Beings constituted like man, whose rational spirits are connected with an organical structure, and who derive all their knowledge through the medium of corporeal organs, can derive the clearest and most affecting notions of the Divinity chiefly through the same medium; namely, by contemplating the effects of his perfection, as displayed in the visible creation.-Dr. Dick.

Since power is visible in and demonstrated by its effects, we may observe the almighty power of God in his works both of nature and grace: thus, his eternal power is understood" by the things that are made ;". . . and the glory of his power is no less visible in the works of providence, whereby he upholds all things, and disposes of them according to his pleasure.-Ridgley.

Our earth is a star among the stars; and should not we, who are on it, prepare ourselves by it for the contemplation of the universe and its Author?-Karl Ritter.

This our life, exempt from public haunt,

Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in every thing.

Shakspeare.

The highest advantages to be gained from this instructive study consist not in considerations of benefit or of detriment, but in the intellectual advancement and moral improvement which it is so well calculated to promote, and in its power of invigorating the mind, and purifying and chastening the feelings of the heart.G. F. Richardson, F.G.S.

Cognitione naturæ et scientia beati sumus.-Cicero.

Qui studet omnium rerum divinarum atque humanarum, vim, naturam, causasque nosse, et omnem bene vivendi rationem tenere et persequi, nomine philosophi appelletur. -Cicero.

CONCLUSION.

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THEME LV. Luxury destroys both Independence and Liberty.

INTRODUCTION.

1ST REASON.-Luxury is founded either on vanity, or the love of self-indulgence. The vain man is in bondage to other men's opinions; the sensualist, to his own carnal appetites.

2ND REASON.-Luxury is a very expensive habit. The appetite soon cloys with possession, and must be excited by constant novelties. This craving for change has ruined thousands, and compelled them to accept of offices and places to repair their bankrupt fortunes, whereby their independence of spirit, and liberty of action, have been both destroyed.

3RD REASON.-Luxury weakens the understanding and vitiates the morals: But no foolish or wicked man can be called free, for (as St. Peter says) "of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage, and whosoever committeth sin is the servant or slave of sin."

4TH REASON. The luxurious are, for the most part, meanly attached to money, and those who worship mammon offer up, in sacrifice, their liberty and independence, their ease in this life, and their hope of that which is to come.

5TH REASON.-Those who live in luxury are slaves to fashion, etiquette, and rank. They must not do what they wish, but what rank and fashion choose to exact from them. The disposal of their time, their hours of rest, their food and dress, their mirth and speech, their companions and amusements, must all be conformed to the accepted pattern.

6TH REASON. The luxurious are in bondage to servants and tradesmen. The cook can mar their pleasure by tarelessness, the tailor or milliner by neglect, the footman by awkwardness, the upholsterer by bad taste; yea, even the sunshine and rain may be instruments of disappointment and chagrin.

7th REASON.-The heaviest yoke of luxury is levity

and luxury itself. No luxury like habits of simplicity; no enjoyment like contentment; no mirth like that of nature; from all these things the slave of luxury is debarred, “because he is in bondage to the world.”

SIMILES.-Luscious foods soon cloy and vitiate the

appetite.

Brilliant colours and glaring light soon weary and distress the eye.

Powerful perfumes are most offensive to the sense of smelling.

Wheat planted in a very rich soil grows rank, and runs to straw.

Titilation may cause laughter, but often brings on hysteria, and even death.

A chain is a chain, although it be made of silver instead of iron.

Luxury is like a shuttle-cock, which requires a constant effort to keep it elevated, and prevent its falling on the ground.

HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS.-The physical development of plants and inferior animals is far more perfect in tropical countries than it is in the temperate regions; the earth yields its produce without labour, the most luxuriant vegetation, the most delicious fruits, the most gorgeous flowers, everywhere prevail; but what is the case with man amidst all this profusion? So degraded in the scale of moral excellence, that he approaches nearer to the brute than to the high intelligence of those who are living in regions where "bread must be earned by the sweat of the brow."

QUOTATIONS.-Fetters of gold are still fetters, and silken cords pinch.

Who dainties love

Shall beggars prove.

Silks and satins put out the kitchen fire, as Poor Richard says.-Dr. Franklin.

Pride that dines on vanity sups with contempt.-Dr. Franklin.

Luxury breakfasts with Plenty, dines with Poverty, and sups with Infamy.-Dr. Franklin.

The carnal mind is enmity against God.-Rom. viii. 7.

Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness.—Rom. vi. 16.

The Great worship Fortune.-Lord Bacon.

To seek honours is to lose liberty.-Lord Bacon. Men in great place borrow others' opinions to think themselves happy.-Lord Bacon.

O hard condition! twin-born with greatness,
Subjected to the breath of every fool,

Whose sense no more can feel but his own wringing !
What infinite heart's ease must kings neglect

That private men enjoy !-Shakspeare.

Princes have but their titles for their glories,
An outward honour for an inward toil;
And, for unfelt imaginations,

They often feel a world of restless cares.

Shakspeare.

Many who imagine that all things may be bought by their riches, forget they have sold themselves.-Ld. Bacon.

Why all delights are vain; but that most vain
Which, with pain purchased, doth inherit pain.
Shakspeare.

Il ne faut pas manger tout son bien en un jour.

Indulgentia nervos omnes et corporis et animi frangit.— Quintilian.

Noli tibi nimium placere.

In luxuria avaritia.- Cicero.

CONCLUSION.

THEME LVI. Learning conduces to moral and private Virtues.

INTRODUCTION,

1ST REASON. True learning emolliates the mind, refines the taste, subdues the fierceness of the passions, and creates a disrelish for the gross immoralities of the unlettered and sensual.

2ND REASON. It takes away levity and insolence of spirit; self-conceit and superciliousness are ever the cha racteristics of an ill-informed mind. True learning is too full of thought to be trifling, and too sensible of its own deficiencies to be conceited.

3RD REASON. The learned are always modest and humble; they know how steep and difficult is the path they tread, what plausibility often hangs over the opinions of those who differ from them, and to what an infinitesimal amount of knowledge even the best informed have attained. Hence, when the Delphic oracle pronounced Socrates to be the wisest man of all the earth, that truly great and modest man declafed, his only pretension to this high praise was, that "he had learnt to know that he knew nothing."

4TH REASON. Learning tends to mitigate the fear of adversity, and to prevent the demoralising effect of disquietude and care. The man who feels in himself resources above the control of fortune, is alone licensed to incline to hope rather than fear;" for though the "Eubeans fall upon his oxen, and take them away;" though "the fire from heaven burn up his sheep, the Chaldeans carry away his camels, and a wind from the wilderness smite the four corners of his house," yet has he a mine of wealth untouched, which raises him above these losses: "troubled on every side, he is not distressed; perplexed, he is not in despair; cast down, he is not destroyed.

5TH REASON. The very enjoyments and predilections of literary men are favourable to morality and virtue. They are not the " mocking wine" and " savoury mess