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 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 straw-built 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 migh1 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 our shores in autumn for the south, probably only occupy the regions left vacant by the transit of the summer visitants of those countries to still more southerly latitudes. Thus a constant interchange of the feathered tribes is kept up, to attract the curiosity, and gratify the love of variety implanted in the heart of man; while these interesting tenants of the air, doubtless, fulfil another benevolent intention of their Creator, by feeding on the insects which the warm climates so abundantly produce; thus providing against their increase to such undue extent as to destroy, or materially to injure, animals of a higher grade, and disturb the beautiful balance of Nature.

But, in regarding the provisions of the God of Nature for the welfare of the animated creation during this comparatively dismal season, and tracing the hand of a beneficent Parent in the tender care which He manifests for their subsistence and comfort, we can scarcely avoid extending our thoughts farther, and raising them higher. The beautiful language of our Saviour, which affords so just and so encouraging a view of the Universal Parent, naturally occurs, in such a review, to the pious mind :-' Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?' Better, assuredly, in our moral and intellectual powers, if only these be properly employed; and the sentiment points obviously to the higher destiny, to which, as immortal beings, we are called, by Him, who brought life and immortality to light.

The migration of birds to fairer climes, when the storms of winter gather, cannot, indeed, be said to furnish any analogy, on which we can build a solid argument for the exist ence of a future state; but yet there is something in the paternal feeling which it indicates, that, at least, forcibly recals the promised blessing to the mind, and affords an agreeable illustration of the revealed truth.

We can fancy the bird, borne by a secret impulse from the coming gloom and sterility of its native haunts, winging its way over sea and land, looking down with indifference on the placid expanse of the ocean, or rising far above its stormy waves; gliding, without the desire of rest or food, over flowery plains and wide-spread wastes, forests, lakes, and mountains; fixing its eager eye on the distant horizon: still onward-onward keeping its steady course; and giving no rest to its buoyant wings, or at least none except what Nature loudly demands, till it reach the happy shore to which an unseen hand was guiding it, and a voice, unheard by the outward ear, was whispering all the while, 'Behold the place of your rest.' All this, which every recurring year realizes, we can paint to ourselves, and we can see, in that wonderful flight, an emblem of the race of the pious Christian, who seeks his rest in heaven. The same unseen hand is guiding him from the storms of earth; the same unheard voice communicates inwardly with his conscious soul; with a similar desire he burns; with a corresponding eagerness he pants; --but his view is not bounded by a horizon of earth; his hopes are far, far beyond the regions of the sun to the distant heavens he directs his anxious gaze; before him still he sees a bloody track, and knows the footmarks of his crucified Redeemer; dim in the distant sky, a shining spot appears; on that spot his anxious eye is fixed; it brightens and enlarges as he advances; one struggle more;--the ties which bound him to the world are broken;-earth disappears ;-he enters the portals of heaven ;--he is in the arms of his Sa viour-he is singing hosannahs with angels and blessed spirits before the throne of God!

NINTH WEEK-MONDAY.

MIGRATION OF FISHES.

THERE is yet another class of migratory creatures which we take notice of here, although their annual journeys are not so immediately connected with temperature, and the means of subsistence, as those we have already mentioned, and although these journeys do not properly belong to this season of the year;-I allude to the inhabitants of the seas. There is indeed one analogy by which these numerous classes are connected, in their change of place, with the migratory animals of the land-that of the instinct by which they seek for a fit place for the reproduction of the species. That this is at least one of the laws which regulate the removals of birds and beasts, Dr. Jenner has very distinctly and ingeniously proved," showing that, when the stimulus connected with ⚫ propagation is felt, they commonly seek their summer quarters, and, when it ceases, retire to their winter haunts. To whatever extent this may be the case with land animals, there can be no doubt, that such a law has a most powerful effect on those which glide through the waters of the great deep.

Of migratory fishes, the sturgeon, and its gigantic congener the huso, are well known. This latter species is only to be found in the Caspian and Black Seas, and the rivers which flow into them. It enters the Don and Volga, in vast shoals, about the middle of winter, where it spawns, and then returns to its usual places of summer resort. The prodigious fertility of this fish may be judged of by the circumstance, that its eggs equal nearly a third of its whole weight; and Pallas, who gives an interesting account of the mode of fishing the huso, mentions one which weighed no less than 2800 lbs. Of these eggs the caviare is made, which is in great demand as an article of food among the Russians and

* In a paper, published after his death, in the Philosophical Transactions for 1824.

"Turks, and on which the Greeks are said almost entirely to subsist during their long fasts.

The cod-fish, the haddock, and the mackerel, are also dif ferent species of migratory fishes. The former of these frequent shallows and sand-banks, between the 40° and 68° of north latitude, both in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and is taken in immense numbers, especially on the banks of Newfoundland. This fish makes for the coast at spawning time, which takes place about the end of winter. It is said by Leuwenhoek, that there are more than nine millions of eggs in a cod-fish of the middle size. What a bountiful provision for the numerous tribes of the broad ocean, which exist by `devouring the fry, &c., as they rise to maturity!

But, of all the inhabitants of the ocean, the herring is the most valuable, as affording the greatest quantity both of profitable employment and of food to man. Three thousand decked vessels, of different sizes, besides smaller boats, are stated to be employed in the herring fishery, with a propor tionable number of seamen, besides many thousands of hands who are at certain seasons employed in curing them. Of this fish, Kirby gives the following interesting account.

'The herring belongs to the tribe called abdominal fishes, or those whose ventral fins are behind the pectoral, and may be said to inhabit the Arctic Seas of Europe, Asia, and America, from whence they annually migrate, at different times, in search of food, and to deposit their spawn. Their shoals consist of millions of myriads, and are many leagues in width, many fathoms in thickness, and so dense that the fishes touch each other; they are preceded, at the interval of some days, by insulated males. The largest and strongest are said to lead the shoals, which seem to move in a certain order, and to divide into bands as they proceed, visiting the shores of various islands and countries, and enriching their inhabitants. Their presence and progress are usually indicated by various sea birds, sharks, and other enemies. One of the cartilaginous fishes, the sea ape,* is said to accompany them constant

* Chimaera monstrosa.