or drum of the car, which consists of a dry, thin, and round membrane, stretched upon a bouy ring, so as actually to resemble the instrument we call a drum. Under this membrane is a small nerve, or string, stretched tight, for the purpose of stretching or relaxing the drum, and increasing or diminishing its vibrations, so as to render it capable of reflecting every possible tone. Behind it is a cavity, hewn out of the temporal bone, the hardest one in the body, in which there seems to be an echo, by which the sound is reflected with the utmost precision. This cavity contains four very small, but remarkable bones, denominated the hammer, the anvil, the orbicular bone, and the stirrup, all connected together, and necessary for contributing to the extension and vibration of the tympanum. In this cavity are also formed various windings or cavities filled with air; and, in order that the air may be renewed, there is an opening which communicates with the back part of the mouth, called the Eustachian tube. The next apparatus belonging to this curious machine, is the labyrinth, which is composed of three parts, the vestibule or porch, three semicircular canals, and the cochlea. This last is a canal, which takes a spiral course, like the shell of a snail, and is divided by a very thin lamina, or septum of cords, which keeps decreasing from the base to the top. The air acting on either side of these diminutive cords, produces a motion, nearly in the same manner as the sound of one musical instrument excites a tremulous motion in the cords of another. All these tubes, and winding canals, may be considered as so many sounding galleries, for menting the smallest tremours, and conveying their impressions to the auditory nerves, which conduct them to the brain. Besides the several parts now mentioned, a number of arteries, veins, lymphatics, glands, and a variety of other contrivances, which the human mind can neither trace nor comprehend, are connected with the mechanism of this admirable organ. aug All this curious and complicated apparatus, however, would have been of no avail for the purpose of hearing, had not the atmosphere been formed, and its particles endowed with a tremulous motion. But, this medium being prepared, a sounding body communicates an undulatory motion to the air, as a stone thrown into a pond produces circular waves in the water; the air, thus put in motion, shakes the drum of the ear; the tremours, thus excited, produce vibrations in the air within the drum; this air shakes the handle of the hammer; the hammer strikes the anvil, with which it is articulated; the anvil transmits the motion to the stirrup, to which its longer leg is fastened; the stirrup transmits the motion it has received to the nerves; and the nerves, vibrating like the strings of a violin, or lyre, and the motion being still further augmented in the labyrinth,-the soul, in a manner altogether incomprehensible to us, receives an impression proportioned to the weakness or intensity of the vibration produced by the sounding body. Such is the exquisite and complicated machinery which required to be constructed, and preserved in action every moment, before we could enjoy the benefits of sound, and the pleasures of articulate conversation. Again, before we could enjoy the pleasures of feeling, an extensive system of organization required to be arranged. A system of nerves, originating in the brain and spinal marrow, and distributed, in numberless minute ramifications, through the heart, lungs, bowels, blood-vessels, hands, feet, and every other part of the body, was requisite to be interwoven through the whole constitution of the animal frame, before this sense, which is the foundation of all the other sensations, and the source of so many pleasures, could be produced. Wherever there are nerves, there are also sensations; and wherever any particular part of the body requires to exert a peculiar feeling, there the nerves are arranged and distributed in a peculiar manner, to produce the intended effect. And how nicely is every thing arranged and attempered, in this respect, to contribute to our comfort! If the points of the fingers require to be endowed with a more delicate sensation than several other parts, they are furnished with a corresponding number of nervous ramifications; if the heel require to be more callous, the nerves are more sparingly distributed. If feelings were equally distributed over the whole body, and as acutely sensible as in the membranes of the eye, our very clothes would become galling and insupportable, and we should be exposed to continual pain; and if every part were as insensible as the callus of the heel, the body would be benumbed, the pleasures we derive from this sense would be destroyed, and the other organs of sensation could not perform their functions in the manner in which they now operate. So that in this, as well as in all the other sensitive organs, infinite wisdom is admirably displayed in executing the designs of benevolence. In order that we might derive enjoyment from the various aliments and delicious fruits which the earth produces, a peculiar organization, different from all the other senses, was requisite to be devised. Before we could relish the peculiar flavour of the pear, the apple, the peach, the plumb, or the grape, the tongue, the principal organ of taste, required to be formed, and its surface covered with an infinite number of nervous papillæ, curiously divaricated over its surface, to receive and convey to the soui the impressions of every flavour. These nerves required to be guarded with a firm and proper tegument or covering, to defend them from danger, and enable them to perform their functions so long as life continues; and at the same time, to be perforated in such a manner, with a multitude of pores, in the papillary eminences, as to give a free admission to every variety of taste. It was likewise necessary, that these papillary nerves should be distributed in the greatest number, in those parts of the organ to which the objects of taste are most frequently applied; and hence we find, that they are more numerous on the upper than on the lower parts of the tongue; and, therefore, when we apply highly-flavoured substances to the under part, we are not so sensible of the taste, till we remove them to the upper surface. A variety of veins, arteries, glands, tendons, and other parts with which we are unacquainted, are also connected with this useful organ. When we consider how frequently these delicate organs are used, during a length of years, it is matter of admiration how well they wear. While our clothes wear out in the course of a year or two, while the hairs of our heads turn gray, and are nipped asunder at the roots, and while age shrivels the most beautiful skin, these delicate nervous papillæ last longer than instruments of iron or steel; for the sense of taste is generally the last that decays. For the bestowment of this sense, therefore, and the pleasures it conveys, we have abundant reason to admire and adore the wisdom and goodness of our Almighty Creator. Finally, that we might be regaled with the scent of flowers, and the aromatic perfumes of spring and summer, and that none of the pleasures of nature might be lost, the organ of smelling was constructed to catch the invisible odoriferous effluvia which are continually wafted through the air. For this purpose it was requisite that bones, nerves, muscles, arteries, veins, cartilages, and membranes, peculiarly adapted to produce this effect, should be arranged, and placed in a certain part of the body. As the bones of the head are too hard for this purpose, the nerves of smelling required to have a bone of a peculiar texture, of a spongy nature, full of little holes, like a sieve, through which they might transmit their slender threads or branches to the papillous membrane which lines the cavities of the bone and the top of the nostrils. The nostrils required to be cartilaginous and not fleshy, in order to be kept open, and to be furnished with appropriate muscles to dilate or contract them as the occasion might require. It was likewise requisite, that they should be wide at the bottom, to collect a large quantity of effluvia, and narrow at the top, where the olfactory nerves are condensed, that the effluvia might act with the greatest vigour, and convey the sensation to the brain. By means of these and numerous other contrivances, connected with this organ, we are enabled to distinguish the qualities of our food, and to regale ourselves on those invisible effluvia which are incessantly flying off from the vegetable tribes, and wafted in every direction through the atmosphere. Of all the senses with which we are furnished, the sense of smelling is that which we are apt to consider as of the least importance; and some have even been ready to imagine, that our enjoyments would scarcely have been diminished, although its organs had never existed. But, it is presumptuous in man to hazard such an opiuion in reference to any of the beneficent designs of the Creator. We know not what relation the minutest operations, within us or around us, mny bear to the whole economy of nature, or what disastrous effects might be produced, were a single pin of the machinery of our bodies broken or destroyed. The exhalations which are, at this moment, rising from a putrid marsh in the centre of New Holland, and hovering in an invisible form, over that desolate region, may be forming those identical clouds which, the next month, shall water our fields and gardens, and draw forth from the flowers their aromatic perfumes. The sense of smelling may be essentially requisite to the perfection of several of the other senses; as we know that the sense of feeling is inseperably connected with the senses of seeing, hearing, and tasting. Let us consider, for a moment, some of the agencies which require to be exerted when this sense is exercised and gratified. Before we could derive pleasure from the fragrance of a flower, it was requisite that a system of the finest tubes, filaments, and membranes should be organized, endowed with powers of absorption and perspiration, furnished with hundreds of vessels for conveying the sap through all its parts, and perforated with thousands of pores to give passage to myriads of odoriferous particles, secreted from the internal juices. It was also requisite that the atmosphere should be formed, for the purpose of affording nourishment to the plant, and for conveying its odoriferous effluvia to the olfactory nerves. rains, the dews, the principle of heat, the revolution of the seasons, the succession of day and night, the principle of evaporation, the agitation of the air by winds, and the solar light,-all combine their influence and their agencies in producing the grateful sensation we feel from the smell of a rose. So that the sense of smelling is not only connected with the agency of all the terrestrial elements around us, but bears a relation to the vast globe of the sun himself; for an energy exerted at the distance of ninety-five millions of miles, and a motion of 200,000 miles every second, in the particles of light, are necessary to its existence; and consequently, it forms one of the subordinate ends for which that luminary was created :—and, being related to the sun, it may bear a certain relation The to similar agencies which that central globe is producing among the inhabitants of surrounding worlds. Thus it appears, that the various senses of man, as well as the external objects which contribute to their gratification, are the results of infinite wisdom and goodness, and calculated to promote the happiness of sensitive and intelligent beings. But, before any one of these senses could perform its functions, it required to be united with a most wonderful system of organization. The heart required to be endowed with an immense degree of muscular power, and to be set in action in the centre of this complicated system hundreds of arteries required to be bored, and ramified, and arranged, to convey the blood to its remotest extremities, and hundreds of veins to bring it back again to its reservoir-thousands of lacteal and lymphatic tubes to absorb nutriment from the food, and convey it to the circulating fluid-thousands of glands to secrete humours that are noxious or redundant from the mass of blood, and emunctories to throw them off from the system-hundreds of muscles for moving the different members of the body, and for conveying the whole corporeal frame from place to place-hundreds of fine cords infinitely ramified over the whole body, to convey sensa tion to all its parts; and thousands of millions of perforations to be made in the skin, through which the insensible perspiration might continually flow. To support this fine and delicate system of vessels, hundreds of bones of diversified forms, and different sizes, and connected together by various modes of articulation, required to be constructed and arranged, and nicely adapted to their peculiar functions; and hundreds of tendons and ligaments, to connect these bones with the muscles, and with every other part of the animal frame. This machine required to be preserved in constant action, whether we be sleeping or waking, sitting or standing, in motion or at rest. The heart required to give ninety-six thousand strokes every twenty-four hours, to send off streams of the vital fluid through hundreds of tubes, and to impel the whole mass of blood through every part of the body every four minutes. The lungs required to be in constant play, expanding and contracting their thousand vesicles, at least twenty times every minute, to imbibe the oxygen of the atmosphere, and to transmit its enlivening influence to the circulating fluids-the stomach to be dissolving the food, and preparing it for the nourishment of the body-the liver and kidneys to be drawing off their secretions-the lacteals to be extracting nutritious particles, to be conveyed, by the absorbent vessels, into the mass of blood-and the perspiration, which might otherwise clog the wheels of the whole machine, to be thrown off incessantly through millions of pores. All this curious and delicate machinery, constructed of the most flabby substances, required to be put i motion, and to be preserved in action every mo ment, before we could contemplate the beauties of a landscape, be delighted with the sounds of music, or inhale the fragrance of a rose. It is worthy of notice, that, in the construe tion and arrangement of these numerous and complicated parts and functions, there is not a single instance, that any physiologist can pro duce, in which pain is the object of the contri vance. Of all the thousands of adaptations which infinite Wisdom has contrived, there is not one but what has for its object the communication of pleasure to the sentient being in which it is found. If a number of small muscles are con nected with the eye, it is for the purpose of rendering that organ susceptible of a quick and easy motion in every direction, to meet every exigence. If the arteries are furnished with numerous valves, opening only in one direction, it is intended to prevent the blood from returning by a wrong course, and endangering the whole structure of the animal machine. If a joint is formed to move only in one direction, as the joints of the fingers, it is intended to prevent those inconveniences which would inevitably have been felt, had it been capable of moving in every direction. If another kind of joint is con structed so as to move in every direction, it is intended to enable us to perform, with facility, those movements and operations which would otherwise have been either impossible, or have been attended with the greatest inconvenience and pain. There are certain parts connected with the human frame, whose precise use cannot be accurately determined, but this is owing to our limited knowledge of the various functions which are requisite to be performed in this complicated machine. In no instance whatever can it be shown, that the infliction of pain is the ob ject of any one part or function of whose use we are uncertain; and it is conformable to the dictates of the soundest reason to conclude, that, since every part, whose use we can ascertain, is adapted to communicate pleasure, every other part, throughout every branch of the animal system, is calculated to produce a similar effect. It is true, indeed, that pain is frequently felt in the different members which compose our corporeal system; but this is not owing to its original construction, but to the derangement which its parts receive, either from internal disease or from external violence and such consequences are the effects either of the folly of man, in exposing his body to danger, or in using its members for improper purposes, or of the physical changes which have happened in the system of nature since man was created,-or of those depraved and immoral passions which so frequently agitate and convulse his corporeal frame. Let us now endeavour, if we can, to sum up a few of the blessings which we enjoy from these - Wise arrangements of our beneficent Creator. In our bodies there are reckoneo 245 bones, each of them having forty distinct scopes or intentions, and 446 muscles for the purpose of motion, each having at least ten several intentions. F All these are ready every moment to perform their functions; and every breath we draw, whether we be in motion or at rest, asleep or awake, a hundred muscles at least are in constant action. In the act of breathing, we respire at least twenty times every minute; the heart exerts its muscular force in propelling the blood into the arteries sixty times every minute; the stomach and abdominal muscles are every moment in action, and the curious little bones of the ear are ever ready to convey sensations of the softest whisper to the brain. So that, without an hyperbole, or the least extravagance of expression, it may truly and literally be said, that we enjoy a thousand blessings every minute, and, consequently, sixty thousand every hour, and one million four hundred and forty thousand every day. For, if any one of these numerous functions were to stop, or to be interrupted, pain, and even death itself might be induced. Let us ask the man who is gasping for breath, under an incurable asthma, or him who is smarting under the pain of a toothache, or him who has wounded a nerve, an artery, or a vein, or him who has dislocated his shoulder-blade, if he would not consider it as a peculiar blessing to have the functions of nature restored to their original action? And if one member out of joint, or one function out of order, produces so much pain and uneasiness, how grateful ought we to feel for the thousands of blessings we enjoy every moment, while the wheels of the animal machine are moving on with smoothness and harmony! If we consider the number of years during which these blessings have been continued,-if we consider the mercies received in childhood, which have been long overlooked or forgotten,-if we count the many nights which we have passed in sound repose, and the many days we have enjoyed without bodily pain,-if we reflect on the numerous objects of sublimity and beauty with which our eyes have been delighted, the numerous sounds which have charmed our ears and cheered our hearts, and the numerous gratifications which our other senses have received; if we consider how often food has been provided and administered for the nourishment of our bodies, and from how many visible and invisible dangers we have been delivered-and, if we view all these countless blessings as proceeding every moment from Him, "whose hands have made and fashioned us," and who "breathed into our nostrils the breath of life," can we forbear to recognise our Almighty Benefactor as worthy of our supreme affection and our most lively gratitude? "For me, when I forget the darling theme,Be my tongue mute, my fancy paint no more, And, dead to joy, forget my heart to beat." Under an impression of the diversified agencies of Divine Wisdom which are incessantly contributing to our enjoyment, and of the vast profusion of our Creator's beneficence which we behold around us, and experience every passing hour, can we forbear exclaiming with the enraptured poet: we "When all thy mercies, O my God! A joyful song I'll raise; To utter all thy praise." If, then, the construction of our bodies, and the terrestrial scene in which we are placed, present so many striking displays of wisdom and benevolence, what an astonishing and transporting scene of divine benignity would burst upon the view, were we permitted to explore those more extensive provinces of the empire of Omnipotence, where physical and moral evil have never shed their baleful influence to interrupt the happiness of intellectual natures! Could soar beyond the regions of the planetary system; could we penetrate into that immensity of worlds and beings which are scattered in magnificent profusion through the boundless fields of ether; could we draw aside the veil which now conceals the grandeur and beauty of their physical economy and arrangements; could we behold their inhabitants arrayed in robes of beauty, with ecstatic joy beaming from their countenances, basking perpetually in the regions of bliss, united to one another by indissoluble bands of love and affection, without the least apprehension of evil, or of an interruption to their enjoyments; and looking forward with confidence to an interminable succession of delighted existence; could we retrace the history of their Creator's dispensations towards them since the first moment of their existence, and the peculiar displays of divine glory and benignity, that may occasionally be exhibited to their view,-it is more than probable, that all the displays of wisdom and benevolence which we now behold, numerous as they are, would be thrown completely into the shade, and that this world would appear only as a Lazar-house, when compared with the bright and transporting scenes of the celestial worlds. This we are infallibly led to conclude, in regard to a certain class of intelligences in the future state, by the express declarations of Scripture. For thus it is written, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." And if renovated men shall experience such superior enjoyments in the eternal world, there can be no doubt that all those intelligences, in every region, who have retained their primitive integrity, are at this moment in the possession of similar transporting enjoyments. It must, therefore, have an additional tendency to elevate our affections to the Supreme Intelligence, when we view Him not only communicating happiness to the various tribes of beings which people our globe, but also distributing streams of felicity in boundless profusion, among the inhabitants of unnumbered worlds I shall now conclude my illustrations of this topic, by exhibiting a few instances of the wisdom and goodness of God as delineated in the Sacred Scriptures. "The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works He stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. He planted the ear, and formed the eye; and he breathed into our nostrils the breath of life. In his hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind. With him is wisdom and strength, and his understanding is infinite. He is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working. He hath established the world by his wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his operations, and his ways past finding out! He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not rent under them. He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end. He visiteth the earth and watereth it, he greatly enricheth it with rivers; he prepareth corn for its inhabitants; he watereth the ridges thereof abundantly; he settleth the furrows thereof; he maketh it soft with showers; he blesseth the springing thereof; he crowneth the year with his goodness, and his paths drop fatness. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys are covered over with corn, and the little hills are encircled with joy.* "He sendeth the springs into the valleys which run among the hills; they give drink to every beast of the field. Beside these springs the fowls of heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man; and wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil that maketh his face to shine, and bread that strengtheneth his heart. He planted the tall trees and the cedars of Lebanon, where In this, and several other quotations from the Scriptures, the literal rendering from the Hebrew is substituted in place of the common translation, and the supplements are frequently omitted. the birds make their nests, and the storks their dwellings. The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and the rocks for the conies. He appointed the moon for seasons, and the sun to enlighten the world; he makes darkness a cur tain for the night, till the sun arise, when mas goeth forth to his work and to his labour till the evening. How manifold are thy works, O Lord! In wisdom hast thou made them all; the earth is full of thy riches; so is the great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. These all wait upon thee, that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. Thou givest them—they gather; thou openest thine hand-they are filled with good. Thou hidest thy face-they are troubled; thou sendest forth thy spirit-they are created; and thou renewest the face of the earth. The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever; Jehovah shall rejoice in all his works. He is Lord of heaven and earth; he giveth to all, life, and breath, and all things; he hath made of one blood all nations of men, to dwell on all the face of the earth; and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation. For in him we live, and move, and have our being. I will sing unto Jehovah as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God, while I have my being; I will utter abundantly the memory of his great goodness, and speak of all his wondrous works." The inspired writers rise to still higher strains when they celebrate the Divine Goodness in reference to our eternal salvation. "Praise ye Jehovah, for Jehovah is good; be remembered us in our low estate; for his mercy endureth for ever. I will praise thee, O Lord, my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify thy name for evermore; for great is thy mercy toward me, and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. He sent an angel from the celestial glory to announce his birth; and a multitude of the heavenly host to proclaim, Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, and good will to men. He spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all-and shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ; in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.-Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name; who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction, and crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies. As the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. The mercy of Jehovah is from everlasting to everlasting, upon |