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but all enemies under his feet. He must complete and fit together the glorious building, fixing each living stone in its appointed place, esteeming each precious as it has become a temple of the Holy Ghost; and with this glorious edifice, He is satisfied. M. G. L. D.

FOURTEENTH WEEK-MONDAY.

CONCLUSION.

HAVING, in unfolding the Sacred Philosophy of the Seasons, conducted the reader through the various departments of Nature, and directed his attention to the evidences which they every where display of the presence and operations of a Father-God, I feel unwilling to take my leave of him without a few parting words.

We have examined together a most wonderful and very peculiar system, in which there is a continual mingling, or alternation, of light and shade, of beauty and deformity, of good and evil, of pleasure and pain,——a system obviously inconsistent with the absolute perfection of the Eternal, except it be taken in connexion with the Gospel of Him who has brought life and immortality to light. Were it not for a display of the Divine character, and a declaration of the Divine will, so explicit and satisfactory, yet so amazing to the intellect, and so humbling to the pride of man, I know not that the studies in which we have been mutually engaged would be either agreeable or profitable. There would have been much, indeed, to astonish and to interest; but still more to perplex, confound, and baffle the human mind. Philosophers, by the mere light of their science, have in vain attempted to reconcile the appearances of Nature with the existence and moral government of an infinite Creator. They have been able neither to explain the existence of evil; nor yet to agree among themselves as to the foundation of morals; nor to throw any clear and convincing light on the future destiny of the human race.

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We have had many ingenious palliations of evil, and beautiful theories of morals, and sublime speculations on the immortality of the soul; but, when the mere Natural Philosopher looks abroad on the face of Creation, and endeavors to verify these views by induction from the appearances around him, he utterly fails. After every concession, and notwithstanding every hypothesis, the naked facts remain incontrovertibly the same. Physical evil, moral evil, universal change, universal decay, universal death, these are the appalling laws of Nature. Do they indicate the character of Nature's God? Philosopher of Nature has no satisfactory reply. may abstract himself from the world of sense, and wrap himself up in the sublime reveries of Plato, or he may seek for the supreme good in the indulgences of Epicurus, but he will find himself, in either case, warring against Nature, and substituting imagination for reality. If he become a disciple of the more rational Bacon, and yet, unlike him, reject revealed truth, he will discover in the Inductive Philosophy only a confirmation of all that is mysterious, inexplicable, and awful in his anticipations. The more minutely and assiduously he questions Nature, the more deeply he will find himself bewildered in an inextricable maze of darkness and of doubt.

But ask the Christian philosopher, Do the appearances of Nature indicate the character of Nature's God?" Yes!" he replies, "but not without the aid of another and clearer index of the Divine Mind, derived from the express declarations of revealed truth." Here is light directly from heaven; which, mingling with the light reflected from the works of creation and providence, displays the character of the Eternal, in all its majesty and beauty. Whatever the Supreme Self-existence may be to other worlds, in the globe which we inhabit He is Governor of fallen and guilty creatures, whom, by the discipline of his Providence, He is training for immortality in a vale of tears, amidst vicissitude, decay, and sorrow. His unseen hand is guiding his wayward offspring through the wilderness. He directs them by his Revealed Word, as He formerly directed his chosen people by a pillar of fire and of cloud.

They must follow at their peril. They may, indeed, turn aside and be lost; but all means, consistent with the liberty of rational beings, are employed to lead them to a land of peace and of happiness. He has sent his own Son to be the Captain of their salvation. He is always ready to shed on their hearts the comforting and sanctifying, the enlightening and exalting influences of his Holy Spirit. If they accept these Divine aids, their affections are raised above the world, while they mingle with its affairs. Their treasure is in heaven, and their hearts are there also. They are not, indeed, exempted from the common lot of humanity; but "all things work together for their good." Disappointment, grief, bereavement, death itself, are but instruments in the hands of a Divine Father, by which the child of Adam is moulded into a child of God; while the enjoyments of life, varied, deep, and intense, are but faint anticipations of a joy which shall never end.

Such is the sublime and unspeakably interesting conclusion, to which all my labors have tended in the work now brought to a termination. To myself the employment has afforded many happy, and, I trust, not unprofitable hours, in the contemplation of the combined wonders of Nature and of grace. To expatiate on the perfections of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is indeed the most animating, the most edifying, the most ennobling of all employments; whether we see his hand engaged in carrying on the great scheme of his Providence on earth, or in crowning the whole by the glories of heaven. Reader! may your eyes be opened to trace that hand! may your heart be enlarged and delighted in the contemplation of these perfections ! may your soul, purified by Divine love, be prepared for the enjoyment of these glories! And may the writer, directed by the same hand, prepared by the same influences, and washed in the same blood, meet you in heaven!

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A GLOSSARY

OF THE LATIN, FRENCH, AND OTHER NOT-EASILY-UNDERSTOOD WORDS AND PHRASES.

Acme, the height, or extreme point.

Actinia, the scientific name for the various species of sea-flowers. Aerated, mixed with air.

Alluvial, relating to alluvium.

Alluvium, earth deposited by recent overflows of water. Diluvium, earth deposited by ancient overflows of water.

Alpine, mountainous; a term derived from the mountains called the Alps, and often applied to other elevated regions.

Annelida, a class of worms.

A priori, in the first instance.

Aorta, the main artery of the body, leading from the heart.

Articulata, the class of articulated or jointed animals.

Arum, a class of plants having dart-shaped leaves, (the name in Hebrew signifying dart,) as the wild turnip.

Asterias, the scientific name of the various species of star-fish.

Axil, or axilla, (pl. axils or axilla,) the angle between a leaf and the stem, on the upper side.

Blanche, to make white.

Bonspeil, good sport.

Breadwinner, applied, in Scotland, to the head of a family, or the one who provides food for them.

Cambium, a mucilaginous fluid formed from the proper juices of plants, (these being themselves formed from the sap,) and employed directly in vegetable nutrition and growth. It may be considered as analogous to the chyle in animals. Camera Obscura, literally, a darkened chamber; the name of an optical instrument, by which the images of external objects, received through a double convex glass, are shown distinctly, and in their proper colors, on the wall of, or on a table in, a darkened room. Capsule, that kind of hollow seed-vessel, which becomes dry and opens when ripe.

Caribou, an animal of the deer kind.

Carnivora, flesh-eaters.

Caseous, curd-like, cheese-like, having the qualities of cheese.

Caste, (pl. castes,) a division made in Hindostan, and other parts of India, between different tribes. No Hindoo will intermarry or eat with any person not of his own caste.

Castor and Pollux, twin brothers, who were companions of Jason, in the Argonautic expedition in search of the Golden Fleece. In this

IV.

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