Son. Has this been the practice of wise and good men in former ages?

Father. Yes; Moses, Job, David, Isaiah, and others. Solomon, in particular, we find, spoke of trees, of beasts, of fowls, of creeping things, and of fishes. The Saviour himself also has directed our attention to the works of nature. "Behold the fowls of the air! consider the lilies of the field, how they grow!"

Son. What may I expect from contemplating the works of nature?

Father. Both profit and pleasure. As God has formed the eye to behold, and the mind to receive information from the beauties of nature, it must be both agreeable and useful.

Son. Is not this a pleasure confined to the learned?

Father. By no means; the peasant, as well as the philosopher, may partake of this pleasure. A moderate share of knowledge is sufficient. The creation is open to the view of all it only requires observation,

:

And a wish for information. "The works of the Lord," says David, “are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein."

Son. What may I expect to find in the works of God?

Father. Whatever is wise, great, good, and perfect. God beheld every thing that he had made, and saw that it was good.

Son. And can we in all the works of God discover the marks of his power, wis dom and goodness?

Father. We can discern that most of them are made with exquisite art, contrived with infinite wisdom, and ordered with a wise design; that we cannot do so in all is owing to our limited capacity.

DIALOGUE II.

ON THE FIRMAMENT AND THE HEAVENLY

BODIES.

Son. WHICH of the works of God should

first engage my attention?

B

Father. Turn your eyes up to the firm ment, that wide boundless space, in whic are fixed the earth, the sun, the moon, th planets, the comets, and the stars. "Th heavens," says David, "declare the glor of God, and the firmament sheweth hi handywork." There is no speech nor lan guage where their voice is not heard.

Son. What are the principal qualities o the firmament?

Father. Extent and transparency. I must be very extensive to contain the innu merable heavenly lights; and transparent otherwise we could not see them: as for its extent, it cannot be computed; its bounda ries are known to God alone; and its transparency is equally amazing.

Son. What stars are those which we see in a clear evening?

Father. They are self-shining bodies like our sun, but on jaccount of their immense distance appear so very small.

Son. How many stars are there in the firmament?

Father. The number we see with the xed eye is not considerable; but, as the ter our glasses are, the more we see: peak in the language of men, "they are umerable."

on. Why do they twinkle?

ather. That appearance is occasioned ntervening vapours floating in the air; I should mention that there are certain he heavenly bodies which are called plaand these do not twinkle. The word et means that they have motion, for move round the sun, whereas the others alled fixed stars, and are not observed ve any perceptible motion.

n. The stars appear to be placed withmy order.

ther. They appear so to our limited because it cannot in one point of take in the whole system, but we can lly trace the most exact and beautiful in their arrangement, and knowing

believe that order, and harmony pervade the whole.

Son. Were the stars created only for our vise?

Father. It is unreasonable to suppose it, on account of their vast distance: they were probably created to enlighten other worlds, as the sun enlightens ours.

Son. Are the fixed stars then suns like ours?

Father. Yes, such is the prevailing opinion of astronomers.

Son. Are they in no degree serviceable to us?

Father. They serve to enlarge our ideas of the works of God, and to diminish the gloom of darkness: they are of great use also to mariners; that one particularly, which is called the north pole star and which always has one and the same position in the heavens, is a guiding light to those who live in the northern hemisphere, whilst other stars perform the same offices for those who inhabit the southern hemisphere.