mouths, catch the rains as they fall; imbibe the dews as they diftil; and tranfmit them, through their nice orifices, to the heart of the plant, or the lobes of the fruit.

I have touched upon the infenfible creation; and pointed out the care of a condefcending Providence, exercifed over thefe lowest formations of nature. The animal world, Theron, falls to your fhare. It is yours to defcant upon thofe higher orders of existence; and fhew us the goodnefs of God, extending its indulgent regards to them and their interefts, as tenderly, as officiously, as a hen fpreadeth her wings + over her infant brood.

Ther. The fubject is in good hands. Let part the fecond be of the fame ftrain with part the first, and there will be no occafion to wifh for a new speaker. As to myfelf, I have very little inclination to talk. But I have an ear open and attentive to your difcourfe.

Afp. You put me in mind of the philofopher, who prefumed to read a lecture on the art of war, in the prefence of Hannibal. But his impertinence was voluntary, mine is conftrained. Since you injoin me this office, let us pafs from the vegetable to the animal world. Here we fhall find no tribe, no individual neglected. The fuperior claffes want no demonftration of their excellent accomplishments. At the first glimpse, they challenge our approbation, they command our applaufe. Even the more igfeble forms of animated exiftence are moft wifely circumftanced, and moft liberally accommodated.

They all generate in that particular feafon, which is fure to fupply them with a flock of profufion, fufficient both for themselves, and their increafing families. The fheep yean, when there is a profufion of nutrimental herbage on the foil, to fill their udders, and create milk for their lambs. The birds lay their eggs, and hatch their young, when myriads of new-born tender infects fwarm

†This seems to be the image ufed by the pfalmift, Pfal. cxlv. 9. And a most amiable image, as well as a moft picturesque representation, it is.

on every fide: fo that the caterer, whether it be the maleor female parent, needs only to alight on the ground, or make a little excurfion into the air; and they find a feast ready dreffed, and all at free cost, for the clamant months at home.

Their love to their offspring, while they continue in a helpless state, is invincibly ftrong. Whereas, the very moment they are able to shift for themselves; when the parental affection would be attended with much folicitude, and productive of no advantage; it vanishes, as though it had never been. The hen which marches at the head of her little brood, would flie in the eyes of a maftiff, or even encounter a lion in their defence. Yet, within a few weeks, fhe abandons her chickens to the wide world, and not fo much as knows them any more.

If the God of Ifrael infpired Bezaleel and Aholiab with wisdom, and understanding, and knowledge in all manner of workmanship, Exod. xxxi. 3. the God of nature has inftructed the wild and warbling inhabitants of the bough. The skill, with which they erect their houfes, and adjust their apartments, is inimitable. The caution with which they fecrete their abodes from the searching eye, or intruding foot, is admirable. No general, though fruitful in expedients, could plan a more artful concealment. No architect, with his rule and line, could build fo commodious a lodgement.

Give the most celebrated artificer the fame materials, which these weak and unexperienced creatures ufe; let a Jones, or a De Moivre, have only fome rude ftraws or ugly sticks; a few bits of dirt, or fcraps of hair; a forry lock of wool, or a coarse sprig of mofs; and what works, fair with delicacy, or fit for fervice, could they produce?

We extol the commander, who knows how to take advantage of the ground; who can make the fun and the wind fight for him, as well as his troops; and, by every circumftance, embarraffes the forces of the enemy, but expedites the action, and advances the fuccefs of his own.. Does not this praife belong to our feathery leaders? who pitch their tent, or (if you pleafe) fix their penfile camp, on the dangerous branches that wave aloft in the air, or

dance over eddies of the stream. By which judicious difpofition, the vernal gales rock their cradle, and the murmuring waters lull their young; while both concur to terrify the fhepherd, and keep the fchool-boy at a trembling distance. Some hide their little household from view, amidst the shelter of entangled furze; others remove it from reach, in the centre of a thorny thicket: And, by one ftratagem or another, they are generally as fecure and unmolested in their feeble habitations, as the foxes, which entrench themselves deep in the earth, or as the conies, which retire to the rock for their citadel, Prov. xxx. 26.

If the fwan has large fweeping wings, and a copious flock of feathers, to fpread over her callow brood; the wren makes up, by contrivance, what is deficient in her bulk. Small as he is, the intends to bring forth, and will be obliged to nurse up, a very numerous iffue. Therefore, with the correcteft judgement fhe defigns, and with indefatigable affiduity finishes, a neft proper for her pur pofe. It is a neat rotund, lengthened into an oval, bottomed and vaulted with a regular concave. To preferve it from rain, it has feveral coatings of mofs; to defend it from cold, it has but one window, and only a fingle door; to render it both elegant and comfortable, it has carpets and hangings of the foftest finest down. By the help of this carious manfion, our little lady becomes the mother of multitudes. The vivifying heat of her body is, during the time of incubation, exceedingly augmented. Her houfe is like an oven, and greatly affifts in hatching her young. Which no fooner burst the shell, than they find themselves fcreened from the annoyance of the weather;

Afpafio has ventured to fay, She intends; and one is almoft tempted to think, from the preparation which the little creature makes, that the had really fat down, and counted the coft, and concerted her scheme. As though she had delineated with herfelf:

"I fhall lay, not a couple of eggs, but near a score. From thefe I am to produce a houfe full of young. But how fhall I have warmth (unless art fupply what nature has denied) fufficient to hatch the embryos, or cherish the infants? The truth, I believe is, that in all her feeming forefight, and circumfpect behaviour, fhe acts fhe knows not what. Only the acts what eternal wifdom knows to be neceffary, and what all-condefcending goodnefs prompts her to perform.

4

and most agreeably reposed, amidst the ornaments of a palace, and the warmth of a bagnio.

Perhaps, we have been accustomed to look upon the infects, as fo many rude fcraps of creation, and to rank them amongst the refuse of things. Whereas, if we examine them without prejudice, and with a little attention, they will appear fome of the most polished pieces of divine workmanship. Many of them are decked with a profufion of finery. Their eyes are an affemblage * of microscopes: whofe mechanism is inconceivably nice, and finished in the highest perfection. Their drefs has all the variety and luftre of colours: it is fet with an arrangement of the most brilliant gems, and bordered with fringes richer far than the most costly filks. Their wings are the finest expanfions imaginable: cambric is meer canvafs, and Iwan is coarse as fackcloth, compared with those inimitable webs. The cafes which inclofe their wings, glitter with the moft gloffy varnish; are scooped into ornamental flutings; are ftudded with radient fpots; or pinked with elegant holes. Not any among them but are equipped with weapons, or endued with dexterity, which qualify them to feize their prey, or escape their foe; to dispatch the bufinefs of their respective stations, and enjoy the pleafures of their particular condition.

Now, I am in a talking humour, give me leave to celebrate the endowments, and affert the honours of my puny clients ; yet not so much to support their credit, as

* The common fly, for instance, who is furrounded with a multitude of dangers, and has neither ftrength to refift her enemies, nor a place of retreat to secure herself. For which reafon, The had need to be very vigilant, and always upon her guard. Yet her head is so fixed, that it is incapable of turning, in order to obferve what paffes, either behind or around her. Providence therefore, furprisingly wife in its contrivances, and equally bountiful in its gifts, has furnished her, not barely with a retinue, but with more than a legion of eyes. Infomuch, that a fingle fly is fupposed to be mistress of no less than eight thousand : every one of which is lined with a distinct optic nerve. By means of this coftly and amazing apparatus, the little creature fees on every side, with the utmost ease and with inftantaneous speed; even without any motion of the eye, or any flection of the neck.

What if the ele

to magnify their all-gracious Creator. phant is diftinguithed by a huge probofcis? His meanest relations of the reptile line are furnished with curious antenna; remarkable, if not for their enormous magnitude, yet for their ready flexibility, and acute fenfation, by which they explore their way, even in the darkest road; they discover and avoid whatever might defile their neat apparel, or endanger their tender lives.

*

Every one admires that majeftic creature the horse; bis graceful head, and ample cheft; his arching neck, and flowing mane; his cleanly-turned limbs, and finelyadjusted motions. With extraordinary agility, he flings himself over the ditch; and, with a rapid career, pours himself through the plain. With unwearied application, he carries his rider from one end of the country to another; and, with undaunted bravery, rushes into the fierceft rage, and amidst the thickest havock of the battle. Yet the grafhopper fprings with a bound altogether as brifk, if not more impetuous. The ant, in proportion to its fize, is equally nimble; equally strong; and will climb precipices, which the moft courageous coufer dares not attempt to fcale. If the fnail is flower in her motions, fhe is under no neceffity of treading back the ground which she has paffed; because her house is a part of her travelling equipage: and whenever the departs, fhe is ftill under her own roof; wherever the removes, is always at home.

The eagle, 'tis true, is privileged with pinions that outftrip the wind: elevated on which, fhe looks down on all that foars; and fees flying clouds, and straining wings far below: her optic nerve fo ftrong, that it meets and fuftains the dazzling beams of noon; her wide-furveying glance fo keen, that, from thofe towering heights, it difcerns the smallest fifh, which fkulks at the bottom of the river. Yet neither is the poor outcaft, the grovelling and gloomy mole, difregarded by divine Providence. Because the is to dig a cell in the earth, and

* "Pours himself”—This is Jeremiah's beautiful and expreffive phrase, chap. viii. 6. which Virgil has been ambitious to imitate; -"Ruuntque effufi carcere.” A a

VOL. II.