has the Almighty appointed to be selected an adequate portion of our sustenance.

"Our plenteous streams a various race supply:
The bright-eyed perch, with fins of Tyrian dye;
The silver eel, in shining volumes roll'd;
The yellow carp, in scales bedropp'd with gold ;
Swift trouts diversified with crimson stain;
And pikes, the tyrants of the wat'ry plain."

And the greatness and glory of the Almighty One is no less visibly imprinted in the formation of birds, those beautiful fugitives of the air! The form of their bodies, so regular and perfect; the admirable mechanism of their wings; the exquisite form, brilliancy, and colour of their plumage; are equally to be admired with the variety of their species, proportion, beauty, and melody: all beautiful and regular in their kind; and each with his peculiar power or property. No greater proof of maternal solicitude exists than that exercised by the female bird over her infant brood. Our Saviour himself does not give a stronger evidence of his love towards the fallen city when he laments the fate of its desolation, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not. The sacred writings, indeed, afford us many instances in which birds have been made the instruments of the Di

vine will. And Christ especially calls our attention to the care which the great Creator manifests for them. "Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them."

The immeasurable deep and the aerial world being thus filled with their scaly and winged inhabitants, "God said, let the earth bring forth living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind and God saw that it was good."

It has been remarked by a celebrated divine* that from the existence of any thing we demonstrate the first cause of all things; but whether the brute creation were immediately produced at their full size, or gradually brought into being, it is impossible to determine, though in either case the power and wise purport of an infinite Being is equally and wonderfully the same. Some were ordained to be ferocious, wild, and untameable; others mild, fond, and domesticated; some harmless, timid, and delicate; others bold, robust, and vicious; some herbivorous, others carnivorous; and all of them were gifted with strength, senses, agility, sagacity and beauty, more or less limited Bishop Pearson.

*

in the different species, according to the will and wisdom of the Creator.

From the elephant to the millions of insects perceptible only through a microscope, the same life exists with functions necessary to their respective natures. Yes, though it may fail to strike us, from its apparent insignificance, the power of God is as infinite in the formation of an insect, invigorated in all its parts with life and spirit, to perform all the actions suitable to its life and nature, as in the creation of the lordly lion or the ponderous elephant. Divine wisdom equally directs them to the end intended in the glorious scheme.

Ferocious or untameable as may be their nature, and difficult as may be the task for man to subdue them, whenever it is consonant with God's will, or any wise purpose is to be answered by it, he who made them can render them harmless and innoxious. But animated nature was also doubtlessly intended by the Almighty to suggest themes of morality to the human mind. How delightfully contrasted with the savage fury of those who roam the forest, is that emblem of virtue, the innocent lamb; a striking example of meekness, humility, and gentleness. How exquisitely touching is the plaintive appeal of Isaiah, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to

his own way;" yet, as the Baptist eloquently exclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world!"" He was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb; so he opened not his mouth." Others especially command our attention as inculcating mild submission and obedience. Even the most humble and patient of the brute creation has been made the favoured and chosen instrument of Almighty power. The ass of Balaam was suddenly endowed with speech and reason. And it might have been for the purpose of teaching a moral lesson, that on the grandest of all occasions—the triumphant entry of our blessed Saviour into Jerusalem-this lowly creature was selected to bear him who came to bear the burden of a sinful world. It would be easy to dilate on the peculiar qualities of many animals as tending to illustrate the infinite wisdom of their great Creator; but enough has been already noticed for the end we had in view in the previous digression; and we will simply observe, that the provident management of the Almighty in making ample provision for these innumerable tribes is equalled only by his stupendous power.

Life and form having at length been imparted to

* Numbers, xxii, 28.

the various species of terrestrial animals, the creation of the animal kingdom was complete. Every part of it was made perfect, and mingled together in one uninterrupted state of congenial felicity and harmony. The infant earth brought forth abundantly her increase; the waters sparkled with their living gems; the sun, moon, and stars shone in the fulness of their glory; the luxuriant cattle grazed in the welcome pastures, while the birds sung sweetly among the branches; and every class smiled in tranquillity, or revelled in mutual and felicitous enjoyment.

The world having been thus prepared for the reception of a creature endowed with superior faculties, intended as the lord and governor of it, the Almighty expressed his determination to make man, declaring his supremacy in the following terms: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it." Man was accordingly formed from the dust of the earth :