The laws of sensations are the work of a munificent and intelligent Power. "Tell me, ye shining hosts, That navigate a sea that knows no storms, If from your elevation, whence ye view And systems of whose birth no tidings yet His country's weather-bleach'd and batter'd rocks, From the green wave emerging, darts an eye And many an aching wish, your beamy fires, Love kindles as I gaze. I feel desires That give assurance of their own success, And that, infus'd from heay'n, must thither tend.” It has been said of Admiration, that she was the daughter of Ignorance; but when we view the works of nature, and see such marks of art and activity, we cannot help being filled with admiration, which in general increases in proportion to our understanding. A God so immensely wise ought unquestionably to incite our admiration: a Deity of such indefatigable goodness, ought certainly to inspire us. with unfeigned gratitude, and engage our sole confidence and unalterable affection. Epicurus, by endeavouring to confute the existence of a Divine Being, imagined he did well in attempting to refute a supreme power, that to him appeared to be an enemy to our happiness. Presumptuous man! to form so erroneous an idea of his Creator, a Being who has surrounded us on all sides with consonant sensations-who has furnished us with a variety of faculties, and contrived them in such a manner, that the exercise of them is accompanied by a pleasure which tends to our preservation! Are we to undervalue those blessings, because they are the gifts of an all-creating Power? No, we ought to set the most intrinsic. esteem upon them, since they are as so many pledges of his liberality towards us. In fine, when we consider the power, the knowledge and goodness of our God, ought we not to bear with patience every affliction he is pleased to send us, and with joy resign those comforts which he thinks proper to deprive us of? Nor ought we to repine against the laws which he has prescribed for us. Oh, may some nobler thought my soul employ, The stars shall drop, the sun shall lose his flame; But thou, O God! for ever shine the same. Shall empty man dare to rebel against the Author of his existence? Arrogant thought! let us not augment our misfortunes, by striving our utmost, but weak unavailing efforts, against an Almighty Power. 2 Ye Heav'ns! from high the dewy nectar pour, Desire is nourished by hope, but dies when there is no possibility of obtaining its object. Is there any one in Europe, who can be so inconsistent as to complain that he has not been seated on the throne of the Great Mogul? Let us not weary ourselves with ineffectual wishes, nor allow our temper to be ruffled concerning the want of any thing, which is |