serene blue sky; and nature, revived by the sun's warm rays, appears in her resplendent robe rejoicing. During the fine days of summer, we were so accustomed to the presence of this brilliant orb that we were almost insensible to its benign effects; but now, that we see it less frequently, we duly appreciate them: and it is with this as with all other blessings-we must be deprived of them ere we sufficiently value them. Health, repose, friendship, an ample revenue, and a thousand other enjoyments are continually in our possession; yet are they but slightly valued, till the bed of sickness, the ingratitude of friends, poverty, and neglect bestow upon them their proper estimation.

When, at this season of the year, the sky, which had been long darkened by clouds, is brightened by the sun, the earth, though enlivened for a time, retains its lifeless appearance; the slanting rays are insufficient to restore all its beauty, or to remove the effects of the continual cold. Thus it is with the human understanding, which does not at all times warm the heart. Ye who are languishing in sorrow and sickness are sensible of this. In the winter of your days or in those of affliction, you see afar off joys and pleasures beyond your reach; yet the distant view of these pleasures is reviving, though it last but for a few moments. O my God! I earnestly ask but one favour: if it is thy Almighty will to cloud my latter days with afflictions, deign but to cheer my soul with a ray of thy consolation, and make me sensible of a happy eternity, and I will not murmur at my

transitory troubles. In the hours of adversity be thou present with me, and my fears and my troubles will cease.

How uncertain - how fluctuating is the appearance of the heavens during winter! and how little can we depend upon the presence of the sun! Now it shines with softened majesty; but another hour, and it may be enveloped in thick clouds and darkness. The beauty of the morning passeth away, and in midday the heavens are clothed with a gray and sober mantle: so uncertain is every thing here below. Virtue alone is immutable; she never changes; she alone is capable of enabling us to support the vicissitudes and misfortunes of life with patience and resignation; and finally will lead us to those regions of indescribable felicity, where God "shall wipe away all tears from our eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away."

FEBRUARY 9.

EARTHQUAKES.

IN treating of volcanoes the origin of earthquakes was also mentioned as forming almost a constituent part of these eruptions; but these earthquakes are local, and seldom take place, except previous to a volcanic explosion, or during the time of its action. But there is another kind of earthquake more extensive in its effects, and produced possibly by different causes. The

ravages of this tremendous effort of nature are terrible: they have been felt in England, France, and Germany at the same time. The shock extends longitudinally, and appears to embrace a certain width of the earth, affecting it more or less at different places. These shocks are always accompanied by a heavy rumbling noise, like that produced by thunder.

After all that has been said of the origin of earthquakes, nothing certain can be adduced upon the subject, since it is impossible to penetrate the internal recesses of the earth; and the most refined researches amount to little more than conjecture. Of their effects we have frequently had melancholy demonstration.

Earthquakes and volcanoes have generally been attributed to the action of nitrous and sulphureous vapours, enclosed in the heart of the earth: these are supposed to ferment, heat, inflame, and explode in volcanoes, accompanied by shocks and undulations of the earth. These phenomena (as we have already observed) may, however, arise from the expansive force of steam generated in the earth by means of currents of water coming in contact with subterraneous fires or large masses of metals, which are decomposed by a galvanic action, as exemplified in experiments where copper and zinc are used in voltaic batteries. As the metals are oxidised, immense volumes of hydrogen gas are set free; the violence of the action sets fire to the hydrogen, and the accumulated heat is so intense as to cause the fusion of every surrounding substance: hence the torrents of lava, and all the other con

comitants of volcanic eruptions and the phenomena of earthquakes.

The earthquake in Calabria, which took place. in 1755, was most fatal: forty thousand persons are said to have lost their lives from this calamity. At Castel Nuovo, the Princess Gerace and four thousand of her subjects were swallowed up. The town and its inhabitants disappeared so instantaneously that a man, who was standing upon a neighbouring height, feeling a slight trembling of the ground, raised his eyes suddenly to look around him, and perceived not the town before him, but a cloud of white dust; Castel Nuovo had sunk to rise no more.

Where can we find language to paint the horror of such a scene as this? Of all the catastrophes which afflict the earth there are none so formidable, so destructive; and which sets all human prevention and forethought so completely at defiance as earthquakes. In cases of flood the highest apartments of a house, the summits of mountains may secure an asylum from the waves; and, where the natural force of the waters and the lowness of the country threaten submersion, dykes may be opposed to its fury. But the earthquake leaves no hope. Every other danger appears to have its limits: the thunder does not consume whole provinces; the plague may nearly depopulate a city; but the phenomenon of which we treat engulphs towns and cities and provinces, with all their inhabitants.

Who can resist the power of the Almighty when he stretches forth his arm? Who can

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stand before him when he rises to judge the nations? The earth trembles before him, and is shaken to her foundations; the mountains fall before him when his anger is kindled. His indignation spreads like fire, and the firm rocks tremble like the shaking reed. Who is there that fears not the Lord? Who is there that does not acknowledge his sovereign power? Thy judgments are incomprehensible, O God! Thou art good and merciful in all thy judgments.

O my soul! be deeply penetrated by this divine sentiment, even when his wrath has gone forth, consuming whole countries in his displeasure. And dost thou imagine, O man! that it is for thy destruction that the Almighty sends forth these destructive calamities?—thou whom he could consume in the breath of his displeasure! And thinkest thou the Most High need employ the concussion of elements and the whole force of nature to reduce thee to powder!

thee, a worm! O! rather confess that these terrible catastrophes have more extensive ends to fulfill, all working to the general good, than to crush thee to atoms. What is the fate of whole provinces and cities, crushing beneath them some thousands of human beings, when compared to the existence of those innumerable creatures who fill the world?

O thou omnipotent and sublime Being! I will adore thy name, even when thou spreadest terror and destruction through the world. I will do more: I will trust in thy paternal cares with the most boundless confidence. When the world itself shall dissolve-when the mountains shall