colour; and as nature does nothing in vain, the cir oumstance certainly ought not to be overlooked.. In this the wisdom and goodness of our Creator will appear by attending to the following considerations: Had the robe of nature assumed a more light or brilliant cast, and the generality of objects appeared of a white, yellow, orange, or red complexion, it would have been too much for the strength of our nerves, and instead of being refreshed and delighted, we would have been blinded and overpowered with the dazzling splendour.

Had she put on a more sombre aspect, and been clothed with a violet, purple, or blue mantle, the prospect must have been sad, dismal, and gloomy, and instead of imparting to the animal spirits the exhilarating draught to keep them in full play, would have suffered them to subside into dejection and despondency. To prevent these two extremes, nature is clothed with a verdant mantle, being that proper combination of light and shade, that neither dazzles nor darkens the prospect, which rather refreshes than fatigues the eye, strengthens and invigorates instead of weakening the powers of vision, and creates in the soul that increasing delight and lengthened rapture, which the poet had in view when he wrote the following lines :

"Gay green!

Thou smiling Nature's universal robe;

United light and shade! where the sight dwells
With growing streng h, and ever new delight!"

CHAP. IV.

VEGETABLES.

"Your contemplation further yet pursue;
The wondrous world of Vegetables view!
See varied Trees their various fruits produce,
Some for delightful taste, and some for use.
See Sprouting Plants enrich the plain and wood,
For physic some, and some design'd for food.
See Fragrant Flowers, with different colours dy'd,
On smiling meads unfold their gaudy pride!

FROM the verdant colour of creation the transition is natural to a consideration of the objects by which it is occasioned. These are the numerous vegetable tribes which cover and adorn the surface of our globe in all that variety of Trees, Shrubs, and Herbs which we behold.

Here Trees, like stately turrets, raise their lofty heads; there, the more pliant and humble thick set Shrubs unite their foliage; while the herbaceous tribe in mingled profusion cling more closely to the earth, and cover the fields with their verdure. Man cannot contemplate the vegetable creation without recalling the idea of beauty, sweetness, and a thousand charms that captivate the senses. The perfume of the rose, the brilliancy of the lily, the sweetness of the violet, and the stately magnificence of the forest, successively catch his attention and delight him.

The Structure of Vegetables,

In all their varied forms, is truly wonderful. How excellently adapted are the roots for taking hold of their parent earth, as well as for drawing nourishment for the support of the plant, and imbib. ing moisture from the neighbouring soil! How commodiously are the various tubes and fibres which compose the trunk or stalk arranged, for the motion of the sap upwards to all the extremities of the leaves and branches! How nicely are the eaves formed for the important services they are made to yield in the economy of vegetation! See how they serve to concoct and prepare the sap; how they prevent by their shade the moisture at the root from being too speedily evaporated; how they embrace and defend the flower in the bud, and carefully conceal the fruit before it arrives at maturity; and by catching the undulations of the gentle breeze, how they convey that motion to the trunk and branches, which (for ought we know,) may be as essentially necessary to the vegetable life as exercise is to animal health. What an excellent clothing does the bark afford, not only for protecting the stem and branches from external injury, but from the hurtful extremes of heat and cold? What evident marks of wisdom and design do the Flowers evince in their beautiful and delicate construction! how nicely are they formed for the protection and nourishment of the first and tender rudiments of the fruit! and when it has attained more firmness and solidity, how

readily do they relinquish their charge, and drop off in decay when no longer necessary! How wonderfully does the fruit, in some classes, envelope and protect the seed till it has arrived at maturity; and, lastly, what a passing strange piece of organized mechanism is the seed itself, and, being necessary for the reproduction of its species, what a remarkable provision is made for its preservation and succession! What but the wisdom of a Deity could have devised that those seeds which are most exposed to the ravages of the inhabitants of the forest, should not only be doubly, but some of them trebly enclosed! that those most in request as articles of food, should be so hardy and abundantly prolific; and that seeds in general, which are the sport of so many casualties, and exposed to injury from such a variety of accidents, are possessed of a principle of lasting vitality, which makes it indeed no easy matter to deprive them of their fructifying power. Plants are also multiplied and propagated by a variety of ways, which strengthen the provision for their succession.

Nor is the finger of Providence less visible in the means of diffusing or spreading abroad vegetables, than in the provision made for keeping up their succession. The earth may be said to be full of the goodness of the Lord; but how comes it to pass, that in parts untrod by man, and on the tops of ruinous buildings, so many varied specimens of the vegetable creation are to be found? Is it not from the manner in which Nature's great husbandman

D

scatters his seeds about?

While the seeds of some

plants are made sufficiently heavy to fall down and take up their abode nigh the place of their nativity; and others, after having been swallowed by quadru peds, are deposited in the neighbouring soil; some are carried by the fowls of the air to places more remote, or, being furnished with a soft plumage, are borne on the winds of heaven to the situations allotted for them. To prevent some from pitching too near, they are wrapt up in elastic cases, which bursting when fully ripe, the prisoners fly abroad in all directions: to prevent others from straying too far, they are furnished with a kind of grappling hooks that arrest them in their flight, and attach them to the spot most congenial to their growth.

In the construction of plants we observe a consi- . derable difference in the consistence of the three classes. Compared with the shrubby race, how hard, firm, and tenacious is the trunk of the majestic Oak; and, compared with the herbaceous tribe, how woody, tough, and elastic is the hawthorn twig; but for this, how could the mighty monarch of the wood have been able to withstand the fury of the tempest; and, while the more humble and lowly shrubs stand not in need of such firmness of texture, their pliability and elastic toughness, together with the prickly coat of mail by which they are enveloped, render them less susceptible of injury in their exposed situation.

Softness, united with a still greater degree of flexibility, are the distinguishing characteristics of the