213 



though clogged with the mest incumbering loads. They 

 make the ponderous mill-stones move as swiftly as the 

 dancer's heel ; and the massy beams play as nimbly as the 

 musician's lingers. 



*' In the higher regions there is an endless succession 

 of clouds, fed by evaporations from the ocean. The 

 clouds are themselves a kind of ocean, suspended in the 

 air. Tiiey travel in detached parties, over all the ter- 

 restial globe. They fructify by proper communications 

 of moisture, the spacious pastures of the wealthy, and 

 gladden with no less liberal showers the cottager's little 

 spot. Nay, they satisfy the desolate and waste ground* 

 and cause the lud of ike tender herb to spring forth : 

 that the natives of the lonely desert, the herds which 

 know no master's stall, may nevertheless experience tht* 

 care of an all-supporting parent. 



" How wonderful ! That pendant lakes should be 

 diffused, fluid mountains heaped over our heads, and 

 both sustained in the thinnest part of the atmosphere. 

 How surprising is the expedient which without ressels 

 of ton or brass, keeps such loads of water in a buoyant 

 state ] Job considered this with holy admiration. Dost 

 thou know the balancings of the clouds 1 How such pon- 

 derous^ bodies are made to hang in even poise, and ho- 

 ver like the lightest down ? He bindeth up the waters in 

 his thick cloud : and the cloud, though nothing is more 

 loose and fluid, because by his order, tenacious as casks 

 of iron,, is not rent under all the weight. 



" When the sluices are opened and the waters descend, 

 one would think they should pour down* in torrents. 

 Whereas instead of this, vvnich would be infinitely per- 

 nicious, they coalesce into globules, and ajre dispensed 

 in gentle showers. They spread themselves as if strained 

 through the orifices of the finest watering pots, and form 

 those small drops of rain which the clouds distil upon 

 man abundantly. Thus instead of drowning the earth, 

 aud sweeping away its fruits, they cherish universal 



