civ. 18.

"The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and the rocks for the conies," Ps. Come we now to the vales, which are so well adapted for culture and vegetation here again appeareth the goodness of God; for if all had been hills and mountains, how fatigued would man and beast have been in culturing them for their sustenance? But, blessed be the Lord, though, in consequence of the fall, he said man should eat bread in the sweat of his face, he did not say he should eat it in the blood thereof, which doubtless would oft have been the case if this had been the form of the globe.

Let us then adore his name for its commodious figure: and, while we culture our valleys, admire his handy-works: for not a plant, herb, nor flower, grows in them, but sheweth forth the glory and wisdom of their Maker. And seeing we cannot fully comprehend how a single pile of grass begins to vegetate and strike forth its roots in the earth, let us lie low in the valley of humility, nor dare to arraign the divine decrees, but saying, with the father of the faithful," Shall "not the Judge of all the earth do right?", Gen. xviii. 25.

Next, the majestic appearance of the forests should strike our minds with a due sense of that majesty and power which made and reared their lofty plants; and of that goodness which hath made them of such utility to man and beast. And as for the rivers, not to speak of what use they are for preserving and nourishing their finny inhabitants, which so plentifully furnish our țables; they are of absolute necessity for the support and nourishment of both animal and vegetable life.

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In them, not only all men, but all the beasts of the earth, may freely quench their thirst which sheweth the boundless beneficence of our almighty Creator. Rivers are thereby fit emblems of the water of life, to which all the sons of Adam are invited to come and drink freely, without money and without price. Isaiah lv. 1. Rev. xxi. 17.

It is wonderful, that all the rivers are exhaled in vapours from the sea by the heat of the sun; refined in the clouds, distilled in gentle showers on the earth, and return thither again. Doth not the wisdom and

goodness of God appear greatly in this? For, if the vapours were not thus drawn forth from the deep, refined and distilled, we could neither have fresh water nor rivers, and so no life or vegetation on the earth. And, on the other hand, if those vapours did not return again to the ocean in rivers, the earth would soon be deluged, and become unfit for the habitation of man or beast;—nay, in process of time, become a sea itself, while the ocean became a dry land.

Let us then bless the most high God for this wise disposal of things; and, as we have our life and being from him, as the showers accomplish the end for which they are sent on the earth, and then again return to the sea; so may we answer the end for which we were sent into the world, and at last return, through the merits of Christ, to God in heaven, the fountain of our being and happiness!

Turn we now to the ocean itself: what a world of waters are there! and what a water of wonders! In this "great and wide "sea are things creeping innumerable, both

otherwise qualified them for performing the functions of animal life.

How admirably are they suited with bills! whereas, if their mouths had been large, and in their heads, as those of quadrupeds are, how could they then have taken up small particles of grain from the earth, or digged insects out of the mould? whereas now, by their beaks, they can peck such with ease; and if without claws, many of them which roost on the trees could not have done so, but must have been much exposed to the rayages of beasts during the night.

Those of them which are of the aquatic kind are all provided with members answerable for gathering their food in the watery element such as are swimmers, being webfooted, and having their breasts and bellies strongly lined with downy feathers, close as scales, are thereby qualified for remaining long in the water, and defended from the injuries of its cold; and those which cannot swim, but wade, with long legs and necks, whereby they are enabled to hunt in the shallows for the finny tribe; some of them, too, such as the heron, having the middle

claw on each foot toothed like a saw, can thereby more readily seize and hold their slippery prey. All which show the bounty and care of the indulgent Creator, who hath left none of his creatures destitute of suitable means for preserving life. But though these kinds find ample provision in the waters, what becomes of those that live wholely on the land, which neither sow nor gather into barns? Shall they starve? No: for we are told our heavenly Father feedeth them. Mat. vi. 26.

Grudge not then, ye husbandmen, when the birds of the air descend upon your cultured fields, and peck a few of those innumerable grains, which your Creator and theirs hath bountifully bestowed upon you; nor wish too keenly for their destruction ; for, perhaps they serve you more than all the injury they do. "This the inhabitants “of New England experienced, when, after they had given a reward for destroying "the purple jack-daws, the intent was al"most effected at the cost of the inhabi"tants; who discovered, at length, that "Providence had not formed these seeming"ly destructive birds in vain. Notwith

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