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or neatly fringed ; others are plain in their aspect, and please 

 with their naked simplicity. Some are arrayed in purple ; 

 some charm with the virgin's white ; others are dashed with 

 crimson ; while others are robed in scarlet. Some glitter like 

 silver lace ; others shine as if embroidered with gold. Some 

 rise with curious cups, or pendulous bells ; some are disposed in 

 spreading umbels, others crowd in spiked clusters ; some are 

 dispersed on spreading branches of lofty trees, on dangling 

 catkins ; others sit contented on the humble shrub ; some seated 

 on high in the twining vine, and wafted to and fro ; others gar- 

 nish the prostrate, creeping plant. All these have their par- 

 ticular excellences ; some for the beauty of their flowers ; others 

 their sweet scent ; many the elegance of foliage, or the good- 

 ness of their fruit ; some the nourishment that their roots afford 

 us ; others please the fancy with their regular growth ; some 

 are admired for their odd appearance, and many that offend the 

 taste, smell, and sight, too, are of virtue in physic. 



" But when we nearly examine the various motions of plants 

 and flowers, in their evening contraction and morning expan- 

 sion, they seem to be operated upon by something superior to 

 only heat and cold, or shade and sunshine ; such as the sur- 

 prising tribes of the sensitive plants, and the petals of many 

 flowers shutting close up in rainy weather, or in the evening 

 until the female part is fully impregnated : and if we won't 

 allow them real feeling, or what we call sense, it must be some 

 action next degree inferior to it, for which we want a proper 

 epithet, or the immediate finger of God, to whom be all glory 

 and praise." ****** 



" I don't dwell so long on the vegetable kingdom, as though 

 I thought the wisdom and power of God were only manifest 

 therein. . The contemplation of the mineral, and especially the 

 animal, will equally incline the pious heart to overflow with 

 daily adorations and praises to the grand Giver and Supporter 

 of universal life. But what amazing distant glories are dis- 

 closed in a midnight scene ! Vast are the bodies which roll in 

 the immense expanse ! Orbs beyond orbs without number, suns 

 beyond suns, systems beyond systems, with their proper inhabi- 

 tants of the great Jehovah's empire, how can we look at these 

 without amazement, or contemplate the Divine Majesty that 





