the blessings of God, and consider the relation in which we stand to
him as our Creator and Benefactor. Who can tell the value of
existence, or number its countless joys? What a wonderful production
is man! He has given us the most beautiful symmetry of parts,--has
moulded our limbs with accuracy, and freely bestowed these admirable
lineaments of form! He has formed the ear for sound, and awakened in
its vocal chambers the flowing charms of music, the harmony of
rejoicing nature, the dear voices of parents and children, and the
sweet whisperings of love and friendship! He has moulded the
transparent eye, bedded it in its bony socket, and on its retina
painted the universe! He has bid it not only to disclose, all the
varied passions of the soul, but to roll with softness and affection
on the fond companion of our ways, on the countless beauties of
nature, and bid it with infinite ease sweep the entire vault of
heaven. He has set in motion the warm current of life that rolls
through our veins, pouring nourishment, health and animation through
all the channels of existence. It is he who throbs the heart, who
heaves the lungs, and who bids the ten thousand complicated parts of
this organized frame move on. In all this, his goodness is every
moment felt, and yet we are thoughtless of these manifestations of his
loving kindness. They are so common that we have ceased to prize them.
When sickness and distress come upon us, it is then we learn the value
of health and ease, and are often awakened to the reality that the
Most High rules.

In view of the trials incident to life, we hear the Psalmist exclaim
"Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept thy word."
This seems to be the lamentable condition of man. When rolling in the
calm tide of uninterrupted prosperity, and rejoicing in the vigor of
health, he forgets there is a God, or becomes thoughtless that the