of mankind, has spread light and beauty over the earth; it may remind us of the misery in which we should languish, if day did not succeed the darkness. And does not even darkness obtain for us a great advantage, by inviting us (from the tranquillity and repose which attends it) to enjoy a sweet sleep? How many workmen, who, in the day, waste their strength in our service, and whose labour, hard in itself, is also attended with disagreeable sensations! O how they bless the night, which suspends their labour, and brings them ease and sleep! In general, we are too selfish, in measuring the advantages and inconveniencies of night, merely by the use or hurt we think we draw from it.. If fong nights are disagreeable to some, to how many others are they a blessing! In certain points, the night is favourable to the huntsman and fisherman. Without it the astronomer could not have formed an idea of the distance, the size, the course, and the infinite num ber of planets and stars; nor could the pilot make use of the northern star, if it was always daylight: Considered in another way, night still appears to me a benefit to mankind, in lessening our wants, and in putting an end to those, which in the day time cost us many cares. What expence does not conveniencies and custom require, without which we should scarce think we enjoyed life! How many families, oppressed with want, begin the day with anxiety, and end it in hard labour! Night comes, and suspends care and misery.. To be happy, nothing but a bed is wanting; and if sleep closes our eyes, all our wants are satisfied. Night, in some degree, equals the beggar with the monarch. Both enjoy a blessing which cannot be purchased. O how gra cious that being who combines all things for the happiness happiness of mankind'! Most things, which are called evils, are only so to those who let themselves be carried away by prejudice and passion: whilst, if they were considered as they ought to be, it would appear that these apparent evils are real blessings to the world. We may be assured, that several millions of our fellow-creatures, who are in the day-time employed in hard work, or fatiguing labour; others, who have groaned all day under the yoke of an enemy to humanity; a number of travellers by sea and land, will bless God at the approach of night, which brings rest with it: And let us also bless him the beginning of each night. We shall undoubtedly do so, if, having the wisdom to employ the day well, we acquire a right to a sweet and sound sleep. The shorter our days now are, the higher we ought to value every hour, and make a prudent use of them. The night approaches, in which it will no longer be in our power to work or act. But that long night will still be to us a blessing, if we enjoy in the grave that peace and rest which are. the fruits of Christian labours. JANUARY XV. REFLECTIONS ON MYSELF.. IT is reasonable to turn one's eyes sometimes from foreign subjects to one's self. It has too often happened to me, in the reflections I have made on the things around me, to lose sight of myself; or, at least, I have not always endeavoured to raise in my heart the gratitude and veneration which the sight of the starry heavens, and. the blessings of the earth, ought naturally to proB. 6. duce.. duce. I will now reflect on what most intimately concerns me, and convince myself more and more, that, as a man, I am not less the master-piece of divine power and wisdom, than those prodigious bodies, the greatness of which astonishes the ima gination. How admirable is the union of my body and soul, and how incomprehensible is their connection, in acting reciprocally. I daily experience, that, when the rays which light exterior objects strike my eyes, my soul receives the idea of the size, the form, and colour of those objects. I feel, that, when there is raised in the air a certain undulating motion, my soul receives the idea of a sound. By this means, I have a perception of a thousand changes which happen around me, and even of the thoughts of other men. I expe rience every moment, that, as soon as my soul wishes it, my body transports itself from one place to another; that it exerciseth its power over my arms, my hands, and my feet: In a word, all my limbs are disposed to obey every act of its will. These facts are incontestible; and yet I cannot explain the manner in which they are ef fected. In this mutual influence of body and soul, there is a wisdom, a wonderful art, which I cannot fathom and the whole result of my inquiries into it is surprise and admiration. If I consider my body separately, I find it also a master-piece of the creative hand. Here, nothing is superfluous, nothing is wanting: Each limb is placed in the manner best adapted, either for the use of the body, or for its ornament. Could I wish for a limb more than those which compose a perfect body? And suppose, on the other hand, that even one only was wanting, or that my limbs were transposed, so that the eyes, for example, were set in my feet, or placed where the ears are, what inconvenience, : inconvenience, what deformity it would be! Of course the exterior form of my body is already disposed with much wisdom. But the interior parts of it are still more admirable. My body was to serve more than one purpose, and to fill different functions. It was first to be the means by which the soul was to be informed, in different ways, of the presence of objects not within itself. The organs of sight, of smell, of hearing, of taste, and of feeling, answer this end; and each of them is a miracle of divine power and wisdom. But, in order that the body should transmit to the soul different sensations of the exterior objects, it was necessary it should be moveable; and for this purpose, how many of its parts concur? The bones, the joints, the sinews, the muscles or fleshy parts, susceptible of extention or contraction, give me the power of moving in a thousand ways. In the mean time, as a machine, as wonderful as my body is, must suffer a continual waste, by its motions and functions, it was necessary, for the subsistence of the machine, that its losses should be repaired; therefore, other parts, besides those already mentioned, were necessary; some to receive the nourishment; others to grind it; to separate the juices; to make these juices circulate through the whole body; and to distribute as much of it as each limb requires, &c. All these parts actually exist in my body, and answer perfectly well the end for which they were designed. I bless thee, O Lord, for having made me so wonderfully: All thy works are admirable; and my soul takes a pleasure in acknowledging it. To thee be praise and thanksgiving: Let the harp and the psaltery celebrate thy praise. I am one of the prodigies of thy power, O Creator and Preserver! My body formed by thy divine hand, and every sense witness thy glory. Grant that I may praise thee each time that I exercise the faculties of my body, either when I breathe, walk, act, or rest. May I rejoice eternally in thee; and may my body be a temple, in which thy Spirit will manifest its presence, and establish its dwelling for ever.. JANUARY XVI. THE HURT OCCASIONED. BY EXTRAORDINARY WHY are we so ready to remark whatever inconvenience the laws of nature may sometimes occasion? Why do we dwell upon it, and murmur at it, while we pass so lightly over the many striking advantages it obtains for us? Men, in this respect, act towards God as they generally do towards each other. A slight offence, the least harm they receive from their best friend, or their benefactor, often effaces the remembrance of the essential services that have been done them.-Their ingratitude and pride lessen the value of the latter, and make them consider the other as considerable injuries. It is particularly at this season that the remark is necessary. Men are attentive only to the evils which the cold may occasion, without considering the good that even the frost may do to the earth; or, at least, without thinking of it with gratitude. If they discover the least harm; if any part of the great whole should be in a suffering state, they think themselves authorised to murmur against God, without considering, that nature, taken in the whole, draws great advantage from the cold. Let us now weigh, without partiality, the ad ⚫vantages. |