58 THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 



creatures, been brought about. No ; most thankfully, no . 

 Then would matters have been far less harmoniously, far less 

 benignantly arranged. It is our greatest consolation to feel 

 assured that all the physical changes which this earth has un- 

 dergone, and every renovation of its inhabitants, have been 

 from the beginning foreordained by that all-wise and all-power- 

 ful Being, in whose presence (and we are ever in His pre- 

 sence) the best and greatest of us would be crushed into 

 nothingness, did we not, -to our comfort, believe that He is 

 not the Creator merely, but the Father and Protector of every 

 animated creature. " These wait all upon Thee, that Thou 

 mayest give them meat in due season. When Thou givest it 

 them, they gather it, and when Thou openest Thy hand, they 

 are filled with good. When thou hidest Thy face, they are 

 troubled. When Thou takest away their breath they die, and 

 are turned again to their dust." 



