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the regions of the habitable world, and through all the past ages of revolving time, "ever since "the morning stars sang together, and the sons " of God shouted for joy," at the creation of all things. Since, therefore, their course is regulated by such an uniform and wonderful order, we must conclude, that it cannot be the work of chance, but is the result of his wisdom, who "formed all things.in number, weight, and "measure."

And indeed had they not been preserved, as well as at first formed, by infinite wisdom, it is impossible but that some confusion must have happened in the revolution of so many ages; since we know that the matter out of which all things are formed, could neither preserve and regulate its own motions, nor ward off that de cay to which all generated beings are ever subject by the established laws of nature.

To God, therefore, the Creator of all things, let us ascribe the glory of this wonderful work, and acknowledge with the Psalmist in my text, "The day is thine, the night also is thine;" thou hast made them both, and directed their course for the advantage of the lower world, for the benefit and pleasure of mankind.

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And to both these they are in a wonderful manner adapted: for when our eyes have been long closed in the shades of darkness, it is impossible not to feel pleasure as well as advantage from the cheerful light of the dawning day. It awakes the speculative to the contemplation of the works of Providence, and rouses the industrious to their daily task of labour :-it calls forth the powers of vegetation for the use of man, and inspires the several ranks of the animal world with strength and vigour for his service:-it dispels the gloom of solitude and darkness, and opens the way for the necessary intercourse of man with man :-it guides the skill of the mechanic, and directs the toil of the peasant; without which the world would become a second chaos, and society perish under the agonies of distress and the unsatisfied cravings of want.

And as for the night, though to undiscerning eyes it may seem less advantageous than the day, yet it has also its necessary uses to the world;it is the wonderful work of God, who is no less to be praised for the night than the day. Accordingly, the author of that excellent hymn in our Church Liturgy calls upon both to extol the wisdom of their great Creator: "O ye nights " and days, bless ye the Lord, praise him and inagnify him for ever: O ye lights and darkદર ness,

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ness, bless ye the Lord, praise and magnify "him for ever." And indeed great reason have we to bless God for the regular return of night. To the philosophic eye it gives the glorious opportunity of investigating the course of the stars and moon, even all that host of heaven which God hath ordained. It recruits the stores of the earth by its refreshing dews ;-it affords a necessary interval to all creatures from the toils of the day; it sooths the pang of sorrow, and alleviates the burden of care;-it softens the pains of sickness, and steeps in oblivion the torments of the wounded heart; and, what is of all the most important, it recalls us from the sins and tumult of the day, to God and ourselves; in the beautiful words of one of our own poets,

"Darkness the curtain drops o'er life's dull scene:
"'Tis the kind hand of Providence stretch'd out
"Twixt man and vanity: 'tis reason's reign,
"And virtue's too."

YOUNG, Night V.

It affords a solemn pause to the giddy and unthinking;-it gives us time and opportunity to reflect what we have been doing, and what we ought to have done;—it recalls to our minds by sleep the just image of death, that awful moment, when we shall sleep to wake no more;it reminds us of the necessity of always com

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mitting ourselves to his guardian care, who neither slumbers nor sleeps, when we consider how helpless and defenceless we are ourselves in the hours of silence and the darkness of the night.

Well may we, therefore, ascribe the wisdom and order of these things to God, the wise Author of all things." The day is thine, the night "also is thine," thou all-merciful Parent of nature." Thou hast also prepared the light and "the sun:" from thee he derives his glorious beams, which disperse light and life through the universe. It was thy almighty arm which first hung his all-streaming lamp in the firmament of heaven to rule the day: it was thy almighty arm that directed the moon in her course to rule the night: Thou madest the stars also. To thee, therefore, be ascribed the glory of these great and wonderful works, by whose power alone they are and were created!

The second work of God mentioned in the text, is the distribution of the earth into its several bounds and portions:-" Thou hast set all "the borders of the earth."

By which we are to understand all the bounds of the earth in general, of what nature soever

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they are; all of which are set and determined by the peculiar providence and designation of God. The earth itself is a solid body, suspended in the middle of the fluid air, and revolving in its appointed orb, without any other support than that wonderful law of centripetal attraction which it first received from the hand of Omnipotence. The sea is a fluid mass of water whose bounds are so fixed by the same almighty hand, that though it rage it cannot prevail against them, neither turn again to cover the earth: for such is the power of the great Lawgiver of nature, that even the earth and air, the winds and seas, with all their boisterous powers, obey him:-as he spake, and they were made, so he hath made them fast for ever and ever; he hath given them a law which shall not be broken.

But besides this general disposition, which regulates the motions and position of the earth, with its several parts and appendages, it is also divided into several distinct regions, each of which have their proper boundaries.—And it is God alone who has assigned all these bounds to the earth, and given to every country its proper limits. And though men, fired by ambition, or avarice, or revenge, overleap these mighty fences of Providence, and carry war and desola

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