mouth, lips, and teeth, are consonants. The communication between the nostrils and the mouth much facilitates our pronunciation; hence when this channel is obstructed we experience a great change of voice.

Having thus generally considered the parts necessary to the formation of the voice, let us reflect a little upon its beauties and advantages. By the means of the voice we have been enabled to become a civilised people, and have obtained all the blessings peculiar to that state. We find when it pleased God to confound the impious builders of Babel, he had only to render their language unintelligible to each other, and the work could not proceed. Consider it in all its consequences with regard to society, and it will be found that, without the means of rendering ourselves understood by our companions, social intercourse must cease. Besides, there is something so fascinating in some of the modulations of the voice that they penetrate our souls, and we acknowledge their influence from the bottom of our heart. A pleasing and soft voice, tuned to the language it utters, is irresistible; and we often, from the tone of the voice, judge of the temper of the mind. Let us then, since experience teaches us this pleasing gift may be improved by attention, spare no pains in its cultivation, and offer up our thanks to the Almighty for bestowing upon us a treasure without which life would not be desirable; a treasure which by our own exertions we can make still more estimable: and may we never be found amongst the number of those who misapply this heavenly gift, but ever convert it to the benefit and pleasure of our fellow-creatures!

JANUARY XXII.

Necessity of reflecting upon God.

I ADDRESS myself to those who seek with laudable solicitude to derive edification from every occurrence. I wish to induce you, by regarding the different changes of nature at this season, to be led to reflect upon the wonders of God, whose glory shines now equally manifest as at every other time. Whilst you behold the earth covered with snow, rivers arrested in their course by the frost, the trees stripped of their foliage, and all nature wild and desolate, think of the reasons which alone can influence Providence in this change, which you will find to be for the benefit of the whole creation. If, from the contraction of your mind, the narrow limits of your faculties, you can scarcely comprehend the smallest part of the designs of God, let it satisfy you to know that the snow, the ice, and all the phenomena which winter presents, are comprehended within the plan of Supreme Wisdom for the well-being of created nature.

You can no-where cast your view, but objects present themselves to call forth your piety; when you see the snow melt, the ice dissolve, and day after day. glide with rapidity, you may reflect upon the short and uncertain span of life. If all the comforts which ease and affluence can impart are within your possession, think of those unfortunate people who, destitute of the common necessaries of life, are sinking beneath the rigours of the season, and whom you are loudly called upon to assist with a portion of your superfluities. But, above all, cultivate your mind; supply it with those rich materials of knowledge which no earthly power can bereave you of; and whilst you thus enlarge your mind, keep alive all the feelings of your heart, let it ever pulsate to the happiness of your fellow-creatures, and never die but

from the misery you cannot relieve. You will then be able to regulate your passions, to disregard sensuality, and rise superior to all trifling and sordid emotions. You will never have occasion to fly to dissipation to enable you to pass the tedious length of the day; whilst others are indulging in debauch, and in sinful pleasures, you will, from the workings of your mind, and from the contemplation of the works of God, whether you are in the privacy of retirement or in the company of those whom you love and esteem, find pleasures the most exquisite, because they are pure and unalloyed, and permanent, because they are furnished by the mind, which lives for ever. Whatever tends to abstract our thoughts from the petty occurrences of terrestrial objects, and fix them upon God and the effects of his wisdom, advances the dignity of our nature, renders our minds noble and elevated, and diffuses over the soul a sensation of that felicity which we have reason to believe is the portion of the angels of light; and the continuance of which, according to our several degrees of merit, we may hope to experience in the blessed regions of eternal purity and truth.

JANUARY XXIII.

The Fear of Apparitions.

DURING the long dark nights of winter many people are troubled with a ridiculous fear of apparitions. At the period when the natural imbecility of man was more a prey to superstition than it is in this more enlightened age, such idle fears were less reprehensible, because they were imbibed in childhood, and communicated through the impressive medium of religion. But that such notions should still disgrace an intellectual people is remarkable. It

shows how ready the invention of man is to be employed in conjuring up monsters, and in tormenting himself: as if there were not already enough of real evils to afflict him, he creates imaginary ones, and becomes wretched because he thinks he is so. How wretched is the miser through his fear of thieves; the misanthrope, from his doubt and mistrust of all who surround him; and the discontented man, from dissatisfaction with his condition, and anxiety for the future! Hence let us learn to guard against the illusions of the imagination, which not only during the night presents spectres to our view, but also, in the daytime, often deceives us by painting vice in alluring forms and attracting colours. Happy should we be if we were as eager to fly from the temptations to evil as we are from the imaginary terrors of an apparition.

Whence is it that some people, whose courage in real danger never shrinks, are violently affected by these chimeras? Because their imagination clothes its objects in colours much more glowing than they really possess, and in this case, being perverted before reason can operate, terror has completely possessed the mind. Admitting the existence of spectres, why should the return of one from the dead so horribly shake our nature, when we live in the certainty of being one day transported into a world of incorporeal beings? Though we are convinced that every moment brings us nearer to the presence of the eternal God, we feel no fear from such a conviction; yet were an apparition at midnight to interrupt our repose, and announce the decree that we must soon follow it to an unknown country, the boldest amongst us would feel an emotion of terror, and await the event with the utmost torture of suspense. Yet we regard not the voice of the Most High, which cries, Preparé, O Israel, to meet thy God!" Let us not give up our minds to unnecessary alarms, but rather fear that Being at whose coming the hearts of the

bravest will be appalled, and the wicked shall call upon the mountains to hide and the hills to cover them. Fear to do that which is contrary to the will of God, and you may banish every other fear, and sing with David, "The Lord is my light, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my soul, of whom shall I be afraid?"

JANUARY XXIV.

Subterraneous Fires.

THERE are certain phenomena occasionally observed which strongly prove the existence of subterranean fires. Terrible eruptions of inflammable matter, from time to time, take place. The two most known and most considerable mountains which produce these effects are, Etna in Sicily, and Vesuvius in the kingdom of Naples. The accounts given of these two volcanoes are very terrible. At different intervals vast eruptions of fiery matter issue. Sometimes only a black vapour is seen to arise, and at the same time are heard hollow rumbling noises, often succeeded by strong flashes of fire, and peals like thunder, accompanied with the sensation of an earthquake. The vapour then becomes luminous, and showers of stones and lava are evolved, part of which falls again within the crater, though enough of them fall without to lay waste the neighbouring country, and they are sometimes whirled to a considerable distance. These terrible explosions are sometimes even more violent. With the noise of thunder, torrents of burning sulphur, and liquid metals, enveloped with clouds of ashes and smoke, are hurled to an immense distance; rocks, upborne by the force of the explosion, fall with a dreadful crash, and cataracts of fire pour down the steep of the mountain; the deluge sweeps over villages, planta