whom we receive our daily Bread. How glaring foever the extraordinary Works of God's Providence appear, yet the ordinary Difpenfations of it are still more wonderful both in Usefulness and Variety. Do we admire the Greatnefs of that Power, whereby above five thousand were fed by a few Barley-Loaves and fmall Fishes; and fhall we not much rather with thankful Hearts and Mouths look up to and adore the Almighty Goodness of the fame Eternal Being, who feeds Millions of Millions with the daily Overflowings of Riches and Plenteousness? But in order to confider the wonderful Power and Kindness of that God, who crowneth the Year with his Goodness, and whofe Paths, or, as the Old Tranflation renders it, whofe Clouds drop Fatness; I shall in the following Discourse take oc- · cafion to confider,

I. THE Words themselves, as referring
to God the Encrease of the Fruits
of the Earth. And,

II. THE Tempers of Mind which those
Reflections ought naturally to raise

in us.

I. THEN,

And

1. THEN, I am to confider the Words themselves, as referring to God the Encrease of the Fruits of the Earth. here I fhall 1ft endeavour to lay before you the Means whereby God renders the Earth so abundant in Plenty; and 2dly, shall confider the large and glorious Effects of thofe Means.

1. THEN as to the Means, whereby the Almighty renders the Earth so abundant in Plenty. The natural Knowledge of former Ages amounted to no more than the bare and immediate referring to Almighty God all the Appearances of Nature; Philofophy in its more improved State finally indeed refers all to God, but by the Mediation of fecond Causes; fo that they could only view the Glory of God in the Effects of his Power and the Goodness of his Providence, but we can praise and adore him likewise in contemplating the Means whereby those glorious Effects are produced. And here, whether we confider the wonderful Inftruments, whereby the Work of Vegetation 'is wrought, or the Simplicity, whereby those Inftruments operate, great certain¬

ly

ly will his Power, and infinite will his Wisdom appear. The Means of Vegetation are the four great Elements of Nature. The Heat of the Sun draws up into tender Plants thofe prolific Juices. which the Rain fo largely fupplies, those Juices are proper Conveyances of the Particles of Earth, which feed and nourish the Plants themfelves; and the Air is continually fanning and refreshing, ftrengthening and expanding the Parts of them.

THESE Appearances are principally caused by those Motions whereby the Heavenly Bodies particularly feem to move in their daily and yearly Courses.

THE firft of thefe Motions causes the grateful and neceffary Viciffitude of Day and Night, the latter that of the Seasons ; thefe Motions are fo regular, fo fimple, fo harmonious in themselves, as plainly shews they are the Work of that God who is the God of Order and Wisdom. The continual Changes, which are made in the Pofition of the different Parts of the Earth with refpect to the Sun, occafion the Variety of Seafons; Spring, Summer,

To this

Summer, and Autumn to bring forth, ripen and yield up the Fruits of the Ground, and Winter to prepare the Soiland the Grain fown in it for fresh Productions. The Sun again occafions the Exhalation of the Vapours and fuperfluous Moisture of the Earth, which, when form'd into Clouds, defcend in grateful and enlivening Showers, in large Drops both of the former and latter Rain, which water and refresh the Ground. general Theory I would fubjoin one Circumftance: It has been calculated what Disadvantages would accrue to the Earth, if the Course wherein this annual Motion is performed, was either directly from Weft to East, or from North to South, and the Refult has been found in both Cafes very great; but the Disadvantages in the latter Cafe are three times greater than those in the former. The wife Providence therefore of the Almighty, who fettles all things according to Weight, and has made that annual Orbit ftand obliquely to both thofe Directions, and has adjusted the Degrees of its Obliquity in Proportions agreeable to this Computa

tion, by making it three times more inclin'd to the eastern and western, than it is to the northern and fouthern Direction. Moreover, the conftant and quick Succeffion of Night and Day are of wonderful Relief to the Plants and Fruits of the Earth; as after the Business and Fatigue of the Day, our Bodies call for the Repose of the Night, to recruit our wafted Spirits in quiet Reft and Sleep, fo are the cooling and refreshing Dews of the Night not lefs neceffary to the purely vegetative Part of the World after the Heat of the Day and the warmer Influences of that glorious Fountain of Vegetation. Thus fimple is the Almighty in his Operations; and nothing fure can fo greatly recommend the Works of Nature as their Simplicity. The Thoughts and Works of Man in the moft common and trivial Affairs, are full of Confufion and Perplexity. The Almighty and All-wife One in the most extraordinary and momentous Concerns difplays himself in the most plain and simple Methods of Operation. This certainly is the Power of Omnipotence, the Confummation of Wif

dom