It has been said, that the bee extracts honey, and the spider poison, from the same flower; but, perhaps, with greater truth may this be figuratively affirmed of men of different dispositions, for, whatever be the condition of the fretful or the self-indulgent, the cheerful man finds the prevailing feeling of his mind reflected back upon him, as it were, from all the varied phenomena of the seasons. He looks at Nature through a me dium that has to him all the effects of fabled enchantment. As the eye of the painter or the poet is quick to discern, in every landscape, the subtle elements of his creative art, so does he, by a seeming intuition,-by an almost unconscious alchymy of the mind,—select from the concomitants of every passing season all that is fitted to compensate his incidental privations, and to inspire that tempered gladness which it is his object to attain. The winds of winter may blow coldly over the ravaged earth, and bewail the departed glories of the year; the mountains may be hid from his eye in thickest clouds; the fields and groves may be verdureless and dead; but these only enhance the endearments of his home, and heighten his gratitude for all the blessings congregated there. I have already dwelt on the peculiar delights of the domestic hearth at this season; and I need not here remark, that these can only be enjoyed in all their power, by the bosom in which contentment and tranquillity reign. The fine enjoyments of home shun the stormy breast, and take up their abode with him who is of a cheerful temper, and who finds, in "all seasons and their change," matter of gratitude and delight. Winter, "stern ruler of the inverted year," may ravage the loved scenery around his dwelling; but, within his own breast, and in his dear family circle, there reigns a summer of social and domestic joy. The glories of the calm autumnal day may have vanished; but the sublimer glories of the nocturnal heavens more frequently greet his enraptured sight, brightly beaming through the clear frosty air. In the deadness of Nature he sees her necessary repose before another spring; the rain, the frost, and the snow, are, in his regard, sent by the Almighty Father to fertilize the soil, and herald the bounty of another harvest. Thus it is beneficently ordained, that the happy and contented spirit should find, at all times, the means of enjoyment. The great Framer of the human mind has exquisitely adapted the external world to its various feelings and powers; and when these are in healthful action, Nature, in her wintry as well as her vernal aspects, is full of beauty and harmony. Though the flowery and the fruitful seasons of the year may be over and gone, and the blasts of winter howl among the desolate mountains, the past is without regret, the present full of enjoyment, and the future rich in hope. How should we then adore that Divine goodness, which has given us the power to enjoy the seasons as they pass in grand succession before us; and, even among the sternest scenes of winter, to behold in vision the luxuriant beauty of spring! J. D. 248 NINTH WEEK-SUNDAY. PROOFS OF DIVINE BENEVOLENCE IN THE WORKS OF CREATION. "CONTRIVANCE proves design," argues Dr Paley ;" and the prominent tendency of the contrivance indicates the disposition of the designer. The world abounds with contrivances; and all the contrivances we are acquainted with, are directed to beneficial purposes. Evil, no doubt, exists; but it is never, that we can perceive, the object of contrivance. Teeth are contrived to eat, not to ache; their aching now and then is incidental to the contrivance, perhaps inseparable from it; or even, if you will, let it be called a defect in the contrivance; but it is not the object of it. This is a distinction that well deserves being attended to. In describing implements of husbandry, you would hardly say of a sickle, that it is made to cut the reaper's fingers, though, from the construction of the instrument, and the manner of using it, this mischief often happens. But, if you had occasion to describe instruments of torture or execution, this, you would say, is to extend the sinews; this to dislocate the joints; this to break the bones; this to scorch the soles of the feet. Here pain and misery are the very objects of the contriNow, nothing of this sort is to be found in the works of nature. We never discover a train of contrivance to bring about an evil purpose. No anatomist ever discovered a system of organization calculated to produce pain and disease; or, in explaining the parts of the human body, ever said, this is to irritate; this to inflame; this duct is to convey the gravel to the kidneys; this gland to secrete the humour which forms the gout. If, by chance, he come at a part of which he knows not the use, the most he can say is, that it is useless. No one ever suspects that it is put there to incommode, to anuoy, or torment. Since, then, God hath called forth vance. his consummate wisdom to contrive and provide for our happiness; and the world appears to have been constituted with this design at first, so long as this constitution is upheld by Him, we must, in reason, suppose the same design to continue.”* This is a beautiful, and, in many respects, a just view of the constitution of nature, with reference to living beings; which, while it does not account for the origin of evil, nor vindicate its existence, yet undeniably proves benevolence in the great Creator. Had He been malevolent, we should certainly have met with malevolent contrivances; had He been indifferent to good and evil, we should not have so constantly found, in all the contrivances of nature, a regard to happiness. Still, it must never be forgotten, that the same Divine power, which called such a world as ours into existence, might have formed it free from both moral and natural evil; and this proves, beyond contradiction, that this wise and benevolent Being did not admit the presence of evil, without a wise and benevolent design, whatever that may be. Paley, in his eagerness to vindicate the Divine perfections, seems sometimes to lose sight of that important truth, and to argue as if evil were either an unavoidable incident of creation, or an effect of chance, both of which are obviously untenable positions; and, if such tendency can be discovered in the argument quoted above, I am not inclined to justify it. The fact that all the contrivances of Nature are benevolent, so far as they go, is all that I contend for. The existence of evil notwithstanding, is to be accounted for on another principle, the nature of which we can only understand, as I have already stated, by studying the book of Revelation. Referring to the subject we were considering during the last week, the migration of animals, there can be no doubt, that the Creator, if He had so willed, might have constituted their frames in such a manner as to render winter as profuse of blessings to them, in their native * Paley's Moral Philosophy, book ii. chap. 5. haunts, as summer, and thus have prevented the necessity of the long journeys which some of them are impelled to take; that is to say, instead of contrivances to avoid or mitigate evils, He could have removed the evils themselves altogether; and, in their place, have bestowed positive enjoyment. That He has not done so, is one of those striking peculiarities in the Divine administration of which we can find no adequate solution in natural appearances, and for explanation of which, we must refer to another source. This view has already been stated; but, as it meets us at every turn, and qualifies all our reasonings, it is necessary constantly to recur to it. Taking the constitution of Nature as we find it, we have abundant reason to perceive indications of goodness, as well as of wisdom, in the migratory propensities which the Creator has so wonderfully impressed on the winged creation, as well as in those contrivances by which the rigour of winter is softened to the various tribes who are not furnished with this resource. Besides the views of this subject already taken, there is another, which ought not to be omitted. There is a pleasure attached by the Author of our being to variety. I do not know whether or not this pleasure is felt by the inferior creation; but, assuredly, it is a constituent feature of the human mind. Now, observe one of the provisions made for the gratification of this source of enjoyment, in the changes effected by the migratory habits of birds. The very same swallows, which "twitter from the strawbuilt sheds" of Britain, during the summer months, delight the swarthy sons of Africa in winter, as they dart after their insect prey, along the plains of that distant continent. The same cuckoo, too, which stopped the little satchelled urchin, on his way from school, in this civilized land, that he might imitate the well-known lay, startles the ear of the young African savage, as he roams over his native wilds. The birds of Norway, Sweden, and Iceland, supply the blank made by the retiring of our summer residents; while those which leave |