venience which he must suffer. He can blame himself only, for departing from the rule of duty.

17. The animal kingdom, as well as the vegetable, is full of mystery. The structure of the bodies of animals, presents objects of wonderful contrivance; and particularly the form and arrangement of the vital parts; parts which are essential to life. We know that respiration, and the circulation of the blood, are essential to life; and these are carried on without any effort on our part. But although we are acquainted with the organs, the lungs which receive the air inhaled in breathing, and the heart which receives and drives the blood through the arteries to every part of the body; yet we are not able fully to understand the cause which keeps the whole machinery in motion, from infancy to old age.

18. The wonders of this admirable structure are greatly increased, when we consider the connection of the intellect or soul with the body. The soul, or spiritual part of man, is that which thinks and reasons. Of the essence of the soul we know nothing. We know only its operations or effects. We think, we reason, we judge, we will, or form determinations, which lead us to action; but how the will, or an act of our spiritual part, can act upon the muscles to produce motion, we are totally ignorant.

19. We may be surprised at the operations of sight. We turn our eyes, and in an instant we see innumerable objects around us, and at various distances; we see objects approaching us which may expose our lives, and we shun them; we see things that we want, and direct our course to them; we spy objects of delight, and we contemplate them; we cast a look at the heavens, and in an instant we discover the shape and the color of worlds, at the distance of millions of miles; we survey the visible heavens in a moment, and thus we are able to contemplate the amazing wonders of creation.

20. Still more rapid is thought. We close our eyes, but the ideas of distant worlds are retained in the mind; our thoughts dart from the earth to the sun, or more distant orbs, in an instant; in an instant they are recalled, and fastened on a tree by our side, or on a cat that purrs at our feet; then they are instantaneously winged to a mountain or a river on the other side of the globe. Such are the operations of the invisible, but ever-active being, the soul, or spiritual part of man.

21. Most animals possess the like senses as the human race; and in many of them the senses are far more acute than in man. The perception of the dog, in smelling, enables him to follow the tracks of his owner to any distance; the sight of the hawk, or the eagle, discovers to him his prey from the loftiest hight. Nor is the reason of the brute, though more limited than that of

man, less wonderful. The horse and the ox have this faculty in a degree which enables them to learn and remember what is necessary to secure themselves from danger, and to do what their owner wishes them to perform. Instinct is a faculty, which, without the process of reasoning, directs the animal with unerring certainty, to select his proper food; and in wild animals, which are not under the protecting care of man, this faculty directs them, with certainty and uniformity, to provide themselves with food, and to find or form a place of shelter, and a nest or a lodge for their young. In their care of their young, the animals manifest the same affection and providence which are exhibited by the human race; and in defending them, their courage equals that of the boldest hero.

22. If the animal and vegetable kingdoms, with which we are conversant every hour of our lives, are full of incomprehensible mysteries, how can we be surprised that the existence of a Supreme Being, and his attributes and operations, should present to our contemplation objects equally incomprehensible? Men are prone to object to mysteries in religion, and to reject some of the doctrines of revelation, because they cannot comprehend them. But before men deny the truth of revelation, on account of mysteries, they should deny that they can, by an act of the will, move a foot or lift an arm; for they can no more comprehend the operation of the will upon the muscles, than they can the being and attributes of God.

23. There have always been men, called philosophers, who have attempted to pry into the secrets of creation, and discern what God intended to conceal, or what men have not capacities to comprehend. One philosopher makes a book, to prove that we have no innate ideas, or principles, that is, that we have no ideas before we are born, or that ideas are not born with us;· but that we derive all our ideas from sensation and reflection. Another writer makes a book, to disprove these opinions. Now we have no certain means of deciding this question; and if we had, the decision would be of no practical use.

24. Philosophers write largely on the subject of personal identity, endeavoring to show by what means we know to-day, that we are the same persons we were yesterday. This is a useless inquiry, at least as far as mankind in general are concerned. The truth is, we have a faculty given to us by our Creator, by which a man knows with certainty that he is the same person now, which he was at any former time. If a man engages to marry a certain lady, or to pay a certain note, at the end of sixty days, when the time arrives, he knows that he is the same person that made the promise, and never doubts the fact. By implanting in man this faculty or con

sciousness, the Creator has saved us the trouble of reasoning on the subject.

25. In like manner, many books have been written respecting the freedom of the human will, to ascertain how far a man's will is determined by his voluntary choice, or by circumstances over which he has no control. But without any decision of this question, we have a consciousness that we are free to choose good or evil; so that we feel guilty, if we do what we know to be wrong. This consciousness is given to us by a wise appointment of the Creator, for the purpose of regulating our choice, and for deterring us from sinning, by the fear of punishment.

26. Suppose a philosopher should attempt to discover the particular formation of the tongues of different animals, in order learn the reason why one animal will eat flesh only, and another will eat nothing but herbage. He might write a folio on the subject, and fill it with conjectures, but probably he would be disappointed in his object, and never discover the causes of the different tastes of animals. And if he could, his discoveries would be of no use. Observation and experience give us all the knowledge we want on this subject.

27. The true wisdom of men, is, to be humble; to strive to learn what is useful and practical in the affairs of life; and what is necessary for securing the favor of the Creator. Our proper business in this life, is, to make ourselves comfortable; to avoid the evils and pains of life as far as possible; to be good ourselves, and to do good to others; and by conforming to the laws of God, in this life, to qualify ourselves for the enjoyments of a better state of existence. "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom;" and without this fear of God, or true religion, all the arts, and science, and knowledge in the world, do not constitute true wisdom.

God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. Trust in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not to thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct thy paths.

Be not wise in thy own eyes: fear the Lord and depart from evil.

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

Wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

The way of transgressors is hard. The way of the wicked is as darkness; they know not at what they stumble.

1. Benjamin Franklin, one of the most distinguished patriots and philosophers of America, was born at Boston, in the year 1706. His father was Josiah Franklin, who came to New England with his wife and three children, about the year 1682. He had fourteen children, by two wives. Of these, Benjamin was the youngest of the sons, and the youngest child, excepting two daughters.

2. Benjamin was intended by his father for the church, and at eight years of age he was sent to a grammar school; but his father not being able to give him a collegiate education, he was removed to an English school, for learning writing and arithmetic.

3. At ten years of age, Benjamin was taken from school, to assist his father in his occupation, which was that of a tallowchandler, and he was employed in cutting the wicks and filling the molds. This business did not please him. He had a strong propensity for the life of a seaman, and very early made himself a good swimmer; but his father opposed his inclination.

4. Franklin continued in the occupation of his father for two years; when his father, discovering his aversion to the business, attempted to discover what business would be more

agreeable to him, and for this purpose took him to the workshops of several mechanics. At length his father decided that he should be a cutler, and placed him with a cousin on trial. But the premium for apprenticeship being too high, he was recalled.

5. Franklin, from his earliest years, was passionately fond of reading, and expended what little money he could procure, in purchasing books. This circumstance determined his father to make him a printer. His brother, in 1717, returned from England with a press and types, for establishing a printing-house in Boston. This occupation was less disagreeable to Franklin than that of his father; though he still retained his predilection for the sea.

6. Franklin was apprenticed to his brother when twelve years of age, and made such progress in the business, as to become very serviceable to his brother. He was remarkably diligent and faithful; but he embraced every opportunity to borrow books for reading; and when a borrowed book was to be returned the next day, he often passed the greatest part of the night in reading.

7. At length a tradesman, who had a good collection of books, invited Franklin to see his library, and lent him books at pleasure. He then took a strange fancy for poetry, and composed little pieces, one of which was a sailor's song on the capture of the noted pirate Blackbeard. These, he says, were wretched verses, but they were printed, and he was dispatched to run about town to sell them.

8. Some of Franklin's verses had a great run, and this flattered his vanity; but his father checked his exultation, by ridiculing his poetry, and telling him that versifiers are always poor. He thus escaped the misfortune of being a wretched poetaster. But his love of books and his efforts at writing contributed to form his style, which afterwards proved very useful to him.

9. About this time he became intimate with a young man named Collins, with whom he entered into a controversy in writing, on the subject of female education. Some of the papers fell into the hands of his father, who told him that his spelling and pointing were better than those of Collins; but in elegance of expression, arrangement and perspicuity, Collins was his superior.

10. Franklin being convinced of the justness of his father's remarks, set himself to improve his style. At this time, an odd volume of the Spectator, by Addison, fell into his hands; he read it again and again, was enchanted with the style, and wished he could imitate it: and it is certain that in ease and perspicuity, Franklin's style very much resembles that of Addison.