The _goodness_ of God to the inhabitants of the earth, is also displayed in the revolving seasons. When the almighty Creator took a survey of all the works his hands had made, he saw that they were good; not only conformable to eternal reason, but proper to answer the end for which he designed them. And this goodness manifested in the formation of the world, is not more clearly discovered in any thing than in the return of day and night, heat and cold, summer and winter. We are pleased with the light in the morning, but it is after we have rested well in the night: when a few hours are spent, we grow weary of the light, and wish for the return of the silence and darkness of the nocturnal season. After a long cold winter, we joyfully welcome the approach of summer; but when scorched a few months with its heat, and ready to faint, the return of winter is not so unpleasant to us as it appeared more early in the spring. But whatever effect these successions may have upon us, it is certain they are very beneficial. The light of the day is advantageous for managing the toils and business of life; and the coolness and stillness of the night are as suitable for rest and sleep. The summer’s heat is necessary for ripening the fruits of the earth, and hastening the harvest: but the winter’s cold and hoary frost are subservient to prepare the earth for the seed, and render it fertile. Nay, this dreary season is serviceable both to man and beast; it tends to remove distempers contracted in the summer’s unwholesome air, and gives a new spring and vigor to nature. How great, then, is the Divine goodness in preserving the constant and regular revolution of these seasons, so pleasant and beneficial to mankind! “Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.”