COVERING OF THE HOUSE. 127 



placing your hand on it, or under the knee, 

 while you are bending a limb. But as the 

 matter is contrived by the great Architect, it 

 renders the arm very useful, gives it a good 

 shape, and ought to raise our thoughts in grati- 

 tude to infinite Wisdom. 



One illustration more. Suppose I am sit- 

 ting at church, with rny pew door open, and 

 wish to close it without disturbing anybody. 

 Shall I take hold of it near the hinge, so that 

 a little moving of my hand and arm will an- 

 swer the purpose, or shall I take hold farther 

 off? Again, suppose a rope were to do the 

 work would not one which should be tied 

 to the door close to the hinge, and then made 

 to shrink, say an inch, draw it together much 

 more than if it were tied at the distance of a 

 foot from the hinge ? It is true that, in shut- 

 ting a door by taking hold close to the hinge, 

 we must pull harder than if we did not ; and 

 so it is with muscles, like those which move 

 the arm. 



From the course of these remarks, I fear it 

 will be thought that there is only one muscle 

 concerned in bending the arm. The truth is, 

 that in performing almost any motion of the 



