creation may be seen as a map spread out at his feet.

Then will he find fresh springs of instruction, and new fountains of delight, rising in his soul. The beautiful verdure of the green earth, bespangled with flowers; the genial warmth of the summer's sun; the refreshing showers of spring, and the balmy breath of the morning, will have obtained additional charms-to him they will bring something more than the slight sensations of mere animal pleasure, which they impart to the ignorant, and which the brute also experienceth; for in them he will perceive the operation of those principles, on which his own life, and the existence of all around bim, is dependent; and, as he felt that without their aid the whole creation must go back to original chaos, his soul would necessarily be filled with adoration, and bowed down in gratitude, to that DIVINE and OMNIPOTENT BEING from whence these things are derived, and by whom they are sustained.

Here let us pause to take a general view of the elements, consisting of earth, air, water, and fire, and the manner in which they operate; and it will soon appear, even to the most hebetated mind, in what manner they influence and govern the various phanomena in creation. I shall begin with the first, as the basis, or general medium, supporting the operations of the rest.

The most ignorant know that earth, in various degrees of density or solidity, constitutes the great mass of the globe; and, that the finer parts, near the surface, admit of being modified into vegetable and animal substances; as such, the earth yields the solid, or more palpable, materials of creation; but, without moisture, matter is incapable of modification, and is wholly sterile and unprofitable.

Water is necessary to the formation of every natural production. It has already been observed that animals depend upon vegetables for their support, and that vegetables are dependent upon the earth. Chemistry, which gives the Naturalist his

proofs by analysis, has shewn that every vegetable substance contains a considerable› proportion of water, which may be easily separated from it. It is consequently deducible, that, without water, vegetables cannot exist; and, if they cannot exist, animals must perish. But the manner in which the earth is watered, affords one of the finest subjects for contemplation in Nature.

The boundless ocean, whose billows break on every shore, forms a vast reservoir, that is indispensable to the well-being of the world. From its surface, under the influence of heat, vapours rise up to form clouds, which, being driven by the winds, spread over the whole surface of the earth; and, descending upon the dry land, saturate it, and give origin to the springs, whose waters accumulate into rivers, which, descending from the higher to the lower grounds, spread out into lakes; or finally flow, by various meandering cour ses, back to the ocean, that grand receptacle from whence they originally proceeded *.

Something seems to remain for chymists to discover in the nature, and component parts, of water; since, if it be

This natural revolution, because necessary, is constant and regular, and presents a fine illustration of the wisdom and power of the Supreme Being.

Since both plants and animals exist by the laws of respiration, it is evident they' must have a continual supply of air, or their functions cease, and they die; accordingly we find the whole earth enveloped in an atmosphere so admirably composed, and so wonderfully tempered, that it serves

ocean.

merely composed of hydrogen and oxygen gas, how happens it that evaporation does not constantly take place by exposure to the atmospherical air? The lapse of thousands of years seems to make little or no impression on the quantities of the Has the law of gravitation the same influence on watery, as it has on earthy, particles?—I am aware that the celebrated Dr. BLACK has observed, that, if the heat, which at present enlivens and cherishes the earth, were allowed to increase beyond due bounds, water" would lose its present form, and assume that of an elastic vapour like air." But, as things now are, the mere tyro cannot easily be made to understand why the artificial water, composed of hydrogen and oxygen gas, by the chymist in his laboratory, immediately evaporates when exposed to the atmospherical air, whilst natural water retains its character in the same degree of heat, if both be composed of the same materials.

the vital purposes of every animated form in the creation, however dissimilar its destiny, or its parts; and, whilst some plants and animals return noxious particles for the oxygen, or vital air, they receive; others counteract this evil, by consuming that which is baneful, and generating wholesome air in its room.

However subtle and mysterious may be the nature of heat, it is quite plain, as Dr. BLACK has most beautifully and clearly illustrated in his lectures on this subject, "that not only all animal and vegetable life, but that the whole face and appearance of Nature, the very form and powers of the elements themselves, depend on the limited action of heat"—and its indispensable utility in the business of creation cannot be more clearly shewn than in its influence on water alone, as eloquently described by the same illustrious man :

"But, in this succession of forms and operations which it undergoes (speaking of water) you will perceive that it is set in motion, and adapted to these ends, by the