ed into a fluid mafs. The land riseth into a flood. The prophet adds, "It is he that buildeth his ftories in the heavens, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the fea, and poureth them out on the earth; the Lord of hofts is his name." We have a fimilar defcription of God's power in the book of Micah. "The Lord cometh forth from his place; he will come down and tread on the high places of the earth, and the mountains fhall be molten under him, and the vallies fhall be cleft; they shall be as wax before the fire, and as waters poured down a fteep place." The fame allufions we find in the book of Pfalms. "The Lord is very great; he is clothed with honour and majefty. He covereth himself with light, as with a garment; he ftretcheth out the heavens like a curtain; he layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters; he maketh the clouds his chariot; he walketh on the wings of the wind. He laid the foundations of the earth; he covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters ftood above the mountains. At his rebuke they fled; at the voice of his thunder they hafted away." God's fovereign and abfolute difpofal of the mighty waters is adduced in the book of Job, as a demonftration of his fupreme and univerfal dominion. Thus fpeaks the Almighty to his fervant; "Who fhut up the fea with doors?—I made the cloud its garment, and thick darkness its fwaddling band. I brake up for it my decreed place, and fet bars and doors, and faid, Hitherto fhalt thou come, and no farther, and here fhall thy proud waves be ftayed." God's controuling power over floods and mountains was manifefted in a peculiar manner to the Jews, in their deliverance from Egypt, and introduction into Canaan. This is grandly defcribed in one of the Pfalms. "When

Ifrael came out of Egypt, the houfe of Jacob from a people of a strange language, Judah was his fanctuary, and Ifrael his dominion. The fea faw it and fled; Jordan was driven back. The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs. What ailed thee, O fea, that thou fleddeft; and thou Jordan, that thou waft driven back? Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams, and ye little hills like lambs! Tremble, thou earth, at the prefence of the Lord; at the prefence of the God of Jacob, who turneth the rock into ftanding water, and the flint into a fountain of water." The prophet Jeremiah alledges, as a proof of the infidelity, and even brutality of the Jews, that they revered not God's prefence, when they had before them the most striking evidences of it in the mighty fwellings of the waters, andtheeffectual restraints under which they were held. "Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding, who have eyes, but fee not; and ears, but hear not fear ye not me? faith the Lord; will ye not tremble at my prefence? who have placed the fand for the bound of the fea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pafs it; and though the waves thereof tofs themselves, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over."

Floods exhibit to us a grand and aftonishing fpectacle. They fwell the mind with the idea of awful and irrefiftible power. They fhew us the vanity and impotence of man. They demonftrate the prefence of an invifible Being, who alone maintains a dominion over them. They admonifh us to revere his fupreme majefty, and trust his continual care.

We fee evidences of God's providence every where, and every day, but common and daily occurrences, being familiar to us, are easily over

looked, or foon forgotten. Floods which are more rare appearances, unite their novelty with their grandeur, to attract the attention, affect the imagination and folemnize the mind.

2. Floods call our attention to the wisdom and goodness, as well as to the power and majesty of

God.

Settlements bordering on feas, or contiguous to large rivers, are fubject to inundations, which fometimes spread wide devaftations. Ordinarily, however, the tides of the fea, and the fwellings of rivers are fo difpofed, as to be beneficial, not injurious to mankind.

The land of Egypt, where rains feldom fall, de pends on the annual flowings of its river for the fertility of its foil. Low lands, bordering on large ftreams, are enriched by floods. Thefe may fometimes "wash away the things, which grow out of the earth;" but ufually they render the earth more productive. And it is happy that, though they are abfolutely beyond our controul, they are always under the direction of the great governour of nature.

If the vast quantities of fnow, which fall in the winter on the mountainous parts of the country, fhould be diffolved by copious rains and a steady warmth, the rise of floods, and the impetuofity of streams would spread extenfive ruin; and the erection of bridges, mills and water works would be a fruitless labour. To prevent this calamity, the fnow waters are ufually drained off in a gentle manner; vernal rains are fhort; warm days are followed with cool nights; the rifing flood is checked by a change of weather. Thus the fnows are taken off without imminent danger to man or material injury to property, and with fenfible benefit to the foil.

It is a kindness in providence, that high floods feldom come in that feafon of the year, when our fruits are in the field. Such repeated inundations, as we have seen of late, coming in midfummer, or in early autumn, would sweep off the fruits of our fields and meadows, and be followed with extensive scarcity. And if such unfeafonable floods were frequent, the rich intervales contiguous to rivers would be deferted, and our beft lands lie uncultivated.

It is an inftance of divine goodness, that floods are attended with fome degree of regularity, fo that ordinarily we know when to expect them, and what precautions to take for fecurity against

them.

Let us learn to trust that benevolent Being, who orders fnows and rains, storms and floods for the benefit of the human kind.

3. Floods remind us of our own impotence, and of our dependence on God.

We fee, that it is not in our power to order the time when they fhall come, or when they fhall retire; to prescribe the height to which they fhall rife, or the extent to which they fhall spread; to divert their course, or reprefs their impetuofity. All these circumftances are directed by a fuperior power-by him who gathers the winds in his fifts, and measures the waters in the hollow of his hand. Equally dependent are we in every thing equally impotent in every condition. But fuch scenes are now and then prefented to us, that impreffed with a sense of our weakness, and of God's governing providence, we may never trust in ourselves, but in all our ways may acknowledge him.

4. Floods, coming in an unusual time and manner, teach us the uncertainty of human designs and the precariousness of worldly property.

Floods though ordinarily difpofed in mercy, may fometimes come for correction. So Elihu obferves; "God by watering wearieth the thick cloud, which is turned about by his counsels to do whatsoever he commandeth on the face of the world; and he caufeth it to come, whether for correction, or for the land, or for mercy."

A general deluge was the judgment, by which God punifhed the wickednefs of the old world. Partial inundations have often spread defolation to a wide extent on lands adjacent to feas and rivers. The fwelling tide urged by violent winds has rushed in far upon the land, laid towns and cities waste, driven fhips from their moorings far upon the folid ground, where houses and ftores have ftood; and, at the fame time, has fwept houfes and ftores with their treasures and owners into the ocean, where fhips were moored. Rivers, raised by mighty rains or the fudden diffolution of fnows, have borne away with impetuous force the works and labours of men, their flocks and herds, their habitations and riches.

Such floods are to be regarded as calamities, not only to the immediate fufferers, but also to communities. They may, however, like other calamities, be useful in a moral view, to admonifh us of the vanity and inftability of earthly things, and to direct our thoughts to better objects. The late floods, coming in an unusual seafon, rifing one after another in quick fucceffion, and bearing on with them immenfe quantities of heavy and folid ice, have produced disastrous effects never before known, to such an extent, fince our country was inhabited.

We fee how eafily the hand of God can blast the expectations, fruftrate the defigns, and deftroy the works of men. Let us feek a city which