make us more keenly disposed for the pleasures of the socia circle.'

There is truth in this view, as applicable to a rightly constituted mind; but, on the temper and feelings of the selfish and querulous, a very different effect is produced. A person of this disposition usually gives way to a feeling of bodily uneasiness, and is visibly disturbed by the coldness and fog of the atmosphere, and the unpleasant state of the ground. He exaggerates the peculiar inconveniences of the season, and invests the gloom of the long-continued storm with his own deeper gloominess. He dwells with a sort of satisfaction on every circumstance of annoyance, and rejects every ray of comfort; unlike the more grateful earth, that, in the midst of almost incessant darkness and storm, so soon as the sun scatters for an instant the thick clouds, is kindled into a smile, and seems to anticipate the coming gladness of spring. These are the symptoms of a mental disease not uncommon at this period, and in this portion of the globe.

Whatever be the cause of this disorder, it is undoubtedly heightened in its virulence by the high notions and exquisite feeling of comfort, consequent upon the progress of society amongst us, and the still ascending scale of our enjoyments. Our barbarian forefathers, even in the depth of winter, could repose their weary limbs upon a pillow of heath in the open air, gathering, like the oaks of their country, strength and hardihood from the storm. They seemed utterly insensible to the numberless small discomforts that their descendants make or find in the gloomy weather and bleak dominion of winter. They had neither the defences against the inclemency of the season, nor the resources of domestic recreation that we enjoy; and yet we are apt to murmur and complain, as if our circumstances and theirs were exactly reversed. We have secure and comfortable homes, conveniences in clothing and shelter of which they never dreamed, the sweets of refined society, the mental luxury of books, and numerous fascinating amusements, equally innocent and useful; and yet, notwithstanding these multiplied blessings, we can yield

to low impatience and despondency, if, haply, the wintry tempest, however magnificent and sublime in its appearance and effects, hinder our rural excursions, or transiently affect our frames with its moisture and its cold.

Into such ingratitude are we ever disposed to fall. Instead of cultivating cheerfulness at all times and in all seasons, we too frequently lapse into moroseness and melancholy. If, in place of allowing ourselves to be disturbed by any state of the weather or of the country around us, we kept steadily in view the various comforts and enjoyments within our reach at every period of the year, we should only be fulfilling an important duty; and we should also be on the surest way to attain that serenity of mind which is its own reward. That habit of cheerfulness would thus be formed, which constitutes no small portion of the philosophy of daily life; and cheerfulness, when once it becomes a habitual feeling, finds food and nourishment in all scenes and seasons. As the man who is keenly alive to the sublime and the beautiful in Nature frequently finds the cherished feelings of his soul ministered unto by objects that to other minds have in them nothing to attract or enliven, so the cheerful mind derives enjoyment from scenery the most unpromising, and perceives, even in the desolation of winter, a beauty and an expression of its

own.

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 medium 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 inci

dental 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 the mountains be hid from his year; may in eye 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.

The peculiar delights of the domestic hearth at this season have already been noticed; and I need scarcely 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 grati tude 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, their 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 beneficially 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 har mony. 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.

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 contrivance. Now, 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, eyer 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 annoy or torment. Since, then, God hath called forth 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 cer tainly 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, in spite of this, 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

* Paley's Moral Philosophy, book ii. chap. 5.