Revolution and Changes in Nature.

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charms of external beauty: the rosy tints of health, the elegance of form, and the freshness of youth, are fleeting, and soon fade; they alone cannot secure present peace, nor durable happiness. Those blossoms only which promise fruit worthy of God, and useful to mankind, deserve our regard, and merit our appro bation. As the beauties of the blossoming trees hastily perish, so will the youth, now in the spring of life, fluttering in the gaiety of their charms. Let us then whilst in the morn of life, and in the vigour of health, prepare, by study and application, to produce in the evening of our days, when divested of all external charms, abundant fruits of piety, of virtue, and of knowledge.

MAY III.

Of the continual Revolutions and Changes that take place in Nature.

MOTION and change seem necessary to the preser. vation of the corporeal world. If we pay the least attention to what passes on the globe which we in. habit, we shall be convinced that the smallest particle of matter in the universe cannot be considered as in a state of absolute and continued rest.

The earth turns round its axis once in twenty-four hours, and by this motion all the points of its surface change their situation with more or less rapidity. Under the line or equator, where this motion is performed with greater celerity, each body is carried more than one thousand miles every hour, besides the annual revolution of the earth round the sun, which is at the astonishing rate of fifty-eight thousand miles every hour. This motion is not perceptible, but the relative motion of earthly bodies is more observable.

Small streams uniting form greater, till at length torrents and rivers are formed, which again are lost in the sea. Water is also raised in exhalations, and forms clouds, which produce rain, snow, and fogs: from these, streams are formed, which once more enter the sea; and tides, storms, and torrents, keep the water in perpetual motion. The atmosphere is not less in a state of rest. Between the tropics an east wind continually blows; and in other places, where no agitation is perceptible, the thermometer and barometer prove that the air is never perfectly calm; and the frequency of meteors sufficiently evinces the continuance of its motion.

The surface of the earth is also subject to frequent revolutions: the hardest rocks cleave, and stones gradually wear away, or break into small particles; some lands sink down, others are inundated, and some are removed by earthquakes. Hills are swept away, and valleys are filled up; marshes are drained and become covered with trees; the depths of the sea are made to wave with corn; and that which was land is now water. Light succeeds to darkness, cold to heat, and wet to drought; and bodies are continually experiencing alterations, many of which are impercep tible. To these we may add the changes to which animal life is subject; and we shall then be able to form some idea of the continual revolutions of nature. Man himself is continually losing a portion of his substance by the process of perspiration, and in a few years is clothed with an entirely new body. Thus every thing upon the earth is in motion, every thing alternately grows and perishes; and to be born and to die, is the lot of all created beings. These con. tinual revolutions are salutary warnings, and teach us that this present world is not the abode for which we are destined. When I consider the perpetual changes and constant vicissitudes incident to all terrestrial ob.

Invitation to seek God in the Works of Nature. 241

jects, I feel the vanity and insignificance of earthly things; and from the frailty and shortness of this life anticipate a better and more perfect state in a future world. Every thing cries aloud that we are only as traveliers upon the earth, who have a certain time to sojourn, and then accomplish the end and receive the reward of our pilgrimage. And in the midst of these changes and revolutions, the pure and devout soul receives consolation and support from the contemplation of an almighty and eternal Being, who, though the mountains shake, and the hills leave their places, the seas be agitated and tossed by the fierce storm, and all earthly bodies return to original dust, still exists the same, regarding his children with compassionating love, and assisting the helpless in the hour of necessity, and in the day of -tribulation.

MAY IV.

An Invitation to seek God in the Works of Nature.

AWAKEN, O my soul, from the slumbers which have so long benumbed thy faculties, and attentively regard the surrounding objects. Reflect upon thine own nature, and upon that of other creatures: consider thine origin, structure, form, and utility, with every additional circumstance that can fill thee with love and adoration of the all-wise Creator. When thou seest the variegated and brilliant colours of the heavens, the lustre of the numerous stars that irradiate them, and the night reflected from a thousand beauteous objects, ask thyself whence all these proceed? Who bas formed the immense vault of heaven ? Who has placed in the firmament those exhaustless fires, those Constellations whose rays shoot through such an inVOL. I. R

conceivable space? And who directs their course with the beauty of order, and the harmony of regularity, and commands the sun to enlighten and make fruitful the earth? Thou wilt answer, the everlasting God, at whose word the creation arose fair and beautiful, whose wisdom still directs it, and whose mercy still operates for the felicity of all mankind. His hand has established the foundations of the mountains, and raised their summits above the clouds; He has clothed them with trees, and beautified them with flowers and verdure; and He has drawn from their bosoms the rivers and streams which irrigate the earth. To the flowers of the field He has given their beauty, and fragrance, far exceeding all the combinations of art and efforts of skill. All the creatures that are seen in the air, in the waters, and on the earth, owe to him their existence, and the possession of that instinct which is their preservation; and man, in him. self a world of wonders, looks up to God as his Creator and Protector.

Let our chief care and most pleasing duty he hence. forth to seek for the knowledge of God in the contemplation of his works. There is nothing in the heavens or upon the earth which does not impress upon our minds the wonderful wisdom and admirable beneficence of the Creator, to whom, in the midst of the revolutions of nature, let us raise our thoughts, and pour forth the joyful accents of our love and gratitude.

MAY V.

Morning.

WHEN Aurora first peeps, and dissipates the shades of night, we seem to enjoy a new creation. The faint streaks that mark the eastern horizon soon become

more vivid, and the morning breaks with beauty; we begin to distinguish the verdure of the hills, the opening flowers, and the pure streams that water the meads. The horizon becomes more luminous, the clouds assume the most beautiful tints, and the charms of the distant valleys open upon us; the breath of the hawthorn is sweet, the dew drops upon the flowers shew the pure lustre of pearls, and nature rejoices in her existence. The first sun-beam darts from behind the mountains that skirt the horizon, and plays upon the earth; more succeed, and the brilliancy increases, till the disk of the luminary encircled in glory, is vi sible, and the sun shines in full refulgence; he gains the mid-heaven and no eye can sustain his glory.

When I stand upon the summit of some lofty cliff, and see the star of day slowly rise out of the ocean that foams beneath, I feel a mingled sensation of sublimity, awe, and adoration; I think of the infinite God, the Creator of the sun, and in the beauties of the rising day acknowledge his power and wisdom. With the lark that carolling in the air meets the morn. ing, and by the sweetness of his strains proclaims the arrival of day, I soar in thought into the regions of glory, and hail the great source of light. The joy and gaiety of all nature, and the raptures of the crea tion, raise in my breast the strongest emotions of gratitude, whilst my heart swells with delight, and every sense is extacy. Yet there are many thousands of human beings who have never known the pleasure of such sensations, nor even experienced the gratification of viewing the morning sun; who prefer the drowsy influence of their bed, and the confined limits of their gloomy chamber, to the freshness of morning and the brilliancy of day.