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nor too soft, we have still more cause to admire the Supreme wisdom. Was it more hard, more compact, and less penetrable, it would be incapable of being converted to the purposes of agriculture, and we should not enjoy the plants, the herbs, the roots, and the flowers, which now beautify its surface, and are nourished within its fostering bosom. The earth is formed of different strata, consisting of fossils, bituminous and calcareous matters, metals, and minerals; the water which we drink and convert to so many useful purposes is rendered limpid by filtrating through beds of sand at a great depth within the earth; the mountains and the valleys, the plains and the hills, which diversify its surface, whilst they contribute by their beauty to the pleasure of man, promote his health as well as the salubrity of the various species of plants and animals which exist in every situation of the earth.

Who is there that will not acknowledge that the whole plan of the earth, its form, its exterior and interior structure, are all regulated by the wisest laws, and all tending to promote and to increase the happiness of animated beings? Wherever we direct our attention, whether to examine the beautiful and grand objects diffused over the face of nature, or whether to penetrate within the interior of the earth, we perceive that every thing is arranged with wisdom, and we every-where discover the legible characters and broad stamp of an Infinite, Almighty, and Supreme Being.

JANUARY XX.

Short Meditations upon the Works of God, taken from the Scriptures.

"HEARKEN unto this, stand still, and consider the wonderful works of God *."

"Jehovah hath formed the earth by his power; he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his understanding t."

"And God said, Let there be light, and there was light; and God saw the light that it was good; and God separated the light from the darkness, and he called the light day, and the darkness he called night 1."

Thou art the Lord who hast made the heavens and the heaven of heavens, with all their hosts; the earth, and all things therein; the seas, and all that is therein: thou givest life to all things, and the hosts of heaven worship thee §."

"O Lord, my God! thou art marvellously great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty! Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment; who stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain. The Lord layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters, he maketh the clouds his chariot; he walketh upon the wings of the wind: he maketh the winds his messengers, and the lightnings his agents. He hath laid the foundations of the earth so that they cannot be shaken. He hath covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains, but at his rebuke they fled; at the voice of his thunder they hasted away]]."

* Job xxxvii. 14.
Gen. i. 3, 4, 5.
Psal. civ. 1, 7.

† Jer. x. 12.

§ Neh. ix. 6.

"He hath stretched out the heavens over the chaos, and hath hung the earth upon nothing. He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not rent under them. His power raiseth the waves of the sea, and his wisdom restraineth their fury*. He raiseth the vapours, and assembleth them in clouds, which pour down in rain upon the face of the earth. He covereth the heavens with dark clouds, and the thunder-bolts issue from his tabernacle. He darts his lightnings through the thick clouds, where all the waters of the sea seem to be collected. Thence, as from his throne, he pronounceth judgment upon the nations, or scattereth abundance over the face of the earth +."

"The thunder peals, and we see the lightnings flash; God announceth his wonders, and performeth things too marvellous for our comprehension. He sayeth unto the rain of winter, Fall down upon the earth; and it inundates the countries. Out of the south cometh the whirlwind, and cold out of the north. By the breath of God ice is produced, and the waters which were spread on all sides are held in chains. He causeth the most clear and serene sky to succeed to that which was most obscured; and his light dispels the clouds. He who holds the reins of the world collects these meteors, that they may fulfil the task which he hath appointed them on the face of the earth; whether he intends that they should punish men, or manifest the effects of his bounty.

"God is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath opposed him and hath prospered? He snatcheth up the mountains, and overturneth them with the breath of his nostrils. He shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble. He commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and he sealeth up the stars. He spreadeth out the heavens alone, and

*Job xxvi. 7, 8, 12.

+ Job xxxvi. 27, &c.

† Jcb xxxvii. 5, &c.

walketh upon the waves of the sea. He hath formed the constellations Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south *.”

"Thou hast opened the fountain and the torrent; thou hast dried up the mighty rivers. The day is thine; the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun. Thou hast set all the borders of the earth; thou hast made summer and winter t. He raiseth up the east wind in the air, and sendeth forth the south wind by his power.

"He watereth the mountains from his chambers; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of his works. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and grain for the service of man, that he may bring forth food out of the earth §. For thus saith the Lord that created the heaven: God himself that formed the earth and made it, and hath established it, created it not in vain he formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord, and there is none else ||."

JANUARY XXI.

Of the Human Voice.

THE human voice, both in its principles, its variations, and its organs, is certainly most admirable, and its nature difficult to be explained. Let us first consider the organs by which we are enabled to emit sounds. The air is received into the lungs through a tube called the trachea or windpipe: this is chiefly formed of cartilages nearly circular, united by an elastic membrane. The entrance from the mouth is singularly formed, so as to admit the passage of air

Job ix. 4, 9. Psal. lxxviii. 26. || Isa. xlv. 18.

+ Psal. Ixxiv. 15, 16, 17.
§ Psal. civ. 13, 14.

into and from the lungs; but as the smallest particle of food getting into the trachea would be productive of the worst consequences, a valve is placed over the mouth of the tube, which is shut whilst we eat or drink, and only opens to admit the passage of air*. The air being then expelled through this tube into the larynx with a certain degree of force, and thence into the mouth, occasions the voice, which is formed when the air is quickly expelled through the contracted glottis into the larynx, from which the sound arises. The particular formation, and the different degrees of contraction and motion of the larynx, glottis, &c. and the manner in which the air is expelled through their parts, principally conduce to occasion the great variety of sounds and difference of voice we meet with t.

Speech consists in the pronunciation of letters, which are of two kinds: those which are pronounced without the tongue moving against any part of the mouth are called vowels; those which require collision of the tongue with some other part of the

This valve is called the epiglottis, and the orifice over which it is placed the glottis; there are, besides, cartilages called thyroid, two arytenoid, and the crycoid, all together constituting the larynx, which is the part most essential to the voice.-E.

+ The author divides the trachea into twelve equal parts, which he says produce the twelve full tones that he asserts the human voice is possessed of; these he subdivides into one hundred more, and hence sets down that a man may produce 2400 different tones of voice, which may all be distinguished by the ear. To say nothing of the very little we yet know respecting the tones of the human voice; which, however, we have reason to believe, if accurately investigated, would be found to be very few, though susceptible of infinite variation; I have only to observe, that so far from the trachea producing these tones, it may be divided, or wounded, without the voice suffering, whilst the slightest injury done to the larynx will materially affect the voice.-E.

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