REFLECTIONS

ON THE

WORKS OF GOD,

&c. &c.

JULY.

HYMN OF PRAISE TO THE AUTHOR OF NATURE.

How great art thou, O Eternal! O my God! This terrestrial globe announceth thy majesty; the heavens are the throne of thy glory. Thou saidst : Let them be--and at thy word they were spread forth in boundless space.

The thunder proclaimeth thy praises; and, clad in formidable majesty, thou ridest upon the swiftwinged lightning. In the splendor of the sun I perceive thy glory, and in the flowers which adorn our fields I discover the traces of thy hand.

Is there a God like unto our God? Who walketh upon the winds; who launcheth the thunder, and commandeth the lightning to illumine the recesses of the forest?

It is thou, and thou alone, O Lord! Thousands of worlds glorify thee; it is thou who hast given them existence; but at thy nod they disappear, are annihilated, or clothed with a new form.

All creation is a temple reared to thy glory, whence incessant praise ascends to thee; where VOL. III.NO. 14.

R

Migratory plants and vegetables.

millions of celestial spirits, with profound admiration, attune to thee their immortal anthems.

From the seraph who beholds thy face, to the worm that creepeth upon the earth, every thing celebrates thy glory. The creatures, which now exist, and those which have not yet received existence, are alike within the limits of thy dominion, are alike subjects of thy empire.

What is man, the offspring of the dust, that thou shouldst think of him with such loving-kindness? O God, in whom I have put all my trust, I adore and bless thee for the mercies thou hast bestowed upon me.

Thou hast placed me in a highly exalted rank. The inhabitants of the sea and of the air, of the forests and of the fields are subject to me; all the creatures of this terrestrial globe acknowledge me their sovereign..

How magnificent is thy name, O Most High! Thy praise resounds to the limits of the universe; thy works shall proclaim thy glory from eternity to eternity!

JULY 1.

MIGRATORY PLANTS AND VEGETABLES.

ALL the different species of grain, and a great number of our vegetables were originally brought from foreign countries, and, in general, from hotter climates than our own. Most of them came from Italy; Italy received them from the Greeks, and the Greeks had them from the East. When America was discovered, a multitude of plants and Howers, till then unknown, were found in that con

Migratory plants and vegetables.

tinent; they were transplanted to Europe, where they now thrive perfectly well: and the English still take great pains to cultivate in their country various species of plants from North America.

Most of the different kinds of corn, which form the best nutriment for men and animals, are gramineous plants; but, though they now cover our fields, they are nevertheless of foreign extraction. Rye and wheat are indigenous in Little Tartary and Siberia, where they still grow spontaneously. As to barley and oats, we know not from what country they originally came; but so much is certain, that they are not natives of this climate, otherwise we should have no occasion to cultivate them. Rice is a production of Ethiopia, whence it was carried into the East, and from the East into Italy. Since the commencement of the last century it has been cultivated in America, and whole shiploads are now imported from that country into Europe. Buck-wheat is an Asiatic 'production, which was introduced at the time of the Crusades into Italy, and thence spread over the rest of Europe.

Most of our culinary vegetables have a similar origin. Borage is a native of Syria, the cress of Crete, the cauliflower of Cyprus, and asparagus of Asia. We are indebted to Italy for the chervil; to Spain and Portugal for the dill; to the Canary Islands for fennel; and to Egypt for anniseed and parsley. Garlic is a production of the East; the shallot comes from Siberia; and horse-radish from China. Kidney-beans were brought from the East" Indies; the gourd from Astracan; the lentil from France; and the potatoe from Brasil. The tobacco

Metamorphosis of caterpillars.

plant was found by the Spaniards in the province of Tabaco, in the American kingdom of Jucatan.

The most beautiful flowers that embellish our gardens are also natives of foreign climes. The jessamine comes from the East Indies; the tulip from Cappadocia; the narcissus from Italy; the lily from Syria; the tube-rose from Java and Ceylon; the carnation from Italy; and the aster from China.

Let us then contemplate these gifts of our celes tial benefactor with gratitude and joy. How boun. tifully hath God provided for our happiness and pleasure, in thus making the remotest regions of the earth tributary to our comfort and support. Hence, also, let us learn the nature of the earth we inhabit. A universal migration obtains over the whole surface of the globe. Men, animals, and plants remove from one country to another; and as long as the earth subsists these migrations shall continue.

O my God, wherever thou mayst think fit to place me, I will endeavor to fulfil the duties of my station. I will labor for the advantage, not only of my contemporaries, but even of posterity, till I shall be transplanted to those regions of perfection and bliss, which shall never know vicissitude nor change.

JULY 2.

METAMORPHOSIS OF CATERPILLARS.

THE transformation of caterpillars into butterflies is certainly one of the most wonderful phenomena