marvellous work of the third day, when "God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so."

The remaining waters that had hitherto covered the face of the earth, were now arranged, refined, and gathered together into one place; and being collected, separated, and rendered useful, they were by the Most High called seas, and commanded to retire into those places destined for their reception and rest. But whether this was brought about by an act of Omnipotent power alone, or whether by the instrumentality of second causes, we are not informed.

How applicable here is the eloquent enthusiasm of David, who, as a man after God's own heart, rejoices in extolling this work of his Maker's. "At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over, that they turn not again to cover the earth." Job, also, in acknowledging the unsearchable power of God, says: "He hath compassed the waters with bounds until the day and night come to an end." There are also many other passages in Scripture that describe the ocean. In the Apocalypse, St. John beautifully represents himself as beholding a new earth and a new heaven, with the sea fading from

existence. How wonderful and how figurative too, is the type of Jonah; and, oh! how admirable is the quiet composure of the blessed Messiah, while stilling the storm and walking on the surface of the waters!

The ocean then is not only a testimony of great power, but also a lively herald of wondrous goodness. Of all objects in nature, none strikes us with so much wonder, awe, and melancholy, as its vast expanse; while its solitude penetrates the soul with a spirit of deep devotion. This general reservoir of the waters has been made the instrument of intercourse among all the people of the earth; by means of it and auxiliary seas a communication is opened between different nations, without which Divine regulation, the holy mission of religion could not have been promulgated in foreign lands, nor the exportation of reciprocal benefits have taken place to our fellow creatures. It is in the original deep that the burning sun satisfies his thirst, drawing up those vapours from it that are afterwards scattered into rain, snow, and hail, which fill the springs, penetrate into the mountains, and whence rivers and rivulets derive their source. Lastly, this majestic emblem of life and eternity cannot fail to fill every contemplative mind with that grateful awe which bears witness that it acknowledges the guardian hand of a Deity. Who,

indeed, can enumerate the contents of the ocean; or who, save the Creator, stay its proud waves!

Emerging from the waters the dry land was made to appear. This dull unseemly substance, which had originally been buried under the waters, and seemed thereby totally useless, was called Earth, and in obedience to God's command, proudly burst forth into a new and glorious being.*

* In adducing proofs of the earth's structure being made subservient to final causes, Dr. Buckland has the following passage: "A great majority of the strata having been formed under water, and from materials evidently in such a state as to subject their arrangement to the operation of the laws of gravitation, had no disturbing forces interposed, they must have formed layers almost regularly horizontal, and therefore investing in concentric coats the nucleus of the earth. But the actual position of these beds is generally more or less inclined to the horizontal plane, though often under an angle almost imperceptible. By this arrangement, many strata, affording numerous varieties of mineral productions, are made to emerge in succession on the surface of the earth; whereas the inferior must have been buried beneath the highest, had their position been strictly horizontal; and, in such case, we should have wanted that variety of useful minerals almost indispensable to the existence of man in a state of civil society, which this succession of different strata now presents to us.

"In the whole machinery also of springs and rivers, and the apparatus that is kept in action for their duration through the instrumentality of a system of curiously constructed hills and valleys, receiving their supply occasionally from the rains of heaven, and treasuring up in their everlasting storehouses to be dispensed perpetually by thousands of never-failing fountains, we see a provision not less striking or less important. So also in the adjustment of the relative quantities of sea and

And no sooner was it arrayed in raiment of emerald, and amply furnished with mountains, meadows, fields, valleys, and forests, than the Allwise Creator, whose power is unwearied, commanded that it should become fruitful. "And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good." Behold! the grass was made to spring up in impenetrable mystery, and on the minutest seeds the sustenance and preservation of all mankind depend. Our pastures are dressed with clover, our fields with rich harvest, and the wings of the wind support the waving The meadows, the valleys, and the plains

corn.

land in such due proportions as to supply the earth by constant evaporation, without diminishing the waters of the ocean; and in the appointment of the atmosphere to be the vehicle of this wonderful and unceasing circulation; in thus separating these waters from their native salt, (which though of the highest utility to preserve the purity of the sea, renders them unfit for the support of terrestrial animals or vegetables,) and transmitting them in genial showers to scatter fertility over the earth and maintain the never-failing reservoirs of those springs and rivers by which it is again returned to mix with its parent ocean in all these we find such undeniable proofs of a nicely balanced adaptation of means to ends, of wise foresight and benevolent intention and infinite power, that he must be blind indeed, who refuses to recognize in them proofs of the most exalted attributes of the Creator.

boast of their bright clothing, and we see them enamelled with flowers, decorated with groves, crowned with stately trees, and covered with luxuriant herbage. The earth is indeed the prolific parent and tender nurse of mankind; from it we came, and from it we receive our food, our raiment, and every pleasure we enjoy. Production and reproduction are its constant and unerring laws; for, by means of continual circulation in all the nutritive parts, whatever the earth yields is restored to it again. And here we may remark, that the same circulation takes place in the body of every living creature: the blood flows continually through its several channels, distributing to each limb the needful vigour, and then returns to its fountain, the heart. Not only was present provision made for the maintenance and support of man, but the earth having been wisely adapted to the growth of all kinds of vegetation, it was to be a perpetual memorial of an Omnipresent bounty. Here we discover wisdom which is never mistaken, prescribing to nature laws in some respect immutable, and which act without interruption under the eye of Providence. For every root there is a soil*

*“Earth is but the bed in which vegetable nutriment is best prepared, and presented to the absorbing roots. This is now stated to be an oxide of carbon or humid acid, made by a chemical union with water, and which forms that humus, or soil, that most occasions or promotes vegetation."—Sh. Turner.