night, no weariness, retards the progress to all perfection, knowledge, and felicity. NOVEMBER V. WOODS AND FORESTS. The surface of the earth presents not to the eye a more beautiful picture than that of woods and extensive forests; and an enlightened observer, who calls every thing excellent that is good and useful, finds in them much that is worthy of his attention. Let us, then, visit these woodland scenes, which will supply us with so many sources of admiration and gratitude. While our walks in the fields and meadows are less agreeable than they were in the late fine season, the forests will be more interesting, and productive of real pleasure. There is no place more proper to dispose our minds to reflect upon the grandeur and beauty of the works of nature than a lonely wood: the solitude of the place, and the profound silence which reigns there, dispose the mind to look back upon itself, and awaken the powers of the imagination. At first the number and variety of the trees attract our attention. What distinguishes them from each other is not so much their height as the difference that is observable in their manner of growing, in their leaves, and in their wood. The resinous pine is not remarkable for the beauty of its leaves, which are narrow and pointed, but, like those of the fir-tree, they last long, and their verdure during the winter is very pleasing. The foliage of the lime-tree, the ash, and the beech, is much more beautiful and diversified; their verdure is admirable, it cheers and refreshes the sight; and the broad dentated leaves of some of these trees are beautifully contrasted with the narrower and more fibrous leaves of others. We are yet but imperfectly acquainted with their seed, fecundation, and the different properties of their fruits. How many uses are made of the wood of trees! The oak, whose growth is very slow, and whose leaves do not appear till those of most other trees are in bloom, supplies us with a very hard and durable sort of wood, which art knows how to employ in a great variety of works, which are so lasting as in some instances to brave the ravages of time. The lighter kinds of wood serve for other purposes; and as they are the most abundant, and grow quicker than any other, they are of more general utility. It is to forest-trees that we are indebted for great part of our houses and our ships, for fuel, and for various implements, furniture, and utensils. The industry of man leads him to polish, turn, and carve wood into a variety of works not less elegant than useful. The divine wisdom has distributed forests over the earth with more or less abundance. In some countries they are very distant from each other; in others they occupy many leagues, and rise majestically into the air. The want of wood in some countries is compensated by its abundance in others; and neither the continual use that men make of it, the destruction of it by accidental conflagrations, nor the great quantities consumed in severe winters, have been able to exhaust this rich gift of nature. In the lapse of twenty years we may see a forest where we before only saw some low copse, or a few scattered trees. All this ought to convince us of the power and goodness of our heavenly Father, whose wisdom is so superior to that of mortals, and who has foreseen the necessities of men in all possible circumstances. In those countries where the cold is most severe, or where wood is chiefly wanted for the purposes of navigation, the most extensive forests grow; and from their unequal distribution a very lucrative source of commerce is derived, forming a new bond of connexion amongst men. We all participate in the numerous advantages which woods afford; and in creating forests God has provided for the good of each individual. Blessed be our heavenly Father, who has mercifully vouchsafed to interest himself on our behalf, before we even felt our wants, or could represent them to him! In every thing he has anticipated our desires; and may we each individually endeavour, by fulfilling the great ends of our creation, to pay the tribute of gratitude, of love, and of praise, so justly due to the God of all goodness! It has not been intrusted to the care of man to plant and maintain forests; God has reserved this labour to himself; he plants and preserves the trees, while man has little share in their cultivation. They grow and multiply independently of our cares; they continually repair their losses by new shoots, and are always sufficiently abundant to supply our necessities. To be convinced of this we need only consider the seeds of the lime-tree, the maple, and the elm: from these small seeds vast trunks proceed, whose leafy tops rise into the clouds. It is the Almighty God who alone has established them, and who supports them for ages against the efforts of winds and the shocks of tempests. It is he who sends the dew and rain yearly, to recruit the verdure and preserve their youth. The earth which bears the forests does not create them, neither, to speak correctly, does it nourish them. The verdure, the seeds, and the blossoms of trees, which they yearly lose, and yearly renew, and the sap which is continually dissipated, are losses which would at length exhaust the earth if it alone supplied them. Of itself it is a heavy, dry, and barren mass, which draws from other sources the juices and nourishment which it conveys to trees and plants. The principles of their growth do not proceed from the earth; the air furnishes in abundance water, salt, oil, heat, and all other matter which trees require. Let us, thus favoured with so many blessings, contemplate that Being who is the Author of all our good. The forests and the woods are the heralds of his bounty; and we should be guilty of the basest ingratitude if we did not acknowledge this benefit, which we witness daily in our houses and in our gardens, or wherever we direct our view. NOVEMBER VI. THE SENSE OF FEELING IN ANIMALS. Feeling may be justly regarded as the universal sense of animals, and the foundation of all other sensations; for seeing, hearing, smelling, and tasting, cannot take place without an impression being made. As the sense of feeling operates differently in seeing from what it does in hearing, and in hearing from what it does in the other organs of sensation, we may with propriety distinguish the sense of touch, properly so called, from that universal sensation which we have just mentioned. They are both produced through the medium of the nerves. These, of which anatomists enumerate ten principal pair, resemble small cords or filaments united together, derive their origin from the brain, and are distributed to every part of the body. Wherever there are nerves, there may be sensations; and wherever is the seat of any particular sense, there will also be found nerves that are the general organs of that sensation. There are optic nerves and auditory nerves, olfactory nerves and gustatory nerves, as well as nerves subservient to the sense of feeling, that like it are distributed to every part of the body. These nerves proceed from the brain; whilst others pass off from the spinal marrow, through the lateral openings of the vertebræ, and are then distributed to every part by innumerable ramifications. The nerves subservient to the general sense of feeling are also found in the organs of all the other senses, because, independently of their own particular sensations, each of these organs must be susceptible of feeling. Hence the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, receive impressions that altogether depend upon feeling, and are not produced by the nerves proper to these organs. That sensation is produced through the medium of the nerves is certain, for each part feels more acutely in proportion as its number of nerves is greater; and there is no feeling in those parts where the nerves are destroyed, or where no nerves exist. Incisions may be made in the fat, bones may be amputated, nails pared, and hairs cut, without any pain being inflicted; or if any is supposed to be felt, it is merely the effect of the imagination. The bones are enveloped in a nervous membrane, and the nails are attached to a part where many nerves intersect each other, forming what is called a plexus of nerves; and pain is only felt when some of these are wounded or irritated. So that when we feel the pain commonly called toothache, the tooth, being a bone, is not susceptible of feeling, but the nerve attached to it is extremely sensible, and occasions us to feel the most acute pain when it is irritated. In thus diffusing the sense of feeling over the whole body, the Creator has evidently had our well-being in view. The other senses, are situated in those parts where they can most conveniently perform their functions. And as it was necessary for the preservation and welfare of the whole body, that each of its parts should be informed of what might be useful or prejudicial, agreeable or disagreeable, it was necessary that the sense of feeling should be diffused over every part of the body. It is a still farther proof of divine wisdom, that several species of animals have the sense of feeling more acute than falls to the lot of men: for their acuteness of feeling is necessary in their mode of life, and compensates their deprivation of some other senses. The horns of the snail, for example, possess an exquisite sense of feeling, and the least obstacle causes them to be drawn in with extreme celerity. How delicate also is the feeling of the spider, since in the midst of the web which it has so ingeniously woven, it perceives the slightest vibrations which the approach of an insect may occasion! Without dwelling, however, upon the sense of feeling in animals, it is sufficient to consider it in man for our admiration to be abundantly called forth. How can the nerves, which seem to be merely susceptible of more or less length, breadth, tension, and vibration, transmit to the soul so many different impressions and sensations? Is there between the soul and the body such a connexion, that nerves of a determinate size, structure, and tension, shall always produce certain sensations? Has each organ of sense nerves so constituted, so analogous to the small particles of matter which emanate from bodies, that the impressions they receive from them should be always followed by certain determinate sensations? To these questions it may be answered, that our knowledge upon the subject is too limited to ascertain the immediate cause of these effects, and we are obliged with all humility to acknowledge, that the mystery is at present impenetrable. Let us, then, be content, and give thanks unto God, that with the other senses which he has bestowed upon us, he has also granted us that of feeling. If our bodies possessed less sensibility, of how many pleasures should we not be deprived? We could neither have discerned what would be advantageous to us, nor what would have been prejudicial. Happy would it be if we had as exquisite a sense of what is good for our souls; if we rightly appreciated what is excellent and honest; if our desire for holiness equalled our love of pleasure. anxious hopes! My soul longs to wing its flight to those happy abodes of the righteous, to that fair city which endureth for ever, where eternal day reigns, and no night, no weariness, retards the progress to all perfection, knowledge, and felicity. NOVEMBER V. WOODS AND FORESTS. The surface of the earth presents not to the eye a more beautiful picture than that of woods and extensive forests; and an enlightened observer, who calls every thing excellent that is good and useful, finds in them much that is worthy of his attention. Let us, then, visit these woodland scenes, which will supply us with so many sources of admiration and gratitude. While our walks in the fields and meadows are less agreeable than they were in the late fine season, the forests will be more interesting, and productive of real pleasure. There is no place more proper to dispose our minds to reflect upon the grandeur and beauty of the works of nature than a lonely wood: the solitude of the place, and the profound silence which reigns there, dispose the mind to look back upon itself, and awaken the powers of the imagination. At first the number and variety of the trees attract our attention. What distinguishes them from each other is not so much their height as the difference that is observable in their manner of growing, in their leaves, and in their wood. The resinous pine is not remarkable for the beauty of its leaves, which are narrow and pointed, but, like those of the fir-tree, they last long, and their verdure during the winter is very pleasing. The foliage of the lime-tree, the ash, and the beech, is much more beautiful and diversified; their verdure is admirable, it cheers and refreshes the sight; and the broad dentated leaves of some of these trees are beautifully contrasted with the narrower and more fibrous leaves of others. We are yet but imperfectly acquainted with their seed, fecundation, and the different properties of their fruits. How many uses are made of the wood of trees! The oak, whose growth is very slow, and whose leaves do not appear till those of most other trees are in bloom, supplies us with a very hard and durable sort of wood, which art knows how to employ in a great variety of works, which are so lasting as in some instances to brave the ravages of time. The lighter kinds of wood serve for other purposes; and as they are the most abundant, and grow quicker than any other, they are of more general utility. It is to forest-trees that we are indebted for great part of our houses and our ships, for fuel, and for various implements, furniture, and utensils. The industry of man leads him to polish, turn, and carve wood into a variety of works not less elegant than useful. The divine wisdom has distributed forests over the earth with |