advantages I enjoy, communicate to the ignorant what knowledge I have, support or strengthen the weak, and spread with a liberal hand, among the poor, the riches I possess.

APRIL XVI.

Permanency of Corporeal Beings.

NOTHING in nature perishes; and, from the beginning of the the world to the present mo ment, there has not been a grain of sand, nor an atom annihilated. The first forests, which the powerful word of God produced, were adorned with an innumerable multitude of leaves. Those fell, withered, corrupted, and ceased to be leaves; but the parts which composed them still remain. They have been converted into dust, mud, or earth; but they are not annihilated. The matter of which the first leaves and herbs were formed subsists still at this day, and has lost nothing of its essential parts. The plants which now flourish will exist, as to their parts, as long as the world shall last. The wood we burn ceases indeed to be wood, but its parts do not cease to exist. They are dispersed into ashes, soot, and smoke, but they are not annihilated. The king. dom of nature is liable to continual change; all dissolves, and all regenerates, but nothing finally perishes. Let us not judge by appearances. When there happens any revolution, any disorder in nature, we are apt to believe that many things are totally destroyed: it is an error.-They are only differently modified, and become materials for the composition of other beings. The water which rises in vapours does not perish: it de creases in one place, to increase in another.What uninformed persons consider as total destruction, is, in reality, but a mere change of

parts; and the world, considered in the whole, is just now what it was the first day of the creation, although a multiplicity of parts which com. pose it have gradually undergone very consider. able alterations.

This leads me to reflect on my own body, and the change it will experience in the grave. It is true, it will entirely corrupt, but will not be an. nihilated, and the essential parts which compose it will always subsist. The persuasion of this truth is sufficient to guard me against the fear of the grave and corruption, and, at the same time, to confirm the hope of a resurrection in my soul. Why then should my heart be troubled, why shudder at the thought of the grave? That which will be shut up there, it is not me; it is my earth ly habitation. I myself cannot be destroyed. All my members are numbered, and will be preserved. What I have been, I shall be hereafter: and I shall live for ever and ever.

The continual duration of corporeal beings may lead me to conclude, with much probability, that my soul also will be immortal. Since none of the earthly parts will be annihilated, is it to be presumed that my soul should be the only created thing that is to be destroyed? No. The whole corporeal world would sooner perish than one soul redeemed by Jesus Christ.

APRIL XVII,

The Use of Rain.

IN the truest sense of the word, rain ought to be called a present from Heaven. The blessings our heavenly Father pours upon us, by this means, are equally abundant and necessary for

ns.

As the consequences of a continued drought would be fatal to us, so the advantages are equal

ly precious which the refreshing showers afford. Who can describe or know all the advantages which accrue from them. But if we cannot give an exact account of them, we may at least reflect on some of the most considerable. The heat of the sun acts without interruption on the different bodies on the earth, and continually exhales thi particles from it, which fill the atmosphere in the form of vapours. We should breathe these dangerous exhalations with the air, if now and then they were not carried off by the rain, which beats them down to the ground, and thus clears and purifies the air. It is no less useful in moderating the burning heat of the atmosphere; and the reason is very evident: for the nearer the air is to the earth, the more it is warmed by the refraction of the ray; and the farther it is from us, the colder it is.—The rain that falls from a higher region brings to the lower atmosphere a refreshing coolness, of which we always feel the agreeable effects when it has rained. It is also to the rain we must partly impute the origin of fountains, pumps, lakes, and consequently rivers. Every body knows in what abundance we are supplied with these several sources of water in the wet and rainy seasons; whereas they evaporate during a long drought.. But, to feel how useful and necessary rain is, it is sufficient to observe how the earth and vegetables languish for want of these fruitful showers, without which every thing would decay. Rain is in many respects the food of vegetables. It wets and softens the earth, which is dried up, and in a manner petrified by the heat of the sun. It circulates in the finer veins, and in the vessels of plants and trees, and conveys to them those beneficial juices which preserve their life, and give them growth. When it pours on moun tains, it sweeps from them a soft rich earth, which it deposits in the valleys where it falls, and which it manures.

Yes, Lord! thou hast planned all with wisdom, and the earth is full of thy goodness. Such is, without doubt, the conclusions that we must all draw from these reflections. And if, from these we are led to adore and bless God, let us pursue the subject, that it may make a deeper impression on our minds.

What finer object can be presented to our sight than a clear and serene sky? Is not that beautiful blue vault extended over us sufficient to fill every heart with admiration and delight? But all the beauties of the sky would disappear, if, by the direction of the winds, the clouds should come and draw a thick curtain before us. What are the sentiments such a revolution should create in us? These are, at least, what it ought to inspire: However beautiful this scene which we contemplate with such delight, there are some incomparably greater,which no cloud can deprive us of, and which would make us ample amends for the loss of all others. For what are all the beanties of nature, compared to the beauty of that Being, in whose contemplation alone an immortal spirit can find felicity!-It is not without design that God sometimes deprives us for a while of those things which give us most pleasure. He wishes to teach us to seek our happiness in him, and to consider him as our sovereign good. Besides, those very privations, are they not often compensated by many outward advantages? Those clouds which conceal from us the beauty of the sky are the sources of beneficent rains, which ren. der the earth fruitful. Let us remember this; and every time that adversity makes our days gloomy and melancholy, let us be persuaded that even these misfortunes will become, in the hands of our heavenly Father, instruments of future happiness. Let us also consider rain as the image of the gifts of fortune: for, beneficial as moderate rains may be, they are equally hurtful, if they last too long,

or come unseasonably. So it is in respect to earthly goods. Their too great abundance might be the cause of our destruction. Let us therefore thank our heavenly Father for refusing us gifts which we might afterwards find to be real punishments. Let us, then, learn to be content with all the dispensations of a wise and gracious Providence in the government of the world. God only can know the manner in which his blessings can best be bestowed. He sendeth forth his command. ments to the clouds, and they fly to execute the will of their Creator. Shall man dare to undertake to direct their course, though perhaps the least considerable part in the ordinance of the world? How then can we be rash enough to blame the ways of Providence on much more im portant occasions?

APRIL XVIII.

The Breath.

OF all the functions of animal life, breathing is one of the principal and most necessary: without it there would be no possibility of expelling the saliva and excrements, or getting rid of superfluous humours by perspiration. Even speech, and the several inflections of the voice, require breathing. It is of use to the smell; to mix properly the chyle with the lymph and the blood; to give to the latter its red colour; and perhaps also to keep up and renew the animal spirits, by the air mixed with the blood. It is certain that we could not live an instant, if we were deprived of breath. But from whence proceeds this source of life! Our lungs are, properly speaking, the organs by which we draw in and let out air. This intestine resembles a large purse, at the top of which is fastened a pipe, through which the air penetrates