Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

same effect as the stone produces in the water. While the person who speaks is uttering the word, he expels (with more or less force) the air out of his mouth; that air communicates to the outward air which it meets, an undulating motion, and this agitated air comes and shakes the stretched membrane of the drum in the ear; this membrane, thus shaken, communicates vibrations to the air which resides in the cavity of the drum; and that strikes the hammer; the hammer in its turn strikes the other little bones; the stirrup transmits to the nerves, through the oval orifice, the motion it has received; and they then vibrate like the strings of a fiddle. This motion gains strength in the labyrinth, and reaches to what is properly called the auditory nerves. The soul

then experiences a sensation proportionable to the force or weakness of the impression received; and, by virtue of a mysterious law of the Creator, it forms to itself representations of objects and of truths.

God, in order to make us more sensible of his general goodness towards mankind, permits, now and then, that some should be born deaf. Must it not teach us to value highly the sense of which they are deprived? The best way to prove our gratitude for so great a blessing, is to make a good use of it.

APRIL

APRIL VI.

THE MILKY WAY.

WHEN we examine the sky at night, we perceive in it a pale and irregular light over our heads; a certain quantity of stars, whose mixed rays form this light. This apparent cloud, or luminous tract, is commonly called the milky way. These stars are too far from us to be perceived separately by the naked eye; and between those which are visible through a glass there are spaces discoverable, which, to all appearance, are filled by an immense quantity of other stars, which even the telescope cannot make visible. It is true, that the number already discovered is prodigious; but if we could make our observations on another side of the globe from a part nearer the antarctic pole, we should then make still more discoveries; we should see a great number of stars which have never appeared on our hemisphere. And even then we should not know half, perhaps not a millionth part of the radiant bodies which the immense expanse of the heavens contains. The stars which we see in the milky way, appear to us no more than shining specks, yet they are much larger than the globe of the earth. Whatever instrument we make use of, they still appear as before. If an inhabitant of our globe could travel in the air, and could attain the height of 160 millions of leagues, those bodies of fire would still appear only like shining specks. However incredible this may seem, it is not a chimerical idea, but a fact which has actually been proved; for, towards the tenth of December, we were more than 160 millions of leagues

nearer

nearer the northern part of the sky, than we shall be the tenth of June; and, notwithstanding that difference, we did not perceive any difference of size in those stars. The milky way, so inconsi

derable in comparison of the whole space of the heavens, is sufficient to prove the greatness of the Supreme Being; and every star discovered in it, teaches us the wisdom and goodness of God. What are those stars in comparison of the immense quantity of globes and worlds which roll in the firmament! A late ingenious astronomer, by the help of a telescope of remarkable power, has confirmed, beyond conjecture, this account of the milky way, "That even our sun, and, "in consequence, our whole solar system, forms "but a part of the radiant circle. Many small "specks in the heavens, unseen by mortal eye, he "discovers to consist of myriads of stars; being, as he supposes, entire systems of themselves." Here reason stops and is confounded: To admire and adore is all that remains for us to do.

[ocr errors]

and

says,

Every time that the starry sky shall strike my eyes, grant that I may raise my thoughts to thee, O Lord. Adorable Creator! I confess, with shame and regret, how little I have thought of thee at the sight of the heavens; how little I have admired thy greatness, or praised thy power. Pardon this insensibility, this ingratitude. Raise this soul encumbered with earthly ties; raise it to thee, O Creator of heaven and earth. Grant that a lively sense of my unworthiness may incline me to humility: Then vouchsafe to raise me up again, by this sublime thought, that one day my redeemed spirit will soar above the region of the stars.

APRIL VII.

REFLECTIONS ON THE SEEDS OF PLANTS.

THE vegetable kingdom, to an attentive observer of the works of God, is a school where he learns the profound wisdom and unlimited power of that Supreme Being. Though we were to live an hundred years upon earth, and could devote every day to the particular study of one plant, there would still remain, at the end of that time, many things we either did not observe, or were not capable of perceiving.Let us reflect on the production of plants: Let us examine their interior construction, and the formation of their several parts: Let us consider the simplicity and variety of them, from the blade of grass to the highest oak: Let us try to learn the manner in which they grow, in which they propagate, in which they are preserved, and the different uses they are of to men and animals. Each of these articles will sufficiently employ the mind, and make us sensible of the infinite power, wisdom, and goodness of the Creator. We shall every where discover, with admiration, the most astonishing, incomprehensible order, and the most excellent design. Though we were to know no more of plants than those phenomena visible to every eye; though we were only to know that a grain of corn sown in the ground, shoots first a root down into the earth, and then shoots upwards a stem, which bears blossoms, branches, leaves, and fruit, and wherein are contained the seeds of new plants; this alone would be sufficient to prove the wisdom of the Creator. Let us consider for

once,

ence, with attention, all the changes which a grain of wheat goes through: We sow it in the ground at a certain time; this is all we can do. But what are the operations of nature, after we have thus left it to itself? As soon as the earth supplies it with sufficient moisture, it swells and bursts open the outer coat, which had till then concealed it in the root, the stalk, and the leaves. The root pierces through, and sinks deep into the earth, and prepares nourishment for the stem, which makes efforts to rise even with the earth. When it has arrived at this, it grows by degrees till it has attained its proper height. It opens its leaves, which at first are white, then yellow, and at last tinged with green.-—If we confine our observations to this grain of wheat alone, which is so necessary to our subsistence, what wondrous wisdom do we not discover in it! As soon as the outer skin is burst, and the root has shot into the earth, the stem ventures to spring up in the form of a very slender stalk; yet, weak as it appears, it is already strong enough to bear the intemperance of the seasons. By degrees it grows up, and becomes an ear of corn, the sight of which is so pleasing to mankind. The wheat is inclosed with leaves, which serve as a coat for it till it is strong enough to break through them, and is armed with points to defend it from the birds.

The fields of corn ought naturally to make us remember those fields where God lays up another seed. The human bodies deposited in the earth, are as seed sown, whose destination is to grow, and ripen for the harvest of eternity. We had as little reason, on looking at a grain of wheat, to expect it to produce an ear of corn (though the essential parts of it were in the grain), as we have

to

« AnteriorContinuar »