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the views of a just and wise God; and though we have not the satisfactory consolation of knowing the full extent of those views, the little we are permitted to understand of them is enough to excite in us the desire of adoring the all-wise Creator, and celebrating his power, whilst we magnify his holy name.

FEBRUARY XII.

Spherical Figure of the Earth.

Ir was once generally supposed that the earth is a vast plain: but were this the case, its external boundaries might be arrived at, and in approaching any place we could not discover the tops of towers and mountains till we had seen their bases. The earth is incontestably proved to be a globe, though not exactly spherical, for it is rather more elevated under the line, and flattened towards the poles, something resembling the figure of an orange. But this deviation from a true sphere is very slight; about fifty miles, a difference scarcely perceptible in a globe whose circumference is 25,020 miles, and diameter 7964. The rotundity of the earth is demonstrable from its shadow in eclipses of the moon being always bounded by a circular line, and by its having been frequently circumnavigated; besides, if it was not spherical, how would the stars appear to rise and to set sooner to the countries eastward than to those more to the west?

Here we have fresh cause to admire the wisdom of the Creator, who has organised this earth with the greatest perfection, with a form so well adapted for the benefit of the inhabitants. Light and heat, which are so necessary to the creation, are by this means distributed with uniformity, and in a more equable

degree throughout the earth. It is from this that the due return of day and night is ensured, and that the degrees of heat and of cold, of moisture and of dryness, are rendered so regular and constant. The water is equally distributed over the earth, and the winds every-where cause their salutary influence to be felt. Had the earth any other figure, we should be deprived of all these advantages: some countries would be like a paradise, whilst others would be in a state of chaos; one part would be buried by the waters, and another parched by the fervour of the sun. Some countries would be exposed to furious tempests, which would devastate and destroy them; whilst others would be exhausted for want of fresh currents of air. One part of the world would be condemned to endure a perpetual heat, and another would be entirely deprived of the sun's rays.

If we did not here acknowledge the all-powerful hand of a wise and beneficent Creator, we must be guilty of the greatest pride and most consummate ignorance! Should we deserve to be the inhabitants of an earth so admirably arranged and exquisitely fashioned, if, upon seeing its beauties and matchless order, and enjoying a thousand blessings, we denied the existence of an all-creative Power, or were wanting in acknowledgments for his mercy and goodness? May we never be guilty of such base ingratitude; but, filled with sentiments of awe and sublimity at the sight of God's wonderful works, may we elevate our thoughts to Heaven, and, fixing our minds upon the divine Power, humbly adore his wisdom and goodness!

FEBRUARY XIII.

Short Duration of Snow.

WE see the instability of the snow, and the rapidity with which it disappears when played upon by the sun-beams, or exposed to the effects of a humid mild air, and frequent showers. Frequently the whole aspect of nature, in a few hours, assumes a new appearance, and scarcely a trace of snow is left behind. By these sudden changes we may justly be reminded of the inconstancy and vanity of all human affairs. Every season, and every variation that their succession induces, declare to us with a loud and impressive voice, that all is uncertain, all vain, and of short duration. If we look around us through the vast field of nature, shall we find any thing which is not fragile and perishable? How soon are we bereft of the pleasures of sense; scarcely do we begin to enjoy them when they elude our eager grasp! Often when the sun first gilds the earth we are light, easy, gay, and content, smiling with comfort and plenty; but ere night has drawn her sable curtain, our pleasure is fled, our enjoyment ceased, and grief weighs heavy on our aching heart. Where exists the individual who, at some period or other, has not cruelly felt the uncertainty and short duration of terrestrial joys, and who has not known the pangs of disappointed hope? What is more inconstant than the favours of fortune, or more uncertain than the continuance of life and the blessings of health? Yet whilst we are in possession of these benefits, such reflections seldom or never occur; like those who, tempted by the beauty of some winter's morn, sally out unprepared for the storm, which at that season they ought to expect. Whilst fortune smiles, and we live in a round of gaiety and pleasure, we laugh at all fears of their ever failing, and despise all thoughts

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of preparing for an evil day. But fleeting as the snow beneath the sun-beams are all the enjoyments and gratifications which do not arise from the influence of religion, the exercise of the mind, and the feelings of the heart; cultivate these, and you will be enabled to enjoy a portion of that felicity which endureth for ever-the sure reward of virtue and a well-spent life.

FEBRUARY XIV.

The Creation.

THE time was when this earth, the heavens, and their revolving suns, existed not: God ordained their being, and at his almighty will they arose. Before that period the whole was one huge and shapeless mass, where confusion ruled and chaos held her empire; the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. On the first day of the creation the spirit of God moved upon the face of this rude and formless heap, which now felt a motion penetrate deep as the centre, from above and beneath, and all around. He said, Let there be light, and there was light; and God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. Hitherto the waters and the earth were confounded together, undistinguished from each other. God separated them, and said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were above the firmament, and it was so; and God called the firmament heaven; and the evening and the morning were the second day. The waters still covered the face of the earth, when on the third day God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let

the dry land appear; let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind: and it was so. On the fourth day God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years: and it was so. The sun appeared as the greater light to rule the day, and the moon, with inferior splendour, to rule the night; the stars also were then created. On the fifth day God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life; and immediately the whales rolled in the ocean, and the seas teemed with life: and the winged fowl he gave to possess the air. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas; and let fowl multiply in the earth.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. Every thing was now prepared; and God created man, to whom he gave dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowls of the air, and over cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. For this purpose he created him in his own image, after his own likeness, and endued with a rational soul. As a companion to man he created woman, with equal gifts and equal rule: to them both he gave dominion over the earth and all created things, and with them he rested from all the works which he had made.

Can any one reflect upon this sublime history without being astonished at the power, the intelligence, and infinite wisdom manifested in the works of the creation? Or can any one peruse it without pausing awhile to admire the grandeur of the objects and the sublimity of the design? Wherever we cast our view we see the proofs of a Divinity, whose glory the heavens declare, whose power unlimited their ex

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