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the provisions for the production of sound by the human voice. In the upper part of the trachea, or canal by which the air enters and is expelled from the lungs, is a little oval fissure, capable of opening more or less, called the glottis as the opening of the glottis is very small, with respect to the capacity of the trachea, when air is forcibly driven through it, the velocity is considerably increased, and the lips of the glottis become violently agitated, occasioning those vibrations which produce sound: the sound thus formed is influenced by the cavities of the head, and even by the breast.

13. "The glottis not only produces the sound, but even forms the tones; and this is attributed to variations in its opening. It is capable of becoming wider and narrower within certain small Jimits: the fibres which compose it lengthen for the low tones, and become shorter for the high ones.

14. "To produce the various tones, the diameter of the opening of the glottis, which is but one-twelfth of an inch, must be varied there are modifications of every single tone, which require that this opening, small as it is, should be divided into 9632 parts, and even these parts are not all equal; some of them must therefore be less than the 9632d part of the 12th part of an inch; but so delicate is the ear, that this variation is immediately perceived. Speech,' as Rollin further observes, is one of the great advantages which man possesses over other animals: while it serves as a proof of his rational faculties, it enables him to employ them to the greatest advantage; but how wonderful that adjustment, how exact that mechanism, by which it is produced! At the first command of the soul, how many different parts are brought into action to form the voice!

15. "I have a thought which I am disposed to communicate to others, or a doubt which I wish to have solved: nothing is more intellectual, or farther removed from the senses, than thought. What vehicle is capable of transferring it to the persons who surround me? If I could not accomplish it, shut up in myself,-reduced to a solitary individual,-cut off from all commerce, from all conversation,-I should suffer inexpressible disquiet. The most numerous company, the whole world, would be but a frightful solitude. But Providence has relieved me from this by attaching my ideas to sounds, and rendering me master of those sounds. Thus, in the very moment, and at the precise instant that I am disposed to communicate my thoughts to others, the lungs, the throat, the tongue, the palate, the teeth, the lips, and an infinite number of organs concerned in it, are put in motion, and execute my orders with a rapidity which almost more than keeps pace with my desires. The air proceeding from my lungs in tones modified according to the variety of my sentiments, carries the sound into the ears of my auditors, informs them of all that passes in me, of all that I wish to communicate. Thus

ideas are conveyed and information diffused by a natural mechanism which we can never sufficiently admire.'

16. "While man resembles other animals in the structure of his body, which is merely the instrument of his will, he is by the gift of other powers placed on an immeasurable distance from them. By the faculty of reason he is distinguished from all other visible beings, and by the immortal part, or soul, which constitutes his very essence, he is capable of communion with his Almighty Creator.

17. "Inferior animals, in consequence of instinct, act in one uniform round; but man is a free agent, capable of comparing, of judging, and deciding: he is at liberty to adopt one mode of conduct in preference to another, and is therefore accountable for his actions. He, alone, can compare and reason; he, alone, is capable of perceiving those marks of contrivance and design,

that adaptation of all the operations of nature to one grand and beneficial result, which proclaim, in the strongest and most impressive language, that the whole must have originated from a Being infinite in wisdom, in power, and in goodness. But in vain does every thing which we behold conspire to force this great truth upon our notice, if we are so absorbed in the objects of sense as to be incapable of fixing our attention. How many do we see passing through life with no other ideas than those we may suppose familiar to the brute; but mark these men, so ar dent in the pursuit of what they call pleasure, are they completely satisfied with the gratification of their animal appetites? By no means. How many an aching void do they not experience; to what ennui and chagrin are they not subject: they cannot feel the satisfaction enjoyed by brutes, because they have higher destinies; because they have an immortal part: they know what the beast is ignorant of,-that the present life must terminate, and the involuntary sigh arises for something beyond it.

"18. Placed, then, in so commanding a station, endowed with such faculties and powers, let it be our business to cultivate them for the noblest of purposes. We have seen in the course of these lectures how far knowledge may contribute to our bodily comfort and convenience; how it tends to enlarge our views and expand our minds, and, consequently, of what importance it is to cultivate our intellectual part, and to do all in our power to diffuse light and knowledge among mankind in general; for this, by degrees, will put an end to that bigotry and superstition which tends to keep men in ignorance and a state of depression. Whenever we see attempts to put down schools, and to prevent the circulation of the Bible, we may always be sure that there is something wrong, something that will not bear the light.

"19. Though knowledge be power, yet every thing depends upon the use which we make of that power; and we shall all of us certainly be accountable for the proportion of talents received.

It is a humiliating consideration, that while all the classes of inferior animals are constantly found performing the will of God, the only exception is to be found in man :-in man, who alone has been endowed with the faculty of knowing his Creator :in man, who was destined to communicate with him in a spiritual manner, and who was placed here, as in a state of preparation, for the enjoyment, of his presence for ever. Good and evil are set before us: we are free to choose or to refuse; and we may be all assured, that in proportion to the degree of light and knowledge received, so will be the nature of the account at the final close; for justice is no less an attribute of the Supreme Arbiter of the universe than wisdom or power. But whilst the most courageous among the sons of men may be appalled at considering this attribute, yet our gracious Creator is equally distinguished by that of mercy, considering that we are but dust, He, in infinite compassion, provided the means, in the person of the Redeemer, for reconciliation with himself; and this is the only means by which those who are brought to a true sense of their condition can abide in the presence of infinite purity. I know that I am travelling out of the beaten road; but having undertaken, on the preceding evenings, to explain to you what I have been permitted to understand of the works of our Almighty Creator, and having discovered in them such wisdom, such power, such benevolence, can I refrain from pointing to Him, the Author of it all, and ascribing the glory where alone it is due. Can I, when speaking of the goodness so evidently displayed in the material world, forbear to advert to that greatest of blessings, which, in his infinite love, He has bestowed upon us by the coming of the Son of God in the flesh. When I feel a warm interest in your future happiness, and see clearly the path which will lead to it, and when I reflect that probably there are many of you present whose faces I shall see no more, ought I to refrain from speaking out boldly upon subjects of such unspeakable importance? I know that the views which I take are, unhappily, in some quarters, not very fashionable; that they are even humiliating to that philosophical pride which spurns at every thing beyond the comprehension of its limited capacity; but how far this is just, or reasonable, or really philosophical, we shall presently examine.

20. The Supreme Being, though not an object of our senses, like the masses of matter with which we are daily and hourly conversant, is, nevertheless, actively present with us, influencing that immortal part in his rational creatures, which is also of a nature wholly different from any thing in the material world, He must be deficient, indeed, in intellect, who cannot discover, that a power far surpassing any thing conceivable by human capacity must have been at work, in all that surrounds him. • In Him,' it has emphatically been said, we live, and move, and have our

being.' Invisible in his nature and essence, he is constantly influencing our minds to all that is virtuous. To Him we owe every good thought, every virtuous determination; and as He wills the happiness of all his creatures, we are sure that when we dry up the tear of the widow and the fatherless, when we suc cour the distressed and afflicted, when we endeavour to promote peace and good will among men, we are performing the will of God. To cherish these dispositions and feelings is of more importance than the great bulk of mankind imagine. They become stronger by exercise, and tend, by degrees, to bring the mind into that harmony with the Divine will in which there is not the least disposition to hurt or destroy.

"21. On the other hand, they shut themselves out from abundant sources of joy and consolation, who harden their hearts against these benign sensations; who, puffed up with a foolish pride in consequence of their imaginary attainments, refuse to believe any thing which is not cognisable by their natural senses and faculties. But until a part shall be proved to be greater than the whole,-until it shall be shown that finite can comprehend infinite, the well-regulated mind must look with sorrow and amazement at men undertaking to measure the ways and operations of Infinite Wisdom by their little standard, and giving rash decisions upon the conduct of the Supreme Intelligence,

"22. It would not be so much matter of surprise if these unhappy individuals were found only in the class of the uneducated and ignorant part of mankind; but what shall we say for those to whose eyes the ample page of science has been unrolled, but who, notwithstanding, with inverted ambition, have struggled to descend below the dignity of their nature, and claim kindred with the brutes, who know not God. To them we may apply the language of Addison: With the talents of an angel, a man may be a fool: if he judge amiss in the supreme point, judging right in all else does but aggravate his folly.'

"23. If, then, all that we admire in nature must have been the work of a kind and an almighty hand,-if we are convinced that all the powers we possess are derived from Him, and sufficient only to give us a faint glimpse of his infinite perfection,-is it too much to ask, that we should humbly trust in Him for what must be above our comprehension, and rely, with confidence, that in a future state of being, what is now merely the object of faith will then become matter of absolute certainty?

24. These are the applications which may fairly be made of all that has occupied our attention during the course of these lectures; and it is no small consolation to reflect, that precisely similar conclusions have been drawn from the same premises by the most distinguished ornaments of science. Sir Isaac Newton, Boyle, and Locke, together with other illustrious characters, who laid the foundation of all those discoveries which will render

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the present age so conspicuous in the annals of time, had exactly the same ideas upon these important subjects as those which have been brought forward this evening. These great men were not ashamed to acknowledge their conviction of the truths of revealed religion; and that, in tracing the links of the chain, which, beginning at the lowest orders of created beings, terminates at the throne of God, the most acute individual would soon come to a point below, as well as above himself, at which he could only pause and adore. Indeed, our very existence is not more certain than that of an overruling, superintending Providence-a conviction of his omnipresence has been the consolation of the wise and good in all ages of the world; and the effects of that conviction are described with peculiar force by one of the most elegant writers which this country has produced. The celebrated Addison exclaims: How happy is an intellectual being, who, by prayer and meditation, by virtue and good works, opens a communication between God and his own soul! Though the whole creation frown upon him, and all nature look black about him, he has his light and support within him, that are able to cheer his mind, and bear him up in the midst of all those horrors which encompass him. He knows that his helper is at hand, and is always nearer to him than any thing else can be, which is capable of annoying or terrifying him. In the midst of calumny or contempt, he attends to that Being who whispers better things within his soul, and whom he looks upon as his defender, his glory and the lifter up of his head. In his deepest solitude and retirement, he knows that he is in company with the greatest of Beings; and perceives within himself such real sensations of his presence as are more delightful than any thing that can be met with in the conversation of his creatures. Even in the hour of death, he considers the pains of his dissolution to be nothing else but the breaking down of that partition which stands betwixt his soul and the sight of that Being who is always present with him, and is about to manifest himself to him in fulness of joy.'

"25. As, then, the Supreme Being is not cognisable by our natural senses, and as the immortal part of man is also invisible, it is not inconsistent with reason to conclude, that the spiritual part of us may be immediately influenced by that power which created it: that He may in former times have communicated his will to intelligent beings in a supernatural manner; that these having recorded the impressions made upon them, a written revelation may have been entrusted to mankind. That this has been done in the case of the Holy Scriptures, we most firmly believe; for when we consider the tendency of the precepts, there given for the conduct of life, and how eminently they are calculated to promote the happiness and well-being of the human race, not only during the short period of their natural lives, but in the

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