NATURE. In the vast, and in the minute we see And wheels his throne upon the rolling worlds.-Cowper. THE capacity of man, that enables him, by observation and investigation, to grasp the works and operations of Nature, and, aided by Revelation, to comprehend God in every thing, is a strong evidence of the immortality of the soul, and of the vast powers of his mind. To trace the perfect gradation of Nature, from the smallest animalcule, up to the grand centre of the planetary system, is the province of man. He is privileged to enter the great laboratory of Nature-not to work, but to admire; not to dictate, but to be instructed. He there beholds a perfect whole, without a vacuumconnected whole without a discord; a separate independent whole, beautifully connected; each part moving by itself, yet each contributing to the harmony of the whole; and a single thing, unlike most of the inventions of man, performing separate and distinct offices. -a The atmosphere is the element of respiration; the conductor of light by refraction and reflection; and, by being decomposed, becomes heat, three grand essentials of life. The ocean sustains its myriads of inhabitants; and, although it is a great reservoir of salt water, by the joint action of the atmosphere and sun upon it, becomes the great fountain from which the earth is supplied with fresh. The sun warms, enlightens, controls time, motion, and space. The earth bears on its bosom, all that is necessary for man and beast, in almost endless variety; and in its bowels, the minerals that enable us, with greater facility and comfort, to reap the other bounties that surround us. View the mineral, the vegetable, and the animal kingdoms, as a connected harmonious whole, or separate; and then each part of each, separate, from the smallest grain of sand, up to the mighty globe; from the smallest fibre of the smallest plant, up to the majestic oak; from the smallest animalcule, that can be seen by the most powerful microscope, up to the crowning glory of creation-MAN-all is one united harmonious whole, in regular gradation, without an imperfect link. Who can contemplate Nature as it is, and doubt the existence of a God? None but the wilfully blind, and obstinately perverse. NOVELS. To me it seems, their females and their men Nay, creatures borrow'd, and again convey'd From book to book-the shadows of a shade.-Crabbe. NOVEL writers and readers, have increased, within the last half century, like rabbits in a clover field, and have produced and devoured more flowers, than esculent plants. Taken as a whole, from Fielding, Richardson and Smollet, down to the "JUST PUBLISHED,” the benefits that have resulted from the productions of novel writers, are like a kernel of wheat in a peck of chaff. Comparatively few of them inculcate morals, pure as those of the Pagan school, and fewer recom mend, much less, inculcate Christianity. Novel writing has become a profession, and novel reading, a mania. The one caters, the others devour, like the shark, every kind of food that comes in their way, labelled, "A NEW NOVEL.' As this class of readers seldom consult the Bible, Query, would it not be well to foil the devil, by publishing it in piece meal, with the above label? The name of the author presents the grand objection. I complain less of the name novel, than of quality and quantity. By being crammed with light and frothy trash, the mind, like the body with new cider, becomes affected with flatulency; a continuation of which, produces dyspepsia; this often results in dysorexia, and sometimes in dysthymia. Novel writing, is imagination playing upon imagination. The writer is a veteran, inured to the service; the readers, less accustomed to fatigue, are more liable to be overworked, especially if young. The one knows and treats the subject as fiction; the others often treat it as a dreadful reality. As a convincing proof to me, that novels vitiate the taste, and destroy a relish for stronger food, I can turn my mind's eye to several, whom I have seen weeping over a novel, and have seen the same person sit under the most vivid description of the crucifixion of our Saviour, with stoic indifference; showing, clearly, that this kind of reading neither improves the judgment, nor leads to a true estimate of persons and things. The same persons would look pale, if asked to read Paley on the Mind, and be locked in the arms of Morpheus, by Locke on the Understanding. Unsound and false thinking, often produce improper actions. Not unfrequently do weak-minded persons take the hero or heroine of a novel, as a pattern for imitation, and succeed about as well as a monkey would in distilling whiskey. The style of novels, some of them festooned with the gayest flowers of language, is calculated to give a disrelish for more solid and useful books; for habit is as quick to seize power, as an ambitious demagogue, and holds on with as much tenacity. If the Bible was read more, and novels less, it would be better. OCCUPATION. THE man who has no occupation is in a bad plight. If he is poor, want is ever and anon, pinching him; if he is rich, ennui is a more relentless tormentor than want. An unoccupied man cannot be happy-nor can one who is improperly occupied. We have swarms of idlers among us, the worst of whom are gentlemen idlers; that is, men who pursue no useful occupation, and sponge their way, often enjoying the luxuries of life, living upon the hard earnings of others the cancers of community-pseudo patterns of bipeds-leeches on the body politic. In this wide-spread and expanding country, no one need be without some useful occupation. All trades and professions are open, from the honest hod carrier, up to the highest place in the agricultural, commercial and mechanical departments, and from the humblest, but not least useful teacher of A. B. C., up to the pinnacle of professional fame. Those occupations that require manual labor, are the surest, most healthy, and most independent; surest, because they are more expansive; healthiest, because they give exercise to the physical powers; most independent because less exposed to the whims and caprice of public opinion. The two great professions, Law and Physic, are fearfully overstocked at the present time, and, melancholy as is the fact, parents are pushing their sons into this accumulating torrent, covered with floating wrecks, as indiscriminately as the Hindoos do their children into the Ganges. It is a sad mistake, an injury to the son, and to our common country. But a small portion succeed well, a few more make a mere living, but by far the largest portion struggle awhile with disappointment and poverty, and then go at some other business, or, what is more lamentable, become dissipated and ruined. Every boy should be taught some manual occupation, and every girl housewifery-no matter how rich the parents, or for what profession designed. Riches can be taken from us-our trade or occupation—never while we live. A profession may fail-we then know how to labor. I would especially caution parents against putting their sons to the profession of the Law. As people grow wiser and better, lawyers will be less needed. Physic has also lost much of its mystery-people are becoming their own physicians more and more. In the early history of our race, we read of neither lawyers or doctors, a strong hint that none were needed then-if the number of the former was now reduced three fourths, and that of the other one half, and the young flood dammed up for ten years, it would greatly increase individual happiness and the prosperity of our country. |