and what we have thought; but it is dark and indefinite to the person who hears it, because he · knows not the transient series of other ideas, which we have not been able to express at the same time with it in words;-for the tongue is infinitely slower than the swift course of thought.

When therefore in death the soul or spirit parts from the body, thinking does not end on account of the organs of speech becoming dust and ashes in the grave. Nothing is wanting to the soul except the means of communicating its thoughts to earthly natures. But that spirits are able still hereafter to act on other spirits, and to communicate also with them, without the intervention of fleshly organs-who can doubt?

Who has measured the infinite creative powers of Almighty God? As the earthly body in many things cripples the soul, and becomes its fetter, so is speech only a troublesome, difficult, and imperfect means of representing its swift inward motions. That which is better and more perfect remains reserved for it in freedom and in glory.

But, perhaps, speech is at the same time, by its natural difficulty, an excellent counterpoise to the volatile activity of the soul; the latter feels itself obliged to tarry longer on single objects. It acquires also, by that means, a deeper knowledge of them, and a more clear perception of their reality.

Thus arises the duty of mankind to give greater diligence to the perfecting of their language, partly in order that they may be more capable of communicating all their ideas to others-partly that they may be more clear themselves. He who can think distinctly, will know how to express himself distinctly; and, on the other hand, he who can make himself intelligible to others, shews that he has understood himself, and thinks with clearness. As a word may be considered the clothing of a thought, so is speech in general the image of the inmost soul. From the language of a nation we know all the traits and peculiarities of their mode of thinking, and of their general character.

He who, therefore, in love to his country, would preserve the virtues and peculiarities of his people, let him defend its language against every foreign invasion, and against all mixture with the languages of other nations. For to each individual that only is right, proper, and beneficial, which is natural to him ;-every thing foreign and imitated is merely borrowed, and does not really benefit, but rather disfigures and caricatures us.

You find a pleasure in decorating your person with costly or becoming clothes,-through them you mark your station in public life, your fortune, your rank. Now, if the spirit be more precious than the body, and language, as it were, the clothes of the

spirit, then do not take less trouble about your language than your wardrobe. By speech, you manifest the richness or poverty, and the rank of your soul, as well as that of your nation, compared with other people in regard to mental powers.

Every thing, O my Creator, which Thou hast given us for the increase of our perfection, is worthy of our grateful attention; and it is a matter of duty that we should use it wisely.

But language is one of the most excellent and valuable of divine gifts to the human race; through it souls on earth reveal themselves to one another, -through it we adore Thee, we pray to Thee, O Thou All-good! He who neglects this noble endowment, does he not rob himself of an inestimable advantage, and render himself incapable both of teaching and of learning what is salutary to him? Is not this to be esteemed neglect of one of the talents which Thou hast entrusted to us, and of the application of which we must give an account hereafter?

Praised be Thy holy name, and Thine eternal mercy, for the languages of all created beings,until we can praise Thee still more worthily, with the tongues of angels. Amen.

Ee

XXX.

THE GREATNESS OF GOD IN SMALL

THINGS.

PSALM CXXXIx. 14. 17, 18.

"I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with Thee."

CONTINUALLY do I turn back from the oppressive tumult of the world to Thee, O my Creator, and to the contemplation of the wonders with which Thou surroundest me. Here I ever find my sweetest recreation, and the most healthful renewal of my powers. Here I see the Majesty of Thine Omnipotence and Wisdom more splendidly displayed here, more strikingly, the proofs of Thine all-pervading, all-blessing goodness,—here, more distinctly, the effects of Thy watchful Providence.

And who could remain dumb, while the solemn hymn of universal nature ascends to heaven? Who

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could remain untouched in the splendour of that wide creation which surrounds us in such infinite variety?

Whither should I turn my eyes to observe most clearly the might and glory of the Creator?Should I number the worlds which beam from the nightly sky, as suns poised in the broad expanse? or admire the mysterious economy of the clouds, in whose bosoms storms and tempests dwell-with the vast waterfloods? Shall I investigate the properties of the elements, the wonderful materials of which the universe is formed; and whose harmony or discord fructifies or destroys the quarters of the globe?

God is great in all His works. Why seek Him in the distant spheres? His power and wisdom are not more sublime, nor more incomprehensible, in the paths of heaven, where worlds, suns, and moons revolve in unalterable orbits and undeviating regularity, than in the sap-vessels, veins and fibres of the smallest leaves of the smallest flower which expands its bosom in the sun-beam. The Lord is every where great, and every where like Himself— in the wide universe and in the blade of grass.

The life of a single plant should be sufficient to persuade the most obstinate sceptic of the existence of a Supreme Providence and Wisdom. But who can worthily or intelligibly describe, how a germ