Creator, is shown not only in the greater and more important events, but in every circumstance by which our lot is varied, however minute, or however trivial ;—in the casual meeting of a friend, which seems to lead to nothing, as well as in the circumstances immediately connected with our birth, our conversion, our marriage, or our death. This will be the more readily granted, when it is perceived, that the distinction between trifling and important events cannot be accurately made by us, and that those which would generally be classed among the former, are very frequently the fruitful parents of the most momentous occurrences.

We need not go far for an illustration of this subject. It is a point, for example, in undisputed history, that Mohammed, when pursued by his enemies, ere his religion had gained a footing in the world, took refuge in a certain cave. To the mouth of this retreat, his pursuers traced him; but, when they were on the very point of entering, their attention was arrested by a little bird, starting from an adjoining thicket. Had it not been for this circumstance, the most trivial that can well be conceived, which convinced them that there the fugitive could not be concealed, Mohammed would have been discovered, and he and his imposture must have perished together. As it was, he effected his escape, gained the protection of his friends, and, by the most artful course of conduct, succeeded in laying the foundation of a religion, which now prevails over a large portion of the world, and numbers among its votaries the inhabitants of lands, neither insignificant in the map of the world, nor unimportant in their political relations. Thus, to the flight of a sparrow, may be traced the establishment of a delusion, whose moral influence has been deeply felt in the world, for more that one millennium already, and which will probably continue to exert a baneful effect on the character of many a people, till the very eve of that blessed period, when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of the Lord, and of his Christ.

If an occurrence such as this has been so fruitful of events, to what circumstance shall we venture to give the name of trifling? Does not the history of every one of us testify to the influence of the very smallest and most unheeded of the occurrences by which it has been marked? Has not the falling of a leaf, or the waving of a branch moved by the gentle breath of heaven, suggested a thought, or led to a resolution fraught with important consequences to our future lives? And who can tell the thousand-thousand links, minute and unremembered, that have every one been necessary, in its own place, to bring about the end which has at length occurred,—the strange coincidences, the apparently accidental events, the meetings, the surprises, the conversations, the reflections, the very moods of mind which have entered into the composition of the final act, and which, had any one of them been different, even though that one had been the least noticed among the preparatory steps, must have led to a different result.

And, then, as to the importance of the chief events in the life of the humblest citizen, who can tell what an influence these may indirectly exercise over the happiness of his neighbourhood, or the fate of his country, or the destiny of the world? Had Hampden's spirit never been excited by the injustice of his rulers, who can tell what form of tyranny might now have been swaying the sceptre of our native land? and had Britain, at that era, slept on in her chains, instead of shaking off the yoke of her oppressors, who can say whether any nation in the world would at this moment have been free?

Thus constant, thus minute, is the providential care of God. As He is wise, let us look to Him for the ultimate adjustment of whatever appears to our short-sighted vision either distorted or unworthy of His character. As He is good, let us entertain the confidence, that they who serve Him in the gospel of His dear Son, shall be brought through all the vicissitudes of their earthly history, to the eternal mansions at last, and that, dark as the ex

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perience of his saints may be, He will cause all things to work together for their real good.

G. J. C. D.

ELEVENTH WEEK-MONDAY.

1. ON THE INHABITANTS OF THE POLAR REGIONS.

WE are naturally led, from the contemplation of man in winter, to view him placed, by the hand of Providence, amid the horrors of the Frozen Zone, where summer hardly ever penetrates, even in its least striking characteristics; where the solar heat is barely sufficient to dissolve, for a few months, the snow on the lower grounds, or the southern slopes, and to awaken the vegetable world to so languid a life, that even the hardier tribes of herbivorous animals find but a meagre subsistence. It would be difficult to conjecture any inducement which could have led originally to the voluntary occupation by man of so inhospitable and sterile an abode; and we are almost constrained to rest on the idea, that, in the accomplishment of the Divine intention of peopling the globe, the Supreme Governor has urged mankind, by some mysterious impulse, independent of his natural inclinations. Furnished with a power of accommodation to all climates, and aided and prompted, no doubt, by circumstances, man has often unconsciously fulfilled the first command of his Creator, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." Issuing from the Plain of Shinar, to every point of the compass, the human race, after filling up the fertile regions of the Asiatic continent, radiated thence towards all the quarters of the globe; till, after the lapse of ages, they brought the most inhospitable regions, and most distant islands, under their dominion. In this process of dispersion, even the wastes of Siberia, and the snowy deserts

of Boothia Felix, received a portion of the human family. God, by whom they were conducted, and who had implanted within them an indomitable perseverance, and an amazing versatility of mind, had also prepared for them, even there, the means of subsistence; and, though hardships were to be encountered, and difficulties to be overcome, of which the inhabitants of more favoured climes were ignorant, there was spread for them, in the various kingdoms of Nature, a provision ample enough to satisfy all their real wants.

In illustrating this subject, I shall turn my attention, exclusively, to the state and character of those nations who are known by the general name of Esquimaux, and who dwell in the most northerly regions hitherto explored, I mean the higher latitudes of the Continent of America. Consulting those enterprising adventurers who have, in later years, penetrated the frozen seas, or wintered among the snows and storms of this extreme portion of the world, we shall thus be brought to understand how ample are the resources of Providence, even in the very coldest portions of the world; and, much more, how rich must be the provision made by the Creator in countries where the frost is less intense, and the rigours of the climate less severe. We shall find that objects, which, in temperate latitudes like ours, are regarded as useless or troublesome, are there capable of being turned to the most valuable account; that the snow, for example, which, to the delicate foot of the luxurious European, is cold, and damp, and disagreeable, grows in importance as we travel towards this ultimate corner of the earth. In the back woods of Canada, during the grim reign of winter, it affords the only means of transporting the produce of the land; and, what is very remarkable, forms a hard and easy path, for this purpose, at the very season when the convenience of the agriculturist demands it. But, in the native country of the Esquimaux, we shall find its value greatly enhanced, affording shelter and warmth, as well as facilities of easy transit. It

is true, we shall not discover, in these wild and miserable districts, accommodations either so choice or so convenient as in temperate regions: Nor will our general argument thereby be weakened. God, who has arranged the various conditions of the different orders of His creatures, has kindly bestowed upon some, advantages which he has seen meet to withhold from others; and, while we perceive that this is but consistent with the general system of His Providence throughout our degenerate world, it is enough for us to know, that, even amid the blackness and horrors of an Arctic winter, we can find ample reason to adore that goodness, which, under circumstances apparently hopeless, has provided a sufficiency for the sustenance of a considerable portion of His rational creatures.

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The grand necessities of that remote people, then, may be considered under the several heads of Food, Clothing, Dwellings, Fire, and Light.

1. The daily food of the Esquimaux, as may well be supposed, is not directly derived from the soil. The land, perhaps in itself sterile, and at all events incapable, from the severity of the climate, of yielding a remunerating return for its cultivation, lies undisturbed by the hand of man, in all its original barrenness. Its spontaneous productions are few and of small value.

On the melting of the snow, the surface of the earth is found clothed with a stunted herbage, consisting chiefly of short coarse grass, affording a sufficient meal to the tribes of animals, which, during the winter months, had migrated to less sterile countries, but offering little to satisfy the cravings of the human appetite, and still less to provoke the indulgence of a luxurious taste. A few of the vegetable productions, indeed, are occasionally employed by the natives; but they are neither depended on as necessaries of life, nor cultivated for domestic purposes. Under these circumstances, the hardy natives are driven to the resources afforded by the animal productions with which, happily, their country abounds. Of