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Alas! instead of filling my mind with this great and sublime object, my thoughts too often ramble upon trivial and perishable subjects: instead of fixing my desires upon the meditation of Divine Wisdom; instead of loving and cherishing the bright essence and power of this Eternal Being, which unites every thing that is good, great, and amiable, and alone can make me happy; I perhaps feel no pleasure but in the gratification of my senses; my affections are placed on terrestrial objects, and I only love those things which are perishable, and which cannot contribute to my happiness. May my past experience render me more wise in future! Till now, I have only loved and set my heart upon temporal things, which are still more uncertain and perishable than myself.

But at present, through the grace of God, my eyes are opened; I perceive a Being which has raised me up out of nothing, which has given me a soul whose desires cannot rest short of eternity-a Being in whom every perfection and virtue are united, and to whom I will consecrate my heart, and devote myself for ever, without reserve, and from whom I will ever receive all my consolation and delight. I will exchange those carthly enjoyments, which I have hitherto preferred to the blessings of Heaven, for advantages incomparably more real and permanently substantial. And though I still continue to make a proper use of the good things of this life, they shall never make me forget the love of God; but whilst I use them, and whilst I feel myself benefited by their good effects, when not abused, they shall serve as a constant me. morial of the goodness of God, and call forth my ac knowledgments and grateful sense of his kind care and solicitude for my welfare. Whenever I partake of any outward good, I will say to myself, If I find so much sweetness in the enjoyment of earthly things,

Of the Elevation of the Soul.

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and being only acquainted with a very small part of the works of God, that knowledge is so delightful, how happy and glorious will be my state when initiated into the mysteries of Heaven, and favoured with a portion of the purity and perfections of God! How great is the felicity of the saints, who see him as he is, and live in the constant participation of his Divine Communion!

If those pleasures which can only be enjoyed through the medium of a frail and perishing body, have the power of so agreeably affecting my mind, what must be its delight and ecstacy when, divested of all its fetters and impediments, it has winged its flight to the regions of bliss, and uninterruptedly enjoys the pleasure arising from its own workings; never wearied with thinking, nor injured by incessant action; but ever employed upon the sublimest images in the presence of the immortal God! If the gentle rivulets that so beautifully irrigate the earth are so pleasing, if a ray of light is so vivifying, how admirable must be the great Source and First Cause of the torrent of the rivers, the Living Fountain of all joy and excellence! how gloriously pre-eminent the Author of the blessed sun, the rays of which only have such great power!

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From what we already know of God through his works, we may form some anticipation of the glory of futurity, and prepare with joy and with gladness for the happy moment, when the soul, released from its present dark and inferior abode, shall ascend into the heavens, and enjoy that purity and exaltation, the rewards of those who, by the proper use they have made of their time here, are permitted to join the heavenly choir of angels in songs of ecstacy round the throne of the everlasting God.

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FEBRUARY XXIII.

Causes of the Vicissitudes of Heat and Cold.

WHAT Occasions the transition from extreme heat to intense cold? By what means does Nature effect these vicissitudes ? It is certain that in winter the state of temperature principally depends upon the sun; for when our globe in its annual course round that luminary is so situated that its northern hemisphere is turned away from the sun, when the rays fall obliquely upon the earth's surface, and when the sun remains only a few hours above our horizon, it is im possible that its rays can be so powerful as when they fall more perpendicularly. But the heat does not entirely depend upon the distance and situation of the sun, which annually passes through the same constella, tions, and is not more distant in one winter than in another, yet the degree of cold varies very much in different winters. Sometimes a great part of the winter is as mild as autumn, whilst in another the deepest rivers are frozen, and men and animals are scarcely preserved from the effects of the cold. Even in those countries where the days and nights, during most part of the year, are of an equal length, the heat of the sun is too feeble to melt the ice and the snow on the summit of the mountains. On their heights reigns an eternal winter, whilst at their base, verdure flourishes and summer smiles; yet the rays of the sun fall upon their ridge as well as in the valleys. From these cir cumstances it would seem as if the sun was not the only cause of heat, otherwise these phenomena would be inexplicable.

Nature is rich in resources, and a thousand causes of which we are ignorant may assist her operations, We know that the winds and the atmosphere have a great influence upon the heat and cold of a country,

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Singularities in the Mineral Kingdom. Hence it sometimes happens, in the midst of sum. mer, when the atmosphere is charged with vapours, the heavens are obscured by thick clouds, and the north wind blows, that great cold is felt; and on the contrary in winter, when the wind is from the south, the temperature is often much milder. The peculiar nature of the soil may have some effect; and the winds blowing over the ocean acquire a higher temperature, which they impart to the earth as they sweep over its

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These causes, and, perhaps, many others we do not yet know, influence the temperature of the air, and produce the sudden alternations of heat and cold. In most of our investigations of nature we are obliged to stop short of the truth; and the most able philoso. phers have not been ashamed to confess how little they knew of her laws. We can comprehend but a very small part of her operations, sand no doubt it is from the wisest reasons the Creator has concealed from our penetration the causes of so many effects which we view with wonder throughout the kingdom of Nature; but we know enough of them to be happy, wise, and content: let us endeavour to use, with pro. priety, the little knowledge we are permitted to ac quire, and convert it to the advantage of our fellowcreatures, and the glory of God; for surely he did not give us our faculties to be buried in sloth and indo. lence, nor to be employed in trifling pursuits, or to become obliterated or perverted for want of cultivation and exertion.

FEBRUARY XXIV.

Singularities in the Mineral Kingdom,

FROM the limited nature of our understanding, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for us to com

prehend, at once, the whole kingdom of Nature, and to know and distinguish all the properties and qualities of her productions. We shall be facilitated in our search, and assisted in our enquiry, into Nature, if we begin by the consideration of some simple and detached objects, whose beauties will engage our attention, and whose peculiar phenomena will solicit our regard. At present, then, I shall consider some curiosities met with in the mineral kingdom, amongst which none are more remarkable than the Magnet. When suspended, one of its extremities points to the north, the other to the south; these are called its poles, and they seem to contain the magnetic principle in greater abundance than the other parts. It does not appear to attract any other substance than iron, or the ores of iron: if you place the north pole of one magnet opposite the south pole of another, they will be mutually attracted; but if their similar poles, whether the two north or the two south poles, are placed together, they repel each other.*

Mercury offers to our consideration properties equally remarkable, and more useful. It is distin. guished from all other metals by its fluidity, but it becomes solid when exposed to a sufficient degree of

The magnet does not appear to be a stone, as the author has represented, but iron only, or iron contained in stone, modified in such a manner as to admit the passage of the magnetic fluid; of which little is known, though some suppose it to be a modification of the electric power: to support which they assert, that iron long placed in an elevated position becomes magnetic; that instruments of iron struck with lightning are sometimes magnetised, and that two pieces of iron may be magnetised by rubbing them against each other in the same direction, But supposing it was the electric fluid undergoing a peculiar change in the iron, we are still no nearer the moon; for we are equally in the dark respecting the nature of an electric as of a magnetic fluid. It is their effects only with which we are acquainted.-E.

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