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MARCH XVII.

THE IMPERFECT KNOWLEDGE WE HAVE OF

NATURE.

WHY has not the Creator given us faculties for a more profound knowledge of the corporeal world? The limits of our understanding, in this respect, seem to be directly contrary to the end that he has proposed. He requires that we should know his perfections and magnify his name.But the true means of being better acquainted with his glorious attributes, and to magnify them more worthily, would it not be by giving us a more perfect knowledge of the works of the creation? It appears to me, as if I could so much the better adinire the greatness of the supreme Being, and contribute so much the more effectually to the glorification of his holy name, if I were able to take in the whole, to know the perfection of each part, to discover all the laws and springs of nature. If I at present admire the infinite greatness of God, while I only know a part of his works, what would my sentiments be, how should I be absorbed, in the meditation of his glorious attributes! With what profound veneration should I not adore him, if I could penetrate farther into the knowledge of nature, and could better explain all its springs! But, perhaps, I am mistaken in this opinion; at least, it is certain, that, since God has not thought proper to give me a deeper knowledge of nature, I must glorify him, in proportion to my powers, more than I should have done in the other case. Ought I to be surprised, that, in my present state, I cannot discover the first principles of nature. The

. The organs of my senses are too weak to penetrate into the source of things, and I cannot form to myself a corporeal idea of objects which my senses are not able to discern. Now, there are an infinite number of things in the world, which my senses cannot distinguish. When I try to represent to myself the infinitely great, and the infinitely small in nature, my imagination is lost. When I reflect on the swiftness of light, my senses are not able to follow such velocity. And when I try to form to myself an idea of the veins, and circulation of blood, in those animals whose bodies are said to be a million of times smaller than a grain of sand, I feel, most sensibly, the weakness of the faculties of my soul. Now, as nature rises from the infinitely small to the infinitely great, is it wonderful that I cannot discover the true principles of it? But, suppose God had given us knowledge and sagacity enough to take in the whole chain of the universe, so that we might penetrate the inward recesses of nature, and distinctly discover all its laws, what would be the consequence? It is true, we should have an opportunity of admiring, in its full extent, the wisdom of God in his plan of the world; but this admiration would not last long. Most men, from their inconstancy, admire things no longer than while they appear above their conception. If we had a clear distinct idea of the whole system of the creation, perhaps we should think ourselves capable of forming a plan like it. In a word, perhaps we should not be sensible of the infinite distance between the Creator and us, and, consequently, not give him the glory due unto him. We have, therefore, no reason to complain of our imperfect knowledge of nature. We ought rather to bless God for it. If the nature of things was

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more known to us, perhaps we should not be so touched with gratitude towards God as we are at Ì present; perhaps we should not have so much pleasure in the contemplation of his works. But, at present, that we have only learned the first rudiments of the book of nature, we feel, not only the greatness of our Creator, but our own insignificance. Each observation, each discovery we make, fills us with new admiration of the power and wisdom of God. We more and more wish to reach those blessed regions, where we shall have a more perfect knowledge of his works.

MARCH XVIII.

USE OF VEGETABLES.

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WHEN I consider the great number and variety of vegetables, I discover in this circumstance, as in every thing else, the beneficent views of Creator. What, indeed, could he propose by covering the earth with so many different herbs, plants, and fruits, but the advantage and happiness of his creatures? There are so great a number, and such variety of plants, that they already reckon above thirty thousand species of them, and every day there are new species and new classes found. Their increase is infinite. For example, who would not be astonished, that a single grain of wheat should produce two thousand others, and that a single seed of poppy should multiply to such a degree, that, in two or three years, a whole field might be sowed with it. Can we suppose, that God had not the advantage of his creatures in view when he ordained this prodigious increase of plants. There

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can remain no doubt of the Creator's intention, if we consider the use made of vegetables from the remotest times. Do not plants and fruit furnish us every day with the most wholesome nourishing food? Do we not mostly owe our clothes, houses, and furniture, to the vegetable world? There is no part of plants that has not its use. The roots furnish medicaments; they serve for food and fuel, to make pitch, dyes, and all sorts of utensils. Of wood, they make charcoal, buildings, fires, medicines, paper, dyes, and a vast number of instruments. The bark even has its utility in medicine, in tanning, &c. The ashes serve to manure and improve the ground, to bleach cloth, to make saltpetre, and they make use of potashes in dyeing. Rosin is useful to painters: Pitch and tar are made of it. They make use of turpentine in medicine; hard rosin to varnish, to solder, to rub the bow-strings of musical instruments, in order to make them more sonorous; and they use mastic in perfumes. Flowers please and delight, both by their colour and smell. They serve as medicine, and are particularly useful in furnishing bees with wax and honey. The fruits, which ripen by degrees, serve for our food, and are eaten either raw, baked, dried, or preserved. But vegetables are not for the use of man alone. They are of still greater use to animals, most of which have no other food. The reason there are so many fields, and so great variety of herbs and plants, is, that all the different animals may find their proper food.

Where, O Heavenly Father! can expressions be found to celebrate thy goodness? Who can reckon all the blessings the vegetable world affords us? It is at least manifest, that all the arrangements, thou hast made, in this respect, tend to

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the use of all thy creatures. Thou hast provided for the wants of every individual. Thou hast assigned to each the plant most proper for its food and preservation. There is not a plant upon earth that has not its purpose and use. What sentiments, therefore, of gratitude and veneration, ought we not to feel, at the sight of a country, a meadow, a field? Here thy beneficent cares have united all that is necessary for the support and enjoyment of the inhabitants of the earth. Here, O God! thou openest thy hands, and satisfiest the desire of every living creature. Here every herb and flower, each tree that grows, teaches us thy mercy. I will neither be deaf nor insensible to this persuasive voice; I will relish, I will enjoy thy goodness. I will, more and more, place my whole trust in thee.

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MARCH XIX.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE HUMAN

HEART.

WITH what wonderful and inimitable art is that musculous body constructed, which is situated in the cavity of the breast, and is called the heart? Its form is something like an obtuse pyramid, and it is so placed, that the point inclines a little to the left side. Its substance appears to be a series of fleshy fibres, interwoven with infinite art, in such a manner, that the external fibres extend from the left side of the heart towards the right, and the internal fibres from the right side towards the left. This intestine has within it two cavities, called ventricles, separated from one another by a fleshy partition. In that

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