PAGE Quadrupeds The Shepherd's Dog, XI. SUNDAY.-Christ, the Good Shepherd, SACRED PHILOSOPHY OF THE SEASONS. SUMMER. FIRST WEEK-SUNDAY. SUMMER THE PERFECTION OF THE YEAR. SUMMER is the manhood of the year. Its powers are developed; its vigour is fresh; its plans are matured; it is in the full flush of beauty, and buoyant with the joy and bustle of existence. Turn where we will there are proofs of operations begun and in progress, which indicate design, wisdom, and activity; of an infancy and youth spent in preparation, and ending in settled purposes, reduced to practice, and useful employments industriously prosecuted. Such is the general character of this season; and when we take a more accurate survey of particulars, a thousand delightful illustrations occur, all leading us to the same sublime conclusion, that the natural operations which are silently proceeding around us, are the work of a present Deity, and a reflection of his attributes. In the sacred poetry of the Hebrews, we meet with many solemn and beautiful views, which show how much alive the inspired writers were to such impressions. The VOL. III. A |