nal Being, whose power so gloriously manifests itself! O! let us never contemplate a tree crowned with leaves, a field covered with waving corn, a meadow enamelled with flowers, a majestic forest; let us never gather a flower, nor walk in a garden, without recollecting, that it is God who gives us the delightful shade of trees; that it is he who makes the flowers so beautiful, and gives us their perfume; that it is God who clothes the woods and meads with their beautiful verdure, so pleasing to the sight; God who gives life and happiness to every creature; God, through whom we have our existence, and enjoy the sweets of spring. MAY XXII. THE LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS. MAN, properly speaking, is the only animal who can be said to have language; and it is particularly by this circumstance that he shews his superiority over all other animated beings. It is by means of speech that he extends his empire over all nature: that he rises towards his divine Author: contemplates, adores, and obeys him. It is by this faculty, that he learns to know himself and all the creatures around him; and to make them serve for his use. Every animal but man is deprived of this faculty, because they are void of reason; and it is reason which capacitates us to learn languages, and the use of speech. But as animals make their wants and feelings known by natural signs; as they utter certain sounds, which express the sensations that affect them, one one may so far allow they have a sort of language. The variety of these tones, their number, their use, and the order in which they follow one another, form the essential parts of their language. To form a just idea of it, it is not necessary to have recourse to deep researches: it is enough to observe the animals daily before our eyes, and with whom we have a sort of intimate connection. Examine the hen with her chicks: if she finds any food, she calls and invites them to it. They understand her and come instantly. If they have lost sight of this tender mother, their plaintive cries express their anguish, and desire to see her again. Attend to the different crows of the cock, when a stranger or a dog comes into the poultry-yard, when a kite, or any other enemy appears, and when he calls or answers his hens. What do these lamentable cries of the turkey mean? See her chicks all on a sudden concealing themselves, and lying so quiet, one would say they were dead. The mother looks up to the sky, and her anxiety increases; but what is it she sees there? A black speck, which we can scarce distinguish; and this speck is a bird of prey, which could not escape the vigilant and piercing eyes of this mother. The bird of prey disappears. The hen gives a scream of joy. Her anxiety is.at an end. The chicks revive, and gather again happily about their mother. There is such variety in the language of the dog, it is so rich and fruitful, that it would be enough of itself to fill a dictionary. Who can be insensible to the joy that this faithful servant shews at the return of his master. He jumps, he dances, he runs here and there, turns quick and lightly round his master, stops all at once; fixes his eyes on him, with the greatest tenderness; draws near him; and licks and ca resses him repeatedly. Then, beginning his play again, he disappears, and returns dragging something after him; puts himself into all sorts of pret, ty attitudes; barks; tells every body how happy he is; and shews his joy a thousand ways. But how different are these sounds, from those noises he makes at the sound of a robber, or those he makes on seeing a wolf. If we follow a dog in the chace, we see how he makes himself understood by all his motions, and particularly with his tail. How well adapted his signs are to the discoveries he wishes to make! This affords us an opportunity to admire the wisdom and goodness of the supreme Being. What beneficent attention he has shown towards animals, in granting them the power to express by sounds their wants and feelings! From their organization, and the nature of their souls, it was impossible they should speak the human language; but they would have been much more to be pitied, and less useful to us, if the Creator had entirely deprived them of the power of making themselves understood. To compensate them for the want of speech, he endowed them with the address to communicate, by a thousand little ways, their feelings to one another, as well as to mankind. He has given them organs proper to produce and vary a certain number of sounds; and their make is such, that each species has particular and distinct sounds, by which they make themselves understood. In a word, the Creator has given as much force to the language of animals as their nature would admit of, and all that the end for which they were created required. The language of animals consists only in a number of inarticulate and imperfect sounds. They have no ideas, but those prompted by their senses; because they are incapable of learning a methodical methodical language. They only know objects by some qualities evident to their senses, to which all their judgements and comparisons are limited. As for us, we possess faculties in all respects much superior. We can rise to general notions, and separate the object from the qualities which distinguish it. We can, by means of an infinity of sounds (articulate and arbitrary), express all our conceptions. We can learn the connections which unite us to other beings, act in consequence, and thus ensure our happiness. O thou the Creator, what gratitude do we not therefore owe thee! Grant that we may never forget this important part of thy blessings; but, on the contrary, that each time we make use of speech, we may reflect on the excellence of our privileges, and the greatness of thy wisdom and goodness. MAY XXIII. THE GREATNESS AND NUMBER OF THE CREATURES ON THE EARTH. LORD, how great and numerous are thy works! We owe this testimony to the works of God. If we only knew those which the earth contains, how great is the extent of this globe, the abode of so many different nations! Mankind occupy vast domains; and yet how many solitudes and deserts are there, which have never been inhabited by man! Neither does the land, taken in the whole, fill near so great space as the sea, that prodigiously extensive element. But if the earth in itself is an example of the greatness of the Almighty's works, we cannot cast our eyes on the creatures it contains, without admiring the number and variety of them. In the first place, we find innumerable sorts of stones, minerals, and metals, concealed in the earth; then, what astonishing variety among the trees, the plants, the fruits and simples, which cover its surface! Notwithstanding all the pains that have been taken, to observe and class the different sorts of vegetables, it has never been compassed, nor will all the future efforts of naturalists arrive at it. Let us next consider the living creatures. What immense variety of them there is between the eagle and the gnat, the whale and the gudgeon, the elephant and the mouse! The disproportion is prodigious, and yet the whole space between them is filled with living creatures. The animal species come so near one another, that it is sometimes difficult to distingush the one from the other; yet that species is so multiplied, that, from the gnat to the elephant, they form a sort of chain, in which, each link holds by the preceding one. In seas, lakes, and rivers, on the surface and in the bosom of the earth, there is no place, which, some way or other, does not contain a living creature. Yet, however great the number may apof the animals visible to the naked eye, they pear cannot be compared to the number of those, which are too small to be seen without a glass. By the help of the microscope, almost incredible discoveries have been made, of which all may be convinced. There, in some measure, a new world presents itself, which was before utterly unknown to us. There, such living creatures are seen, that imagination itself can scarce form any thing so extremely small, since one of them is not near so large as the millionth part of a grain of sand. And it is not only their number and variety, it is also the |