THE CHRISTIAN NATURALIST. 191 



observes a sacred writer, ** passeth away and another 

 Cometh, but the earth abideth continually." Surely 

 nothing but a divine arrangement could have thus pro- 

 vided for a continual succession ; and when Adam had 

 lost his privilege of being immortal upon earth, have 

 ordained a constant renewal of his posterity from age 

 to age, till the end of all things. If, therefore, in the 

 present season, we behold a monument of desolation, 

 we see also a memorial of God's care and providence ! 

 We observe another instance of the mysterious man- 

 ner in which death and life are linked together ; how 

 provision is made for things future, even from the 

 destruction of things present ; and how in the moral 

 world, as in the natural, God does not suffer indi- 

 viduals or generations to pass away, till they have 

 fulfilled their course, and their places are prepared to 

 be supplied by others. Thus we learn in silence to 

 adore the all-wise decrees of his Providence, who 

 neither suffers a sparrow nor a leaf to fall to the 

 ground without his knowledge ; who is the same God, 

 yesterday, to-day, and for ever, whether he permits 

 his works to be ravaged by the hand of the destroyer, 

 or whether he sends forth . his creative Spirit and re- 

 news the face of the earth. (Psalm civ. 29 — 31.) 



