AUTHOR'S ADVERTISEMENT. THIS last Volume of the Series will be found, in some respects, to differ in its character from the preceding volumes, and to bear, in a large portion of its contents, a less direct reference to the season of the year. It seemed right that the concluding volume, besides containing various details of autumnal appearances, produce, &c., and of the diversified labors of harvest, should be mainly occupied with the general results of that remarkable system which pervades animated nature, and of which the phenomena of the revolving year constitute one of the most prominent features. The wisdom and goodness of this system consist, not in its independent perfection, but in its admirable adaptation to the circumstances and condition of man. The problem has been said to be, “matter being given, to construct a world ;" but more truly the problem was, human nature being given, to construct a system, by which the bodily and mental powers should be developed and carried forward towards perfection, and mind should meanwhile be exhibited in all its various phases. In the arrangements and operations of Providence, this problem has been solved. Man is subjected to wants in order to stimulate his dormant powers; and while Nature, yielding to his judicious labors, is made to supply these wants, new wants are created, and the stimulus to con tinued exertion is increased. Again Nature is propitious, and again new wants arise; and thus man is urged forward, from improvement to improvement, in an increasing ratio, and an interminable series. The chief wants of man, which Providence has employed as agents in this very peculiar system, are those of food, clothing, and shelter; giving rise, in the progress of society, to the corresponding arts of agriculture, manufactures, and architecture, with the concomitant of commercial intercourse; and these, so far as they spring, either directly or indirectly, out of the differences of seasons or of climate, form legitimate materials for the concluding volume of the 'SACRED PHILOSOPHY OF THE SEASONS.' It will not be thought improper, however, that such interesting subjects should be pursued somewhat further, than a strict adherence to the leading object of the work might seem to require. There is something exceedingly interesting in the details of that progress, by which society has arrived at its present state of improvement in the arts, and to the continuance of which there is no assignable limit. In prosecuting this inquiry, the Author has felt it to be his duty, as well as his delight, to keep always in view the overruling hand of an unseen but ever-operating Intelligence; and, in marking the extent of human attainments, he has never ceased to direct the mind to the Great First Cause, and thence to the means of our redemption, and the future destiny of our race. CONTENTS. Page The Moral Operation of the Principle, III. SUNDAY.-Christians "Members one of another,” Provision for the Future.-Soil still uncultivated, Agriculture of the Greeks.-Their Harvest, Agriculture of the Romans.-Their Harvest, HUMAN CLOTHING. VI. SUNDAY.-The Emptiness of Human Attainments, Clothing. Its Ancient History, The Silk Manufacture.-Rearing of the Cocoons, &c., 203 The Cotton Manufacture.-Its Foreign History, 207 VII. SUNDAY.-The Intellectual and Moral Enjoyments The Cotton Manufacture. Its British History, Prospective Improvement of Locomotive Power.- Rotary Steam-Engine-Electro-Magnetic Engine, 338 Lighthouses.-The Eddystone Lighthouse, |