.58 



no med to detach roots into the ground, or forage . the 

 earth lor sustenance Instead therefore of pehetrating, 

 they are but just lacked to the bottom, and adhere to 

 some solid substance only with such a degree of tena- 

 city, as may secure them from being tost to and fro by 

 the agitation of the waves. 



"We see from this and numberless other instances, 

 \vhatdiver&ity there is in the operations of the great Cre- 

 ator. Yet every alter ition is an improvement, and each 

 new pattern has a peculiar fitness of its own. 



" Considered in another view, the sea is that grand re- 

 servoir, which supplies the earth with its fertility ; and the 

 air and sun are the mighty engines which work, without 

 intermission, to raise the water from this inexhaustible 

 cistern. The clouds as acqueducts convey the genial 

 stores along the atmosphere, and distribute ihem in sea- 

 sonable and regular proportions, through all the regions 

 of the globe. 



" How hardly do we extract a drop, /of perfectly sweet 

 waier from the vast pit of~b'rine? Yet the sun draws off 

 every moment millions of tons |n>aporcus exhalations, 

 which being securely lodged in the bottles of Heaven, 

 are sent abroad sweetened and refined, without the least 

 brackish tii (Hire, or bituminous sediment : sent abroad 

 upon the wn.-gs of the wind, to distill in dews and rain, 

 to coze in foui<tains, to trickle along in rivulets, to roll 

 from the sides of mountains, to flow in copious streams 

 amidst burning deserts, and through populous kingdoms, 

 in order to refresh and fertilize, to beautify and enrich 

 every soil in every clime. 



" How amiable is the goodness, how amazing the pow- 

 er o the world's adorable Maker I How amiable his 

 goodness, in distributing so largely what is so extensive- 

 ly beneficial ! That water, without which we can scarce 

 perform any business, or enjoy any comfort, should 

 stream by our houses, start up from the ground, drop 

 down from the clouds. Should come from the ends of 

 the earth, to serve us, from the extremities of the ocean ! 

 How amazing his power! That this boundless .mass of 

 fluid salt, so intolerably nauseous to the taste, should be 



