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externally, than the worm beneath our feet! What hidden beauties and excellencies moft probably there are in nature, did we trace the productions of the Deity with that accuracy they deferve; what difcoveries of virtues and uses, yet latent, might poffibly be made?But be that as it may, let us not fail to remark (for it will kindle in us fervent defires to fee him) what beauty and excellence, fuperlatively grand and charming, must there be in him, who is the original fountain, the fource, the origin of all the beauty, goodness, and glory, manifeft in external nature! Thefe are, as it were, the glimmering out-lines of his own confummate and inexhaustible fections! How happy will they be, who fhall contemplate him, as he is, and fee the king, in his brightness, every obftruction and intervening object for ever removed!

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When a little infect is fraught with fuch elegance and utility, no thinking mind can fail gratefully to reflect on that inexhauftible bounty, wherewith the giver of all hath ftored his creation. For that the Cochineal is an infect, naturalits now feem generally agreed. It was heretofore fuppofed to be a vegetable production, a feed, or the excrefcence of a plant; but it is now acknowledged to be the female of an infect living upon the Opuntia, or Indian figs, on the juice of which it feeds. This plant, which in New Spain is called the Nopal, is a fpecies of the fig-tree; the leaves are thick, full of juice, and thorny. The inhabitants, who cultivate it, fweep from the leaves, at the approach of the rainy feafon, feveral little infects, that fuck the green plant. They preferve them in their own houses, and nourish them with the branches of the Nopal. When they are grown ftrong, and the rains are over, they put twelve or fourteen of them into

little panniers made of mofs, or the down that covers the cocoa-nut. Thefe panniers they place on the Nopal, and the Cochineal infects, in a few days, give birth to an infinite number of young. The dam's live but a fhort time after they lay their eggs, and are what may be called the firft produce. The young forfake the panniers, and difperfe themselves over all the verdure of the Nopal, and thrive to that degree in the fpace of three months, as to be prolific in their turn The fecond brood are permitted to live; but all their parents are fwept off, carried home, and killed the new offspring on the tree have alfo their young at the end of three or four months; but left they fhould all be destroyed in the rainy feafon, the inhabitants carry home their dams as well as their offspring, which is the third produce. A fufficient number of the young infects are preserved, to continue the fpecies of the next year, and all the reft are killed in hot water, or ovens, or upon flat ftones, on which the American women bake their bread. The infects that are destroyed in hot water are of a brown colour, inclining a little to red; those which are killed in the oven are of an afh complexion, and streaked like marble; and fuch of them as are cured on the ftone are black, and feem burnt. Their infide is filled with a beau tiful red duft. Thefe infects are fent to us dried, and half reduced to a powder, in which, without the help of a microfcope, one may diftinguish an oval body, fcales, and paws, or little pieces of them bruifed, and a small pointed trunk."

Thefe infects are often, in the curing of them, not totally deprived of life, or at leaft they are impregnated with eggs, which the heat fometimes brings to life. For Sir Hans Sloane tells us, in his history of Jamaica, vol. II. p. 153. That a Buccanier

a Buccanier affured him, that once fome of his comrades, joined with himself, had taken a prize: and there being in it much Cochineal, they lay on fome of the bags; and that (in confequence of their animal heat) it took life, and crept about. He mentions an inftance of the fame kind in another part of this work, and alfo tells us, that these infects are much coveted by the ants, the greatest enemies they have; to clear the fhrubs from which, the cultivators of them make use of foxes tails, as Herrera informs us.

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There are two forts of the Cochineal, we are told; the Martigne, which is efteemed the finest, and the wild, which is lefs valuable; the difference being occafioned only by the extraordinary care which is taken of the one, by fupplying it with food of a proper kind; the other living wild, without the like care. This valuable commodity is brought from Mexico, and fome other parts of South America; where the inhabitants find it fo very advantageous an article of commerce, that they make plantations of the Opuntia, and regularly breed and manage their crops, fending fuch vast quantities of it to Europe, that it is computed there is no less than eight or nine hundred thousand weight annually imported from Spanish America; with us it pays no duty."

But we must not forget to remark, that this curious infect ferves to other ufes than those of beauty and elegance: it is of great fervice to the human frame, and is applied constantly in phyfic, not only as a cordial, but as a kindly and effectual medicine in various difeafes!- Gracious Father of bounty, how kindly haft thou reached forth thy providential hand, and ftored the earth with innumerable blefings, to alleviate thofe oppreffive difeafes and maladies, under which human nature

labours!" The Lord hath created medicines out of the earth, and he that is wife," faith the fon of Sirach, “ will not abhor them.” The bark of a tree, the hard fubftance of an earth compacted ore, the body of a defpicable infect, are all-powerful in his hands, who worketh according to his own will, and whofe commanding word the moft obftinate difeafes inftantly obey!

Every object in nature serves to evince a creating, and fuperintending Providence. No man can fuppofe the Cochineal infect endued with thefe virtues by chance. But as a further proof, that it was defigned to the ends which we fee it anfwers, we may remark, that the plant on which it feeds, exactly correfponds, if I may so say, to its nature; and feems as much formed for, and adapted to it, as the mulberry is to the filk-worm. Thefe fo manifeftly indicate defign, that no man can doubt it; for were we to find a watch, which we perceived noted the time exactly, but at length ceafed to move; and were we afterwards to find the key of that watch, which, upon application, we perceived exactly fitted the aperture made for it, and by a proper circumvolution gave its motion again to the machine: We should not hesitate a moment to fay, that there was a defigning hand in all this, and that the key was certainly intended for the watch by the maker of it: Let us apply this reafoning to the Cochineal and its Opuntia, and we fhall adore the wife Creator. Happy, unspeakably happy, in his providential regard: For if he thus hath taken care for the meanest infects, infects too ordained for, and fubfervient to the ufe of man, how much more will he take care of thofe, who, by a dutiful and filial obedience, endeavour to render themfelves fit objects of his gracious concern?

CHRI

CHRISTIAN MONITOR.

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IMONIDES being asked by Di

SIMON

onyfius the tyrant what God was, defired a day's time to confider of it before he made his reply. When the day was expired, he defired two days; and afterwards, inftead of returning his answer, demanded still double time to confider of it. This great poet and philofopher, the more he contemplated the nature of the Deity, found that he waded but the more out of his depth; and that he lost himself in the thought, inftead of finding an end of it.

If we confider the idea which wife men, by the light of reason, have framed of the Divine Being, it amounts to this: That he has in him all the perfection of a fpiritual nature; and fince we have no notion of any kind of fpiritual perfection but what we discover in our own fouls, we join infinitude to each kind of these perfections, and what is a faculty in an human foul, becomes an attribute in God. We exift in place and time, the divine being fills the immenfity of space with his prefence, and inhabits eternity. We are poffeffed of a little power and a little knowledge, the Divine Being is almighty and omnifcient. In fhort, by adding infinity to any kind of perfection we enjoy, and by joining all these different kinds of perfections in one being, we form our idea of the great Sovereign of nature.

Though every one who thinks muft have made this obfervation, we shall produce Mr. Locke's authority to the fame purpofe, out of his effay on human understanding. If we examine the idea wel have of the incomprehenfible Su

preme Being, we shall find, that we come by it the fame way; and that the complex ideas we have both of God and feparate fpirits, are made up of the fimple ideas we receive from reflection: v. g. hav ing from what we experience in ourfelves, got the ideas of exiftence and duration, of knowledge and power, of pleasure and happiness, and of feveral other qualities and powers, which it is better to have, than to be without; when we would frame an idea the most suit. able we can to the Supreme Being, we enlarge every one of thefe with our idea of infinity; and fo putting them together, make our complex idea of God'

It is not impoffible that there may be many kinds of fpiritual perfection, befides thofe which are lodged in an human foul; but it is impoffible that we should have ideas of any kinds of perfection, except thofe of which we have fome fmall rays and fhort imperfect ftrokes in our felyes. It would be therefore a very high prefumption to determine whether the Supreme Being has not many more attributes than thofe which enter into our conceptions of him. This is certain, that if there be any kind of fpiritual perfection which is not marked.out in an human foul, it belongs in its fulness to the divine

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quiefce in, that the Sovereign Being, the great author of nature, has in him all poffible perfection, as well in kind as in degree; to fpeak according to our methods of conceiving; and when we have raised our notion of this infinite being as high as it is poffible for the mind of man to go, it will fall infinitely hort of what he really is. There is no end of his greatnefs: the most exalted creature he has made, is only capable of adoring it, none but himself can comprehend it.

The advice of the son of Sirach is very juft and fublime in this light. By his word all things confift. We may speak much, and yet come fhort: wherefore in fum, he is all. How fhall we be able to

magnify him? For he is great

above all his works. The Lord is terrible and very great; and marvellous in his power. When you glorify the Lord, exalt him as much as you can; for even yet will he far exceed.. And when you exalt him, put forth all your ftrength, and be not weary; for you can never go far enough. Who hath feen him, that he might tell us? and who can magnify him as he is? There are yet hid greater things than these be, for we have seen but a few of his works."

We here have only confidered the Supreme Being by the light of reafon and philofophy. If we would fee him in all the wonders of his mercy we must have recourfe to revelation, which reprefents him to us, not only as infinitely great and glorious, but as infinitely good and juft in his difpenfations towards man. But as this is a theory which falls under every one's confideration, though indeed it can. never be fufficiently confidered, we fhall only take notice of that habitual worship and veneration which we ought to pay to this almighty be ing. We should often refresh our minds with the thought of him, and annihilate ourselves before

him, in the contemplation of our own worthlessness, and of his tranfcendent excellency and perfection.' This would imprint in our minds fuch a conftant and uninterrupted awe and veneration, which is, in reality, a kind of inceffant prayer, and reafonable humiliation of the foul before him who made it.

This would effectually kill in us all the little feeds of pride, vanity, and self-conceit, which are apt to shoot up in the minds of fuch whofe thoughts turn more on those comparative advantages which they enjoy over fome of their fellow. creatures, than on that infinite di ftance which is placed between them and the fupreme model of all perfection. It would likewife quicken our defires and endeavours of uniting ourfelves to him by all the acts of religion and virtue.

Such an habitual homage to the Supreme Being would, in a particular manner, banish from among us that prevailing impiety of ufing his name on the moft trivial occa fions.

Mr. Boyle, that great philo fopher, had the profoundelt veneration for the God of heaven and earth. The very name of God was never mentioned by him without a paufe and a visible top in his difcourfe; in which, one that knew him, moft particularly, above twenty years, has faid, that he was fo exact, that he does not remember to obferved him once to fail in it.

Every one knows the veneration which was paid by the Jews to a name fo fo great, wonderful and holy. They would not let it enter even into their religious difcourfes. What can we then think of thofe who make, ufe of fo tremendous a name in the ordinary expreffions of their anger, mirth, and moft impertinent paffions? Of those who admit it into the most familiar queftions and affertions, ludicrous phrafes and works of humour ? not to mention those who vio

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HEN the traveller fhewed

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the lion the figure of a hero conquering one of his fellow-creatures, the favage aptly anfwered, That if lions were carvers fhould find twenty figures of their conquefts for one of their defeat: juft thus it fares with the generality of the world, in regard to many of the moral duties; the people who write upon them are all interested and biaffed in favour of one fide, and confequently fhew us the part they are of in all its ftrength and beauty, but cunningly conceal the other fide in fhades. We have multudes of treatifes among us on the duty of children to their parents; but as it unluckily happens that the people who write them are ufually parents themselves, and not children, we have the reciprocal duty of the parent to the child commonly but very foftly touched upon. But though the duty of the child is very neceffary one, yet that of the father is greatly more fo, and is infinitely of more confequence, as it regards not only himself, but the world in general. The ingratitude of a child to a parent may make a fingle heart ach, but the careleffness of a parent in the education, and in the forming the mo

rals of a child, reaches even to pofterity, as it lays the bafis of a depravity in a whole fucceeding age. The Lacedemonians, famous through the world for the wifdom of their government, laid a penalty on the father when the child committed a fault, as well judging that, in general, children are what their parents please to make them; and that he deferved as much punishment who furnished the common wealth with a bad member, as he who was of a vicious difpofition in himself. It is as old an obfervation as of Plato's time, that there was no action fo virtuous as the breeding up a worthy fon, nor any one fo univerfally neglected; and Crates, when he obferved his countrymen fo bufy in getting eftates, and fo careless of the perfons who were to inherit them, rallied them, by telling them they took great care of their fhoes, but left their feet full of fores. It is an unhappy thing that while we cannot but acknowledge the training up of the youth, the moft important of all concerns, we agree to leave it to the most improper of all people. How great a reproach is it to the world in general, that the Spartans and Cretans were the only people in it who ever made laws for the difcipline of their youth, while we leave them to perfons always prejudiced in their favour; and this without confidering that they are often alfo the moft worthless of men. Does not that government deferve the fevereft reproach which leaves the education of that youth, who is, perhaps, one day to be its greatest fupport, to the tutelage of a debauched and vicious father? and who is to answer to the world the leaving a tender and blooming innocent daughter to learn her principles of life from a mother feparated from her husband for adultery? What are we to expect from this, but that the children will ad up to the vices of their parents

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