strength is especially required for purposes of commerce. This is the elephant, without whose aid many kinds of labour could not be carried on. His astonishing strength enables him to bear a tower filled with armed men upon his back, or to assist in drawing heavy loads. For this purpose his legs resemble pillars, and his broad feet enable him to walk with safety; his senses of seeing and of hearing are remarkably acute, and, lest he should be oppressed with heat, he is in general merely covered with a skin. He could not endure a load of fur, and when harassed by stinging insects, he plunges into the nearest river. No animal is so intelligent and powerful, nor yet so gentle, for he rarely exerts his strength, unless to benefit his master.

If we look towards the temperate regions of the globe, a very different race of animals is every where conspicuous. Amongst these we recognise the genus Bos, which are spread throughout such portions of the habitable globe, as are susceptible of tillage, that no where may their services be wanting.

The rein-deer could not pass his frozen barrier without injury or deterioration; the camel would perish if removed from his sandy clime; the elephant could not live in this country with comfort; but, instead of these, we discover a race of valuable animals that are admirably adapted for every necessary purpose. The cow is often seen in the green-fields, to which domestication has assigned her, and beside her grazes the peaceful sheep; high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and our plains support a fine race of horses. Various kinds of dogs faithfully attend their masters, either as watches to keep off the nightly robber, or to guard the flocks and herds, to assist in hunting, and even to draw small carriages. The

instincts of all are various, and each species is beautifully adapted to the little sphere that it has to fill. The cat, too, man's humble companion, employs her services, whenever they are wanting, and the quiet donkey is ever ready to assist his master.

SEVENTH DAY OF CREATION.

THUS the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day, God ended his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

GENESIS ii. 1-3.

Here finish'd he; and all that he had made,
View'd, and behold all was entirely good;
So ev❜n and morn, accomplished the sixth day;
Yet not till the Creator from his work
Desisting, though unwearied, up return'd,
Up to the heav'n of heav'ns, his high abode,
Thence to behold this new-created world,
Th' addition of his empire, how it show'd

In prospect from his throne, how good, how fair,

Answering his great idea. Up he rode,

Follow'd with acclamation, and the sound

Symphonious, of ten thousand harps, that tun'd
Angelic harmonies; the earth, the air,

Resounded.

The heav'n and all the constellations rung,
The planets in their stations list'ning stood,
While the bright pomp ascended jubilant,
Open, ye everlasting gates! they sung,
Open, ye heav'ns! your living doors; let in
The Great Creator, from his work return'd,
Magnificent; his six days' work, a world;
Open, and henceforth oft, for God will deign
To visit oft the dwellings of just men,
Delighted; and with frequent intercourse,
Thither will send his winged messengers
On errands of supernal grace. So sung

The glorious train ascending: he through heaven,
That open'd wide her blazing portals, led
To God's eternal house direct the way,

A broad and ample road, whose dust is gold,
And pavement stars, as stars to thee appear,
Seen in the galaxy, that milky way,

Which nightly as a circling zone thou seest
Powder'd with stars."

MILTON.

Such was the day of rest, that day on which the Almighty ceased from his work, when he contemplated the glories of creation, and pronounced that all was good.

Great and inestimable blessings have ever been derived from a due observance of the sacred ordinance which appointed that all time should be measured by a perpetually recurring calendar of seven days. For while the Most High stationed in the heavens those glorious luminaries which divided time into large portions, and attracted the attention to natural objects, he also provided by the sanctification of the seventh day, a distinct calendar that should direct our thoughts especially to Himself. The first day of creation commenced the first year, and the first month, as shewn by the phenomenon of the fourth day; and the end of the first week was testified by the sanctification of the seventh day. This was evidently the order in which the new creation and the system of time began,