They are lively and gay enough to strike us agreeably, and yet mild enough not to fatigué or offend the sight. They have, however, variety of shades, enough to distinguish objects from one another, and prevent a too great uniformity. Besides plants of very different greens, the earth produces the most beautiful flowers, which not only delight our eyes with a thousand and a thousand different colours, but embalm the air also, and please our smell with the most delicious perfumes. Even the ear is not idle. It is charmed to hear the songs of the birds, who fill the air with their melodious notes.

With a heart full of gratitude and joy, I exalt Thee, O God! and celebrate thy goodness. Lord, how great is thy mercy! How tender and gracious thy fatherly protection! None of thy creatures are hid from Thee. Thou despisest none of them. All, without exception, are objects of thy providence; and Thon watchest over them. Therefore shall thy beneficence be for ever the object of my meditations. My soul shall never cease to bless Thee; and I will rejoice in the re. membrance of thy goodness.

APRIL XX.

Pleasing Effect of the Heat of the Sun.

AT the approach of spring, there are revolu tions before our eyes, which must fill every attentive observer with astonishment. Nature gradually recovers the life she seemed to have lost in winter. The earth is clothed with verdure. The trees are covered with blossoms. On all sides are seen new generations of insects, and other animals, coming out, rejoicing in their existence, and endowed with a thousand different instincts. Every thing is animated. Every thing

revives. And this new life, which appears in the noblest parts of nature, is produced by the return of warmth, which awakens animals and plants, and puts their renewed strength in motion. We owe this admirable revolution to the sun, which is the source of life, sensation, and joy, as its salutary and enlivening rays are spread over all nature. The seeds feel its effect, and open in the bosom of the earth. It is from thence that the plants and vegetables shoot, spring up, and grow. Its approach revives and strengthens animals. Every living creature that has breath or feeling; vegetation also, feels the benign in. fluence of that majestic globe. How would it be, if we were deprived of the light and heat of the sun? How melancholy would the face of the earth appear, if an uninhabitable desert? Into what a lifeless state would most creatures fall, and how wretched and languid would such existence be? What a source of joy and gladness would the heart of man be deprived of, if he could not enjoy the rays of the rising sun, or the light of a serene day? Nothing could compensate for the loss of it. The millest night, the gentlest artificial warmth, could not supply the place of that vivifying virtue which the light of the sun communicates to every being, and which has a salutary effect, very different from that of earthly fire. Men and animals know and feel it. A valetudinarian, shut up warm in his room, with every possible assistance, will not gain as much strength in many weeks as he would do in a very short time from the warmth of the sun in the fine weather of spring. Plants forced in hot beds, never gain such a degree of strength and consistence, as those which grow in the sun. In the latter, every thing combines for the perfection of plants and animals; whereas, in artificial heat, we see nothing but the weak and languishing efforts of an inffectual substitute. But would the sun exist, Vol. I.

M

and could it communicate light and heat to us, if God, the Creator of all things, had not formed it, and given it the power of shedding over the whole earth its quickening virtue? It is from the Lord we receive all the blessings which are derived from the sun. It is he who created it, who rules its course, and who preserves its light and splendour. Each morn he causeth it to appear again: and in each season makes us feel its happy effects. Without him, there would be neither sun, nor light, nor heat, nor spring. Let us then raise our souls to him, to the Creator of the sun. Its beneficent warmth, its beautiful and clear light, leads to Him, the Being of beings, the Source of every blessing, the Father of light.-The Pagans were too blind to acknowledge God as author of the sun. They stopped at the effects, without know. ing the cause. But we know there would be no sun, if he did not exist; that it would neither give light nor heat, if not ordained by God. We know that vegetation, increase, growth, all the blessings which surround us, all our agreeable sensations, all that charms or delights us, proceed from him. The sun is but the instrument of his goodness, the minister of his will, the herald of his greatness.

APRIL XXI.

Relation that all Creatures have with one another.

THE prodigious number of creatures there are upon the earth, is, in itself, well worthy our admiration; but what must still more strike us, is the proportion between all these, and the wise chain which links this infinite multitude of dif ferent beings in such a manner, that they form but one regular and perfect whole. The extent of the animal creation is incomprehensible, and

yet all of them find food sufficient. No species, however few there are of them, no individuals, however persecuted they may be, are ever extinct. It is true, that many serve as food to others, but the number of beasts of prey is not considerable. Most of them are solitary, and do not much multiply. Those even that are pretty numerous, are content with little food, and cannot obtain it without much art and trouble. Several of them have enemies which prevent them from multiplying too fast; or else the weak and timid animals supply in number what they want in strength, and escape their persecutors by all sorts of stratagem and cunning. It is also observable, that, for the preservation and multi. plication of species, there is an exact balance between the sexes; so that there is no animal which cannot find its mate. The mineral kingdom serves for the preservation of the animal, and they both tend to the good and benefit of mankind. The most useful plants, such as corn, grow every where, multiply the easiest, and are the least liable to spoil. The animals which are most necessary to mankind are scattered every where in abundance. The productions of the different climates are suited to the particular wants of mankind. Thus the hottest countries abound in cooling fruits. In countries liable to great drought, there are plants and trees, which are, in a manner, springs of water, and which provide enough to quench the thirst of men and animals. Where wood is wanting, there is a great quantity of peat and turf found. If there are countries deprived of rain, and other sources of fertility, they are made amends for it by fruitful inunda tions, like that of the Nile in Egypt. In mankind also, there is the most exact proportion between the sexes. The proportion between male and female is nearly equal. The number of males to that of females is generally 26 to 25. In civil

society, talents and blessings are so admirably distributed, that, as each individual may be happy, according to his circumstances, so there is nothing that is necessary wanting to society in general. If the inclinations and dispositions of men were not so varied; if their tastes and tempers did not make them embrace different kinds of life; if there was not so much variety in their genius, their way of thinking, in their beauty, riches, and other outward circumstances, human society would soon become a melancholy desert. There is no rank of men who can do without others. Each country has its peculiar advantages: and, if they were common to all, there would be neither connection or commerce among men. In a word, on whatever side we cast our eyes under heaven, we every where find the most admirable harmony and proportion. Notwithstanding the infinite variety of creatures, and the continual interruption of many of the laws of nature, it appears that, in this immense universe, all is perfect, all is planned and contrived for the general good, all is in the most regular and exact order. On whatever side I cast mine eyes, I see nothing but the wisest and most delightful harmony. It shines on all sides. It embellishes every thing. Nothing is unconnected. Every thing combines to the same end. The whole is linked together with wonderful art.

Wise Author of Nature! We should be unworthy to contemplate the magnificence and harmony of thy works, if we did not adore Thee with the most profound admiration. Teach us, above all things, to feel and to adore that ineffable goodness, which has ordained every thing in the manner most beneficial to thy creatures.