MAY XVIII.

Reflections on Grass.

HOWEVER beautiful the flowers may be which are cultivated in gardens, through the care and industry of man, we should know but little of the wonders of the vegetable kingdom, were we to limit our researches to the contemplation of a flower-garden. Each field is a scene of the wonderful works of God. In the first place, can any thing be more astonishing than the prodigious quantity of grass in a field? Suppose that a field was no more than a thousand paces long, and of equal breadth, its surface would be a million of feet square: Now, if we suppose, that in making a step, we cover only ten blades of grass, there must be in each square pace an hundred of these blades of grass; consequently, in casting a glance on that field, we see at once a hundred millions of these machines so curiously formed. Let us give to each blade of grass but an hundred veins, by means of which it draws nourishment from the earth, there would be, by this account, ten thousand millions of regular and perfect veins. But who can suppose that it would require only an hundred veins for its nourishment and growth, when each blade of grass is a series of nothing else? How immense a multitude of them must there be in the field! And how small, in comparison, is the number of the plants and flowers which grow and are cultivated in gardens! Why has the Creator so prodigiously multiplied the productions of the vegetable kingdom? Why, from each sort of grass does he cause to spring such a numerous multitude? It is, undoubtedly, that beasts as well as men may find sustenance. The fields are, properly speaking, the magazine

for animals. Another circumstance worthy of observation, in respect to grass, is, that it neither requires sowing nor tillage, but grows perpetually independent of our care.-How sad and barren would our pastures and meadows be, if we were loaded with the care of sowing the grass-seed, and of afterwards watering what our hands had sowed and planted? But, at the creation of the world, God so provided, that a sufficient quantity of grass should never fail. From that almighty word of the Creator ("Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed,") proceeds the constant fertility of our fields. To reflect on the colour chosen for the grass, is sufficient to make us sensible of the wise and beneficent care of the Creator. If all those fields were red or white, who could long bear the dazzling light of them? If the predominant colour was darker and more gloomy, what a melancholy appearance would all nature have? The green is between both colours; it agrees with our eyes, and pleases and refreshes them. It is also remarkable, that, in this colour, there is such variety of shades, that there is not a plant, the green of which is exactly as pale or as deep as that of another. It is then evident that, in the arrangement of the vegetable kingdom, God has not provided less for our pleasure, than for our convenience. This double attention is well calculated to convince us of that supreme goodness and wisdom which extends over the whole earth. May the proofs of it, which daily present them. selves to our sight, never make us cold or indif. ferent to it! On the contrary, let us employ that reason which we owe to God, in making ourselves, through all his works, acquainted with that infinitely wise and merciful Being. Every time we walk in the fields, let us indulge these meditations: Lord! with what wisdom hast Thou formed these plants! With what goodness dost Thou not dispense both rain and sunshine for the growth of

herbage! Greens and simples which strengthen our bodies; milk, which affords us a food so sweet and wholesome; the flesh of animals, which we enjoy in such abundance; all these advan. tages, and many more, Thou grantest us in the use of the fields. I bless Thee for them, O God my Creator! and will bless Thee evermore.

MAY XIX.

Sentiments which the Contemplation of the Sky

excites.

WHAT, but a spirit of unlimited knowledge and power, could form that superb vault over our heads? Who could have given motion to those immense globes; that perpetual motion, whose swiftness is inexpressible; a motion, which even the smallest grain of sand could not have of itself? Who ordered those enormous masses of heavy and lifeless matter to take so many different forms? From whence proceeded that connection, that beauty and harmony, which shines through every part of the whole? Who regulated all things so exactly, according to number, weight, and mea. sure? Who prescribed to those immense bodies such laws as none could discover, but a mind en. dowed with the greatest wisdom? Who measured those vast circles in which the stars move, with out going out of their line? Who put them into the course they run, and which they are to run, without interruption? All these questions lead us to Thee, thou adorable Creator! self-existing, independent, and eternal Being! It is to Thee the celestial bodies owe their existence, their laws, their arrangement, their power, and all the advan. tages they procure to the earth. What sublime ideas must rise in our souls, when we think of these great objects! If the space, in which so many

millions of worlds move, cannot be measured by our understanding: if the globes, which take their prodigious courses there, are of a size to astonish us; if the fabric of the universe, constructed by the Creator, is of such immensity, that our ideas are lost in it, what must thy greatness be, O God! and what understanding is able to conceive it! If the heavens and all their host have so much magnificence, beauty, and majesty, that the eye can never be satisfied with contemplating, nor the mind with admiring them, what must be thy beauty, Thou eternal Being, of whose splendour and glory these creatures are but faint and imperfect shadows! What must be the incomprehensible extent of thy knowledge and understanding, since Thou seest with one glance the whole immense space, all the numberless bodies in it, and art so intimately acquainted with the nature and properties of all the beings Thou hast placed there! What depths of wisdom and knowledge must be in Thee, O Lord! who hast formed such admi. rable plans! who hast measured, and calculated every thing with so much exactness, that nothing can be added or taken away! Who didst conceive and establish the several laws which all the globes were to observe! Who didst employ the wisest means to accomplish them! And who wast capable of forming such connection, relation, and harmony, through all thy works! How great must thy power be, to be able to realize all these plans! to guide and direct the most immense bodies! to animate all by thy breath! and to preserve all by thy Almighty word!

But can God have given us such proofs of his greatness and glory in vain? Shall it be to no purpose that the celestial bodies declare the infinite knowledge and wisdom of the Almighty? Shall they in vain pour upon us the abundance of blessings which the Divine Goodness bestows through their means? Is not all this done, in or

May 20. der that intelligent creatures should take notice of it, reflect, and make it the subject of their contemplations? Masterpieces of a skilful artist are admired; what stupid indifference would it be, not to admire the infinite art and wisdom manifested in the works of the Most High! Those are honoured who have talents to perform great and beautiful works: with what respect, with what profound humility, ought we not to prostrate ourselves, and adore that God who constructed the magnificent fabric of the universe, and displayed so much majesty and glory in it? The heavens declare his greatness, and proclaim him Lord of all the world. All the celestial bodies obey him, and all their revolutions are made according to his laws. And shall man alone refuse to obey this Governor of the universe, who is also his Lord and Creator? Shall he refuse to be guided by laws so wise and useful to him? On every side the effects of Divine Goodness flow in upon us, and bring us innumerable blessings, comforts, and pleasures. What love, what gratitude, do we not owe him! With what earnestness ought we not to imitate David, who cries out, on contemplating the works of the Lord, "I will magnify thee, O God, my King and I will praise thy name for ever and ever! Every day will I give thanks unto thee, and praise thy name for ever and ever. My soul praise the Lord. Hallelujah!"

MAY XX.

Fruitfulness of Plants.

THE magnificence of the earthly creation shines in nothing more than in the astonishing fertility of plants. One single plant can produce thousands, even millions of others. One tobacco plant may yield forty thousand three hundred and twenty