,v>l' A C ,'v 
 
 \ N y< a \ 
 
 ji^^gjiiiatgH--
 
 ^
 
 F H f ).'■■"[' IS P [ hJ r f; 
 
 ''{ '^.TH:t''rj}:,L,iQ;;ig.]]2),
 
 THE 
 
 BOOK OF CEEATION 
 
 UNFOLDED ; 
 
 OB, 
 
 'S^St Creator as seen in ii% OTorifes: 
 
 INTERSPERSED 
 
 WITH ANECDOTES AND POETRY, 
 
 AND 
 
 INTENDED FOR THE INSTRUCTION OF THE YOUNG. 
 
 BY CHARLES HODDINOTT, 
 
 AUTHOR OF " THE GOD OF NATURE AND OF THE BIBLE," 
 &C. &C. 
 
 THIRD EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 HOULSTON AND STONEMAN, 
 
 65, PATERNOSTER ROW.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 The end in view in this series of publications, 
 (of which each part is complete in itself,) as well 
 as the peculiar method of the author in works of 
 this description, will be found explained in the 
 preface to "The Voice of Truth," and will not 
 here be repeated. 
 
 What I intend by the " Book of Creation," will 
 be evident to every intelligent reader, and there- 
 fore needs no explanation ; and those who are 
 conversant with my " Christian Shield" need not 
 be told, that the subject corresponds with that 
 of Essay II. in that volume; though they will find 
 but little similarity either in manner or matter. 
 
 On a subject like the present, where the mate- 
 rials are selected from so great a variety of 
 sources, much originality cannot be expected. 
 Yet, although the materials may not be new, pos- 
 sibly the manner of arranging and disposing of 
 them may be ; as, in this respect, in order to win 
 A 3 
 
 2091018
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 the attention of the reader, I have chosen a me- 
 thod entirely my own, and am not aware of having 
 trod in the steps of any of my predecessors. 
 
 Amusement blended with instruction, was the 
 end I had in view in my other publications; and, 
 I am gratified in having succeeded, to the satisfac- 
 tion of a numerous class of readers: at least, if I 
 may judge by their united testimony, in addition 
 to the unbought opinion, elsewhere expressed, by 
 some of the London Reviewers.* 
 
 "Fame," says an anonymous author, "is sel- 
 dom an object in works of utility. But there is 
 some consolation in the idea, that no man was 
 ever a loser, in the long run, by sacrificing his 
 inclination to his duty." And I can say, that the 
 drudgery of the work lessened, in proportion as I 
 felt a persuasion, that what 1 did would be of use 
 to various classes of my fellow-creatures, and to 
 tlie rising generation in particular. Nor will it 
 be too much to add, that this little work con- 
 tains (though so unostentatious in its appearance) 
 the substance of some large and expensive volumes. 
 Some idea may be formed, by referring to the 
 Table of Contents, of the pleasing variety of sub- 
 jects here brought forward ; and a summary of the 
 
 * For the fliittcrini? ojiinioii of the Uevicwers, see thepicfuce to "The 
 Voice of Truth "
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 whole work may be found in the concluding sec- 
 tion, p. 116 — 118. 
 
 Whatever imperfections may appear in the pre- 
 sent performance, they arise, not from the want of 
 a close and vigilant attention to the subject, nor 
 from a lack of suitable materials for the under- 
 taking, but from the multiplicity of objects which 
 here pressed upon me. In such a situation, where 
 so many objects are pleasing, selection is by no 
 means an easy work. 
 
 In the selection of my materials I have gene- 
 rally compared the statements of different writers 
 on the same subject, to see how far they were 
 agreed; and whenever any thing bore the marks 
 of romance, or appeared too marvellous to gain 
 general credence, I either excluded it altogether, 
 or accompanied it with an observation to that 
 effect. By doing the latter sometimes, an oppor- 
 tunity is afforded to the reader of weighing the 
 probability of a statement which appeared in some 
 measure important. 
 
 In so small a work as the present, and intended 
 chiefly for the young, it would have appeared ego- 
 tistical, and have occupied too much room, had I 
 referred invariably to the source from whence I 
 derived any important information; I have, how- 
 ever, occasionally done it at the foot of the page : 
 and where I have not, am not conscious of any
 
 Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 plagiarism, having chosen another and a common 
 method of acknowledi^inj? the obligation. 
 
 In the numerical parts of the work I have 
 placed the calculations of distances, magnitudes, 
 &c. in words instead of figures; and I offer this 
 apology for what may appear, at first sight, rather 
 singular in this respect — that while an error of a 
 single figure might easily creep in, either in the 
 writing or the printing, from some accident or the 
 smallness of the character, and make a very con- 
 siderable difference, a word in general is much 
 less likely to be mistaken or misplaced, from its 
 being composed of several distinct characters; and 
 I have been at no small pains in endeavouring at 
 first to ascertain the correctness of such statements. 
 
 With these explanations, 1 now open ** the Book 
 of Creation" to all such as delight to read therein. 
 And if they do it with the same satisfaction and 
 pleasure as the author, it will give a zest to the 
 passing moments, and, possibly, to the remainder 
 of their days. 
 
 C* H.*
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 General Tendency of Nature — Sketch of Atheism and 
 its modern Effrontery — Specimens cited and briefly 
 refuted — Design of tlie ensuing Work 1 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Of the Heavenly Bodies — 
 
 First Division — The Sun, the Centre of the Solar 
 System; including its Magnitude, Distance, 
 Universality, and Influence 9 
 
 SECTION II. 
 Of the Heavenly Bodies continued — 
 
 Second Division — The Planets; including their 
 Number, Motion, Magnitude, Distance, and 
 Satellites 15 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Of the Heavenly Bodies concluded — 
 
 Third Division — The Fixed Stars; including their 
 supposed Number, apparent Magnitude, amaz- 
 ing Distance, Sec 28
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Of the Phenomena of the Heavens — 
 
 Comets — Eclipses — Northern Lights — Attraction 
 or Gravitation — Air or Atmosphere — Winds — 
 Clouds — Water - Spout — Rain — Hail — Snow — 
 Lightning— Thunder 32 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 Of the Earth in general — 
 
 First Division— The Vegetable World 40 
 
 SECTION VL 
 Of the Earth continued — 
 
 Second Division — Mountains 49 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 Of the Earth continued — 
 
 Third Division— The Mineral World 62 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 Of the Earth concluded — 
 
 Fourth Division — The World of Waters; contain- 
 ing the Origin of Springs, Rivers, &c. a Survey 
 of the Ocean, the Cause and Uses of the 
 Tides, &c 67 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 Of the Animal World- 
 First Division — Fishes 63
 
 CONTENTS. XI 
 
 SECTION X. 
 
 Of the Animal World continued — 
 
 Second Division — Insects 72 
 
 SECTION XI. 
 
 Of the Animal World continued — 
 
 Third Division — Quadrupeds 87 
 
 SECTION XII. 
 
 Of the Animal World continued — 
 
 Fourth Division — The Savage or Untamed 
 Tribes 92 
 
 SECTION XIII. 
 
 Of the Animal World continued — 
 
 Fifth Division — Birds in general 99 
 
 SECTION XIV. 
 Of the Animal World concluded — 
 
 Sixth Division — Man, the Lord of Creation. . . . 107 
 
 SECTION XV. 
 
 A brief Refutation of Atheism — 
 
 State of the Argument — Recapitulation — Infe- 
 rences — Reflections — Conclusion 114
 
 BOOK OF CREATION 
 
 UNFOLDED. 
 
 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 General Tendency of Nature — Sketch of Atheism and its 
 modern Effrontery — Specimens cited and briefly refuted — 
 Design of the ensuing Work, 
 
 The day had been unusually fine; not a cloud 
 had intercepted the glowing beams of the all- 
 enlivening sun, which was now making rapid ad- 
 vances in the western sky ; the din of day had 
 ceased, and the heavens were beginning to assume 
 their accustomed appearance on a fine summer's 
 evening ; — when Eugenius, wearied with the tur- 
 moils of business, and led by contemplation, sought 
 a solace to his spirits in retirement, where, seated 
 on an eminence, he could command a view of the 
 charming scenery around him. 
 
 He had been surveying, for some time, the pleas- 
 ing prospect, as unfolded to his view in hill and 
 dale, and in the heavens above, when, at length, as 
 
 B
 
 2 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 if inanimate nature reproved his long silence, he 
 involiintavily exclaimed, in the language of his fa- 
 vourite Milton — 
 
 These are thy irlorious works, Parent of good I 
 
 Almiijhty ! tliiiie this universal frame! 
 
 Thus wondrous tliey ; thyself iiow wondrous then! 
 
 Un<peakable ! who sitt'st al)ove these heavens, 
 
 To us invisible, or dimly seen 
 
 (n these thy lowest works : yet /Iiese declare 
 
 Thy goodness, beyond thought, and power divine ! 
 
 And is it so"? he continued ; and are there those 
 who, unmindful of the evidence incessantly press- 
 ing upon their attention, can look upon the mag- 
 nificent scenery of nature — the sun glowing in the 
 firmament, " the moon walking in brightness," and 
 the stars sparkling in the immensity of space — the 
 seasons regularly revolving — the endless variety 
 every where so discernible — the subjection of the 
 inferior tribes to man, the lord of creation,- -and 
 not lift their adoring thoughts to Him whose man- 
 date called them all into being, — 
 
 •' Who plannM, and built, and <till uphold* a world. 
 So clolh'd with beauty, for rcbcllioui man ? " 
 
 Yes, interrupted his friend Lorenzo, who at that 
 moment unexpectedly made his appearance, — yes, 
 my good Eugenius, however absurd and monstrous 
 it may appear, there are such beings in existence; 
 ami who, strange to tell, instead of referring the 
 works of creation to an infinitely wise Ciod, attri- 
 bute " surrounding nature, and all its astonishing 
 phenomena, to CHANCE, or to a fortuitous con- 
 course of atoms !'^ 
 
 Such is Atheism; — a scheme which dej)rives us 
 of comfort in life, of hope in death, and of happi-
 
 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 3 
 
 ness beyond the grave ! The term Atheist is very 
 expressive. It is composed of two Greek terms, 
 (rt and Theos,) and signifies, says Dr. Evans, ''with- 
 out God;' — and in this sense the appellation occurs 
 in Ephes. ii. 12, Witlwut God (or Atheists) in the 
 world. What a melancholy void must there be in 
 the mind of such a one ! Well might one exclaim, 
 after viewing the labyrinths of error through which 
 he had passed, and again occupying the vantage 
 ground of revelation, — " O ye Atheists ! take away 
 our liberty, take all that we have ; put us in a dun- 
 geon or on the rack; but do not endeavour, by 
 your sophistical arguments, to rob us of our God," 
 A recent attempt of this kind deserves particu- 
 lar notice ; — an attempt to rob us, not only of our 
 God, but of our Bible, that surest and best guide 
 in the road to heaven. I hold in my hand the 
 pamphlet to ^vhich I allude. It is entitled, " The 
 Character of the Bible and the Bible God ; " and 
 Mould it scarcely be credited, in this land of Gos- 
 pel light, and in the nineteenth century, that it 
 contains the most atheistical and deistical senti- 
 ments, conveyed in the most authoritative terms, 
 and in terras revolting to the true moralist as well 
 as to the Christian ? Some imagine that the mon- 
 ster Atheism is dead, and that, to the eye of reason 
 and common sense, the evidences of the existence 
 of the Deity are so self-evident and plain, as to re- 
 quire no lengthened discussion ; — but the pam- 
 phlet before us (which is a recent production, and 
 has been industriously circulated among our fel- 
 low-countrymen) convinces me to the contrary, 
 and shews the importance of what I would propose 
 for our consideration, and for that of the risinof
 
 4 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 generation in particular. A few specimens from 
 this vile publication will convince you of what I 
 have asserted; and I shall indulge myself in some 
 brief comments as I proceed. 
 
 The being of a God, in the first place, it turns 
 into ridicule : — 
 
 " The history of God (it says, pace 8) is no further the history of a 
 reality than error or frailty is a reality! We must acquire kiiowledfre, 
 and error will vanish." 
 
 But, shall it be such kind of ** knowledge" as 
 this, Eugenius"? And if there is no reality in re- 
 ference to the Divine existence, are we quite sure 
 that there is any in reference to our own ? Is it 
 not a proof of *' frailty ,"" as we cannot comprehend 
 our own existence, to suppose that we exist at all ? 
 We must acquire some of this writer's ** know- 
 ledge," and such '* error will vanish ! " 
 
 Again in the same page — 
 
 " The one true God, if there had been a true Cod, would have tri- 
 timphed over all others, or never h&vt permitted their existence." 
 
 But this is reasoning like a frail and erring man, 
 and supposing God to be such a one as ourselves ; 
 whereas his ways are 7iot as our ways, nor his 
 thoughts as our thoughts. Let us hear somewhat 
 more. In page 7, it is said — 
 
 "There has been a common notion amonif mankind upon the subject 
 of onf (tOff, or one most potrrr/iil (lod. Such a notion is erroneous ; and 
 nriiher antiquity nor numbers can preserve it against ihc researches of 
 tbi^ iw^Q displayed by free diNCUssion " 
 
 We are not, however, Eugcnius, afraid of this 
 free discussion, nor of the researches of the studi- 
 ous. Tor, is it not a fact, tiiat the deeper we dive
 
 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. O 
 
 into the operations of Nature, the more we dis- 
 cover of Nature's God? And was not this the 
 conviction of a Newton, and of a host of others 
 who have either explored the starry way or inves- 
 tigated the wonders of these lower scenes ? 
 
 " N'atnrp, with open volume stands, 
 
 To spread her Maker's praise abroad; 
 And every labour of his hands 
 
 Shews something wortiiy of a God." 
 
 In page 6, we have another proof of this writer's 
 adherence to truth : — 
 
 "The Jews, Christians, and Mahometans, liad no original God re- 
 vealed to them. They were mere copyists, and corrupt ones, of the 
 labours and decisions of men of former ages." 
 
 That the Mahometans were copyists, we will not 
 deny, for they have borrowed largely from the Jews 
 and Christians ; but that the latter were, not the 
 least shadow of evidence is given by this unguard- 
 ed writer; nor indeed is it in any measure true, as 
 every intelligent reader will allow. Again, in the 
 same page — 
 
 The chemist " finds more of his God in his laboratory than else-. 
 where. It is there he obtains the most correct knowledge of Deity. 
 His crucible forms his best Bible, and his best religion is his profession 
 as a chemist." 
 
 We, my dear Eugenius, find much of our God in 
 the visible works of his hands, but more in the 
 volume of his will. This is a more sure word to 
 which we do well to take heed. This forms our 
 best Bible, and our best religion is taught therein. 
 
 I must beg your patience while I read one or two 
 extracts more. It is really shocking that a man 
 could sit down and deliberately write such direct 
 B 3
 
 6 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 falsehoods. Speaking of the Bible, which we are 
 not disposed to give up, Eugenius, in the face of 
 such misrepresentations as these, he says — 
 
 " Its descriptions of a Deity are not only contemptible tliroucliout, 
 but often horrible. He is made to a<snme all shapes and characters, 
 accordini; to the disposition of the writer of the fabled tale ; and in no 
 instance a hii^lier or more dignified chaiacter than that of a tyrant. 
 The Jews never approached towards any thin? like civilization while a 
 nation; and as the idol god worshipped is always made the emblem of 
 tlie worshippers, so Jehovah has never been painted like n civilized or 
 tnora/ being!" 
 
 And, in another place, adverting to the Bible, he 
 says, in a tone of sceptical insolence — 
 
 '' Jt is a string of fabulous contradictions the style is romantic 
 
 As a piece of liistory, it has not one corroborated truth 
 
 Science has made such progress as to pronounce the whole a string of 
 Jies!"&c. &c. 
 
 Did a mere babe in theology read this, he would 
 be able to shew the falsity of every iota. O most 
 perverse unbeliever ! we would fain say. Father, 
 forgive him — he knows not what he does. 
 
 Once more, and I will not again disgust you 
 with such vile assertions. 
 
 " Jehovah is depicted as a ravenous wild beast, that delighted in tlie 
 cavoury smells of burning fats and frying lambs, and who could only be 
 appeased by this perpetual feast of the priests. Such is the God unfolded 
 in this blessed book." P. 3. 
 
 Here I close my extracts. Now is this true, 
 Eugenius, or is it not most untrue? At present I 
 am satisfied with the diversified evidences of the 
 authenticity and divinity of the Sacred Records, 
 contained in the little pampldet you lately gave 
 me, and which I could wish every young person 
 to l)e in possession of.* But in reference to the 
 
 •See a smull work by the Author, entitled "The Voice of Truth,
 
 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 7 
 
 proofs derivable from the works of Nature, touch- 
 ing the existence of the Deity, I consider them so 
 diversified and plain, that I could wish to see them 
 placed in a more popular and agreeable point of view 
 than they are generally. The dry and unsavoury 
 details too often given, even on this highly inter- 
 esting subject, disgust those who are not used to 
 great mental exertion ; while the young speedily 
 turn away, completely wearied in the pursuit. We 
 are not all philosophers, Eugenius, neither are we 
 all satisfied with bare reasoning. The object 
 should ever be — to blend instruction with amuse- 
 ment, to inform the judgment, and harmonize the 
 heart. Conciseness too must be aimed at, and 
 portaMlity , as the enemy derives much of his ad- 
 vantage, in the present state of literature and the 
 arts, from the two last-mentioned qualities. Thus 
 we shall become all things to all men, that we may 
 gain tne more. 
 
 I propose, therefore, from what I know of your 
 method, that our future evenings should be devoted 
 to a survey of the various appearances of Nature, 
 including an enquiry into the wonders of modern 
 astronomy, &;c. by way of demonstrating the ex- 
 istence of the Deity, and evincing the absurdities 
 of Atheism. This will occupy many of our leisure, 
 and (thus occupied) not unprofitable hours ; and 
 as you are my senior, I shall leave the chief dis- 
 cussion of the subject to you — satisfied you will 
 choose that method of instruction which will prove 
 at once both pleasing and profitable. 
 
 touching the Authenticity and Divine Authority of the Bible," price 
 sixpence.
 
 8 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 I am quite of your mind, Lorenzo, and shall 
 willingly accept your invitation. I could wish, in- 
 deed, that all parents could make a declaration 
 similar to the parents of young' Durant, who, in 
 the memoir I was reading of him the other day, 
 remark — " We began very early to point out to 
 him the existence of a God ; and made him ac- 
 quainted, equally early, with the leading evidences 
 of divine. revtlationS' As a parent, I am anxious 
 to do the same ; and, as 1 know you will not object 
 to it, will step in and invite the young Horatio to 
 our banquet — whose inquisitive mind will gladly 
 avail itself of such an opportunity.
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 OF THE HEAVENLY BODIES. 
 
 First Divisioji — The Su7i, the Centre of the Solar System* 
 
 The expanded spheres, amazing to the sight, 
 
 Magnificent with stars and cilobes of light ; 
 
 The glorious orbs which heaven's bright host compose; 
 
 Tlie imprison'd >ea, that restless ebbs and flows; 
 
 The fluctuating fields of liquid air. 
 
 With all the curious meteors hovering there; 
 
 And the wide region of the land, proclaim 
 
 The Power Divine that rais'd the mighty frame. 
 
 BLACKMORE. 
 
 In a few moments Eugenius returned with the 
 young Horatio; and, all things being arranged, 
 they proceeded to the subject before them. 
 
 In looking for the evidences of the existence of a 
 God, said Lorenzo, where shall we begin? whither 
 
 * The sun, together with the several planets that move around it, and 
 to whicli that luminary communicates light and heat, compose what 
 astronomers call the Solar System.— Fer^Mson in Guthrie's Geograph. 
 Gram. vol. i. introduc.p. xi.
 
 10 THE HEAVENLY BODIES. 
 
 shall we turn our wondering- eyes? For, as the 
 poetical Gay very properly expresses it, — 
 
 Whether amid tlie gloom of tiiglit we stray, 
 Or our tjlad eyes behold revolving day; 
 Still Nature's various face informs our sense 
 Of an all-wise, all-powerful Providence. 
 
 Let us, resumed Eugenius, as you have imposed 
 the task upon me, — let us begin by surveying 
 ** those immense globes that roll above us," and 
 the wonders of the airy regions. We may after- 
 wards descend to this earth on which we tread — 
 the sea and its phenomena — the vegetable and mi- 
 neral kingdoms — and, lastly, the various tribes of 
 creatures which creep upon the surface of the 
 earth, skim the air, cut the watery element, or 
 inhabit other parts of the terraqueous globe. 
 
 And whatever knowledge we attain unto on these 
 subjects, instead of engendering pride, let it have 
 the humbling tendency it had upon the great Sir 
 Isaac Newton, who, the more he knew, instead of 
 being puffed up by his attainments, felt that he 
 comparatively as yet knew nothing; and who, at 
 the close of his life, when reviewing his aggregate 
 knowledge, is said to have comj)ared himself to a 
 boy that had been picking up pebbles upon the 
 sea-shore, unmindful of the great ocean which lay 
 before him. 
 
 "The scene we behold is truly magnificent; 
 but that which our view cannot take in at once, 
 we mny divide and enjoy by parts." And as the 
 sun, the centre of the solar system, and great lu- 
 mirjary of the world, (which has been styled the 
 soul of the universe,) is ^\\\\ lingering in yonder
 
 FIRST DIVISION— THE SUN. 11 
 
 beauteous clouds, which, as Hervey observes, it 
 has arrayed in crimson, and skirted with gold, — > 
 let us detain the heavenly traveller awhile, and en- 
 quire somewhat into the wonders of his history, 
 with which we are so nearly concerned, from the 
 great and unvarying influence he has upon our 
 individual and collective destinies. 
 
 If, as I have observed in my Christian Shield, — 
 if we turn our eyes on high, and survey the mate- 
 rial heavens, adorned with the varied clouds and 
 canopy of blue, do we not there see that " the hea- 
 vens declare the glory of God, and the firmament 
 sheweth his handy-work r' Can we behold the 
 effulgence of the sun, the glorious king of day, and 
 not have our minds insensibly led to that great 
 Being, who sent forth his fiat that the lamp of hea- 
 ven should pour his vital heat around, and be the 
 glory of our lower world ? How wonderful is this 
 " soul of the universe !" and how blind must he be, 
 who can contemplate its amazing history, and not 
 feel persuaded that it is guided by the laws of or- 
 der, and the appointments of Him who moves its 
 chariot-wheels according to prescribed and proper 
 bounds! If this lamp of day be viewed only with 
 the eye of the vulgar, it would be surprising if the 
 mind were not filled with wonder and veneration 
 for its great Author ; but if we view it in connexion 
 with the discoveries of astronomy, (and especially 
 of modern astronomy,) as demonstrated by Newton 
 and others, it would be far more surprising that 
 any, in such a view, could embrace the absurdities 
 of Atheism. 
 
 The sun, the object of our present enquiry, was 
 long considered a globe of fire, but is now believed
 
 12 THE HEAVENLY BODIES. 
 
 to be an opaque (or dark) body, like the planets, 
 having a diameter of eight hundred and eighty- 
 three thousand two hundred and forty-six English 
 miles, and said to be about a million times larger 
 than the earth. How, then, is it the source of 
 light as well as heat? To this some have answered, 
 *• From the luminous atmosphere which surrounds 
 the sun coming in contact with the atmosphere of 
 the planets ;" in a somewhat similar manner to the 
 collision of flint and steel, which, although they 
 are cold bodies, when struck together immediately 
 emit lire. And, ** the spots on the sun are sup- 
 j>osed to be his opaque body appearing through the 
 luminous atmosphere, when any part of it is more 
 rare or thinner than usual."* That the sun is not 
 a body of tire appears probable from this circum- 
 stance, that the tops of mountains and higher re- 
 gions are frequently covered with snow and ice, 
 and are intensely cold, while the valleys and parts 
 below are scorched by the solar heat. 
 
 '* The sun," as you are aware, Lorenzo, *' is the 
 common centre of all the planetary and cometary 
 system; around which our earth and the planets 
 and comets move, at difl'erent periods and dis- 
 tances." Although we are in the habit of speaking 
 of the sun as if it were not, it really is a fixed body, 
 save its turning on its own axis, (which it does in 
 about twenty-five days:) and its rising in the east 
 and setting in the west is occasioned, not by any 
 motion of its own, but by the turning of the earth 
 
 * " IMtiMOck's Ciitpchisin of Asiioiioiiiy :" from wliicli, and "The 
 Arts of I/i(c and Society," 8vo. (both modern works, and containinsf tlie 
 recent ustronomical and other discoveries) I have derived many useful 
 liints.
 
 FIRST DIVISION — THE SUN. 13 
 
 (of which I shall presently treat) on its own centre. 
 Thus, metaphorically speaking, the sun's chariot- 
 wheels are never at a stand ; and, under the direc- 
 tion of infinite Wisdom, the day dawns in one part 
 of the world while the night succeeds in another. 
 
 " When to the western main the sun descends. 
 To other lands a rising day he lends : 
 The spreading dawn another shepherd spies. 
 The \val<eful flocks from their warm folds arise: 
 While we in sleep's embraces waste the night, 
 The climes opposed enjoy meridian light; 
 And when those lands the busy sun forsalies, 
 Willi us again the rosy mornin? waives; 
 In lazy sleep the ni?ht rolls swift away. 
 And neither clime laments liis absent ray." 
 
 The universality and regularity of the sun's in- 
 fluence, (as I have elsewhere remarked,) seems to 
 indicate an all-directing Power. The sun does not 
 shine upon our world to-day and disappear to- 
 morrow, leaving us in total darkness, (which would 
 not be an unlooked-for result did it shine merely 
 fortuitously, independent of a Deity,) but uniform- 
 ly continues his beneficent rays, dispensing his 
 light and heat on the inhabitants of every clime, 
 on "the evil and the good, on the just and the 
 unjust." Unlike the partial influence of an earth- 
 ly monarch, his dominion is the globe itself, and 
 his subjects the unnumbered beings which fill the 
 universe ! The hardy Russian, the untutored Ame- 
 rican Indian, the dark African, the rude Arab, and 
 the more polished sons of Albion, participate in 
 his genial warmth, and share his benevolent rays. 
 Impartial in his influence, he sheds his propitious 
 beams on the humble cottage of poverty as well as 
 on the palace of royajty — on the most abject slave 
 in common with his haughty lord, 
 c
 
 14 THE HEAVENLY BODIES. 
 
 In conclusion, Lorenzo, the convenient distance 
 and determinate magnitude of the sun, evinces Wis- 
 dom of no ordinary kind. It is said to be ninety- 
 live millions of miles from the earth ; and if, says 
 Stackhouse, it were nearer us, we should be scorch- 
 ed to death ; if further from us, we should not be 
 able to live for want of heat! Its size evinces the 
 same Wisdom, and is equally adapted to its situa- 
 tion and distance; for, although the sun is the 
 largest and most conspicuous object in the solar 
 system, and is, as just hinted, about one million 
 times larger than the earth, it is so wisely ordained, 
 that, (says the above writer,) if it were larger, it 
 would set the earth on tire; if smaller, it would 
 leave us frozen ! 
 
 I make no comment on this, Lorenzo, nor is it 
 needed ; for if there are not here palpable evidences 
 of Divine superintendence, there are none to be 
 met with in the creation of God.
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 OF THE HEAVENLY BODIES, 
 
 Second Divisiu7i — The Planets. 
 
 !NEXT to the sun, let us (as an important part of 
 the solar system) advert to the planets, which are 
 *' opaque bodies that move round the sun from 
 Avest to east, in orbits nearly circular." Of these 
 there are eleven, with their tributary satellites or 
 moons, namely — 
 
 1. Mercury. 
 
 
 
 8, Vesta. 
 
 2, Venus. 
 
 
 
 9. Jupiter, and his four Satel- 
 
 3. The Earth, 
 
 and 
 
 its Satcl- 
 
 lites. 
 
 lite the Moon. 
 
 
 
 10. Saturn, and his seven Sa- 
 
 4. Mars. 
 
 
 
 tellites. 
 
 6. Ceies. 
 
 
 
 11. Uranus, or the Georgium 
 
 6. Pallas. 
 
 
 
 Sidns, and his six Satellites. 
 
 7. Juno. 
 
 
 
 
 You are well aware, Lorenzo, that my object is 
 not display, neither do I for a moment pretend to 
 set myself up for an astronomer, in the g:eneral ac- 
 ceptation of the term ; — all I intend, in this part of 
 our investigation, is, to glance at the more promi- 
 nent features of the heavenly bodies, that seem
 
 16 THE HEAVENLY BODIES. 
 
 irresistibly to lead us to their Great First Cause. 
 Nor let us, in reference to these, or the phenomena 
 of what has gone before or may hereafter follow, 
 give place to the doubts of a sceptical mind, be- 
 cause there are heights and depths in their history 
 which we cannot explain; — for if we admit the 
 truth of nothing but what we can comprehend and 
 thoroughly understand, we shall be obliged to re- 
 ject, not only the phenomena of their history, but 
 a large portion of that of the globe itself, and of 
 our own nature in particular. 
 
 Of the planets I shall speak with brevity, and 
 (for the sake of being understood) shall use great 
 plainness of speech. Thus we shall the more rea- 
 dily accomplish the end we have in view — the glo- 
 rification of the Great Former of the universe, and 
 the extracting of matter for devotion and praise. 
 
 1. Mercury. — This and Venus are called inje- 
 rior (or interior or inner) planets, from their mov- 
 ing within the orbit of the earth, and being nearer 
 the sun than the rest of the planets. The latter, 
 from being without the earth's orbit, are called su- 
 perior (or, as Ferguson suggests, perhaps more 
 properly, exterior or outer) planets. Although 
 Mercury is the nearest to the sun, round which he 
 moves with great velocity, yet, is not this nearness 
 astonishing, when it is estimated at about thirty- 
 seven millions of miles! He is said to be the 
 smallest of the inferior planets, his diameter being 
 about three thousand niiles; is observable by the 
 naked eye chiefly in the southern parts of the 
 world ; goes round the sun in eighty-seven days 
 and twenty-three hours; and moves at the amazing 
 rate of ninetv-five thousand miles an hour!
 
 SECOND DIVISION — THE PLANETS. 17 
 
 2 Venus. 
 
 " Fair \'eiius next fulfils licr larcer round, 
 Witli softer beam-; and milder glories crowu'd; 
 Friend to mankind, she flitters from afar, 
 Now tlie brifflit evening, now the morning star." 
 
 The diameter of Venus, Avhich is, as just hinted, 
 an inferior (or interior) yilanet, and second from 
 the sun, is said to be seven thousand eight hundred 
 and sixty-seven miles, and she is distant from the 
 sun sixty-nine millions of miles ! She moves at 
 the rapid rate of eighty thousand nine hundred and 
 ninety-live miles per hour; performs her course in 
 two hundred and twenty-four days, sixteen hours, 
 and forty-nine minutes; turns on her axis in 
 twenty-three hours, twenty-one minutes ; is of a 
 very bright appearance; and sometimes a morning 
 and sometimes an evening star, according to her 
 situation in the heavens. She is said to be an 
 evening star when east of the sun, when she sets 
 after him; and a morning star when west of day's 
 bright luminary, and then rises before the effulgent 
 monarch. 
 
 And here I cannot but pause for a moment to 
 notice the undeviating regularity with which these 
 vast bodies move. "The planets," says Stackhouse, 
 **and all the innumerable hosts of heavenly bodies, 
 perform their courses and revolutions with so much 
 certainty and exactness as never once to fail ; but, 
 for almost six thousand years, come constantly 
 about in th*^ same period to the hundredth part of 
 a minute!" 
 
 How much opposed is all this to the spirit of 
 Atheism ! 'Tis strange, 'tis passing strange, if such 
 constant order is observed by no law but that of 
 C 3
 
 18 THE HEAVENLY BODIES. 
 
 chance; and that these glorious bodies should 
 maintain their uniform stations for thousands of 
 years, unless they are guided by that unerring 
 Hand, which, we maintain, set all their wheels 
 in motion. Rather than refer them to the opera- 
 tions of a blind, unconscious agent, may we not 
 rationally say with Addison — 
 
 In Reason's ear they all rejoice, 
 And utter forth a glorious voice; 
 For ever sineing, as they shine, 
 "Tiie liand that made us is Divine!" 
 
 3. The Earth, though not called an heavenly 
 body, yet, as it is the planet on which we live, 
 must (with its satellite, the moon) come in for a 
 share of our attention ; — though its productions, 
 which are foreign to the present point, must be 
 reserved for a future stage of the enquiry. 
 
 The earth, says Ferguson, was long viewed as an 
 extensive plain, and the heavens were thought to 
 be at no great distance from it, and designed only 
 for its ornament or illumination. This hypothesis, 
 it appears, was at last discovered to be erroneous, 
 and it at length appeared to be a planet, of a glo- 
 bular form, performing its dhirn at motion round its 
 own axis every twenty-four hours, the cause of day 
 and night — and its annual evolution ("the abso- 
 lute motion of its whole body in its orbit round the 
 sun") in about three hundred and sixty-five days 
 six hours, the length of our current year; thus 
 producing the change of seasons, according to our 
 nearness to or distance from the sun. 
 
 "The enrtli, obliquely circliiiR round Iter splicrc, 
 Leads on the varying seasons of the year; 
 While on tier axle she revolves with speed, 
 The days and nii^ht'* alternately succeed."
 
 SECOND DIVISION — THE PLANETS. 19 
 
 I mentioned, just now, the globulous form of the 
 earth ; and here permit me to say, in the language 
 of a learned writer, that "we have this recommen- 
 dation of the globular form of the universe, that it 
 is far more magnificent, and worthy of the infinite 
 Creator, than any of the narrow schemes." So 
 much do the discoveries of modern astronomy 
 exalt our conceptions of the great Former of all. 
 
 The diameter of the earth is said to be about 
 eight thousand miles, and its circumference twenty- 
 five thousand five hundred and forty-two; its dis- 
 tance from the sun ninety-five millions of miles; 
 and it is supposed to move at the vast and amazing 
 rate of sixty-eight thousand eight hundred and 
 fifty-six miles in an hour. "Such enormous mag- 
 nitude! winged with such prodigious speed! it 
 raises astonishment beyond expression." 
 
 Now if, Lorenzo, when this wondrous speed is 
 considered, we ask how it is that we are insensible 
 of the rapid movement of the earth, I answer, in 
 the words of a modern publication, " Because the 
 atmosphere," (of which hereafter,) "and every 
 thing on the earth's surface, are carried round 
 with it." Nor need we (so has the wise Creator 
 ordained it) be any way fearful that bodies on the 
 earth will fall off, when she is winging her way so 
 rapidly through boundless space, since "they are 
 retained by the law of attraction or gravitation," 
 (of which I shall presently treat,) "which acts on 
 all bodies as the loadstone does on iron.* 
 
 Of the Moon, though only a secondary planet, 
 or satellite of the earth, about which she revolves, 
 
 ♦ Vide " Catcclii.-in of Astrciioiny," a useful little m oi k.
 
 20 THE HEAVENLY BODIES. 
 
 and throws across it her silvery rays, so pleasinir 
 amid the nocturnal scenery ot" the heavens, — of 
 this fair visitant, which sages have imniortalized, 
 and concerning: which poets have so often sung, 
 because so extremely interesting to us, and by no 
 means little in our account,— I shall perhaps be 
 excused if I speak somewhat at large. 
 
 Not long since, the sun was publishing his Ma- 
 ker's power and telling of his goodness; and now 
 the moon, attended by her numerous train, is 
 speaking the same truth, and proclaiming in the 
 ears of Reason, "God made me." 
 
 "Soon as the evening shades prevail. 
 
 The moon takes up tlie wondrous tale, 
 
 And nightly, to the listening earth, 
 
 Repeats the story of her birth ; 
 
 While all the stars that ronnd her bnrn, 
 
 And all the planets in their turn, 
 
 Confirn) the tidings as they roll, 
 
 And spread tfiis truth from pole to pole." 
 
 Yes, yonder moon, as she " walketh in bright- 
 ness," is a mute but powerful reprover of Atheism. 
 Hence, in connexion with other portions of cre- 
 ating })ower, as an inspired writer argues, (Rom. 
 i. 20.) the sccjHic is *' witliout excuse," since " the 
 invisible things of God, from the creation of the 
 world, arc clearly seen, being understood by the 
 things thnt are made — even his eternal power and 
 Godluad." Hence too, the Atheist, in professing 
 himself to be "wise," becomes a "fool:" for no 
 idiocy surely is greater than to deny tlie being of 
 a God, when all nature so loudly proclaims his 
 existence. 
 
 The distance of the moon (denominated in Holy 
 ^^'rit the (v>ueen of Heaven) froni the earth, is said
 
 SECOND DIVISION — THE PLANETS. 21 
 
 to be two hundred and forty thousand miles, and 
 her diameter is two thousand one hundred and 
 eighty. Her apparent magnitude arises from her 
 comparative nearness to the earth, to which she is 
 of various uses, by regulating the tides,* dissipating 
 the gloom of night, &c. Although to us she ap- 
 pears so large, astronomers say that the moon is 
 much less than either of the inferior planets. The 
 fact of her light being borrowed is well known ; 
 she reflects the light of the sun when our world is 
 turned from that monarch, and thus throws across 
 the otherwise dark scenery of nature, some of her 
 less glowing but cheering beams. This fact is 
 well expressed by the poet: — 
 
 "The silver moon her western couch forsakes, 
 And o'er the skies her nightly circle make-; ; 
 Her solid ^lobe beats back the sunny rays. 
 And to the world her borrow'd light repays." 
 
 Did the moon shine with her own native and 
 unborrowed lustre, it seems she would always ap- 
 pear full, like the luminary of the day ; but she 
 varies in her appearances because she is tributary. 
 Sometimes she exhibits only a slender streak, at 
 others, half unveils her lovely face. Anon she ap- 
 pears in her full beams, and shines forth in un- 
 clouded and unsullied majesty. What we call a 
 new moon^ is when the dark side of the moon " is 
 turned towards the earth, which happens when she 
 is between the sun and the earth;" and what we 
 call a. full moon, **is when her illuminated side is 
 turned towards the earth, which takes place when 
 
 See section viii
 
 22 THE HEAVENLY BODIES. 
 
 the earth is between the sun and the moon." The 
 cause of her motion is attraction ; and she revolves 
 round the earth in about twenty-nine days, twelve 
 hours. Hence the division of the year into months. 
 If we view her as placed in the heavens merely to 
 communicate light to our world, our admiration 
 must be excited towards her adorable Author; — 
 but if we view her as a ivorld — w hich she probably 
 is, since astronomers assert that the telescope dis- 
 covers mountains, hills, and valleys in her — if, I 
 say, we view her as a world, teeming \>ith plenty, 
 and inhabited, perhaps, by a superior race of be- 
 ings, — we are lost in the immensity of the Divine 
 operations, and exclaim, with delight and astonish- 
 ment, ** Great and marvellous are thy works. Lord 
 God Almighty! who would not fear thee, thou 
 King of saints!" 
 
 With this view of the subject, I am not surprised 
 to find poets, philosophers, and sages, of different 
 ages and countries, celebrating the praises of this 
 fair luminary. You have not forgotten that un- 
 rivalled night-piece of your favourite Homer — 
 **As when the moon, refulgent lamp of night," S:c. 
 (Iliad viii.) nor the charming melody of the divine 
 Milton, who sings of " the moon full-orbed;" nor 
 the inference drawn from her majestic appearance 
 by the Royal Psalmist — ** When I consider tiie 
 heavens, the work of thy fingers; the moon and 
 the stars, which thou hast ordained; Lord, what 
 is man, that thou art mindfid of him? and the son 
 of man, that thou visitest him?" (Ps. viii. 3, 4.) 
 
 I think, interrupted Lorenzo, the heavenly bo- 
 dies alone, didy considered, are enough to con- 
 lound the most subtle advocate of Atheism. And
 
 SECOND DIVISION — THE PLANETS. 23 
 
 surely — as the poet has well expressed it — surely, 
 
 "Aa uiidevout astronomer is mad!" 
 
 But, we must not stay to augment our reflections, 
 and to argue the matter here, as you intend to 
 combine them at the end of the discourse. You 
 will, therefore, Eugenius, when we have taken 
 some refreshment, (of which we now stand in 
 need,) proceed with your description of the planets. 
 
 The Planets continutd. 
 
 Eugenius, after a short pause, resumed his dis- 
 course on the heavenly bodies. 
 
 4. Mars is the next in order. Of this planet I 
 briefly observe, that his appearance is globular, 
 and he is said to be less bright than any of the 
 others; his diameter is estimated at four thousand 
 one hundred and eighty-nine miles; and he is 
 distant from the sun one hundred and forty-four 
 millions of miles — althou2:h he derives his lig-ht 
 from the latter, round which he revolves. 
 
 5. Ceres. — This planet was discovered by the 
 moderns, so recently as 1801. Her diameter is 
 only one hundred and sixty-five miles, but her 
 distance from the sun is two hundred and sixty 
 millions of miles! And she performs her revolu- 
 tion round the latter in four years, two hundred 
 and twenty-one days, twelve hours. 
 
 (3. The planet Pallas was discovered the year 
 after Ceres; that is, in 1802. Her diameter, ac-
 
 24 THE HEAVENLY BODIES. 
 
 cording' to the computation of Dr. Herschel, is 
 thirty miles, and her distance from the sun two 
 hundred and sixty-six millions of miles. She takes 
 four years, seven months, and eleven days, to go 
 round the sun. 
 
 7. Juno, which was discovered so lately as the 
 year 1804, is distant from the sun three hundred 
 millions of miles, and makes her tour round the 
 latter in the space of four years, one hundred and 
 twenty-eight days. It appears that her diameter 
 is not precisely ascertained. 
 
 8. Vesta, the next that claims our attention, is a 
 modern planet, discovered so late as the year 1807; 
 and, although her distance and magnitude are not 
 yet correctly known, she is said to make her cir- 
 cuit round the sun in three years, sixty-six days, 
 four hours. 
 
 9. Jupiter and his satellites. — The more, Lo- 
 renzo, we explore the planetary system, the further 
 we are getting from the frozen and chilling regions 
 of Atheism. If we have wondered at the miigni- 
 tude of some of the planets, how will this wonder 
 be increased by the contemplation of Jupiter! 
 This, it appears, is the lariicst planet, its diameter 
 being eightv-nine thousand one hundred and ^:oven- 
 ty miles! He is said to be distinguisheil from the 
 other planets by his brightness and magnitude. 
 The time of his revolution round the sun is eleven 
 years, three hundred and fourteen days, twelve 
 hours, and twenty-three minutes, moving at the 
 amazing speed of twenty-five thousand miles per 
 hour; and is four hundred and ninety millions of 
 miles from the sun ! 
 
 Beyond this it may be observed of Jupiter, that,
 
 SECOND DIVISION — THE PLANETS. 25 
 
 because of his remoteness from *' day's all-cheering 
 source," he is naturally deticient in reference to 
 the light borrowed from that luminary, he has four 
 satellites or moons, which revolve about him, (some 
 little inferior to the earth in size,) and which 
 afford him their diffusive light and influence. "The 
 first satellite is two hundred and sixty-two thousand 
 miles distant from Jupiter; the second, four hun- 
 dred and twenty-three thousand; the third, six 
 hundred and seventy-six thousand; the fourth, 
 one million one hundred and eighty-nine thousand 
 miles!" 
 
 "These friendly moons with boirow'd lustre rise. 
 Bestow their beams benign, and light his skies." 
 
 10. Saturn and his satellites are fraught with 
 equal wonders. He is "one of the most stupen- 
 dous of the planets," although to appearance only 
 a small speck, and "shines with a pale feeble 
 light," in consequence of "his immense distance 
 from the sun and from the earth." His diameter 
 is stated by some to be about seventy-nine thou- 
 sand miles; he is distant from the orb of day nine 
 hundred millions of miles, and is near thirty years 
 in his journey round it. Among the phenomena 
 peculiar to this planet, may be named the two lu- 
 minous rings, one without the other, by which he 
 is surrounded, which are frequently full as bright 
 as the planet itself, and in general not much in- 
 ferior. Their nature and uses are undetermined. 
 Besides these, he has seven satellites, at different 
 distances, which "move round him nearly on the 
 plane of the rings," and which mark his history as 
 truly wonderful.
 
 26 THE HEAVENLY BODIES. 
 
 11. Uranus, or Georgium Sidus, was discovered 
 by Dr. Herschel at Greenwich, in the year 1781, 
 and "is the most remote j)lanet known in our sys- 
 tem." He is said to be barely visible to the un- 
 assisted eye, by reason of his immense distance 
 from the earth. His diameter is tiiirty-five thou- 
 sand one hundred and twelve miles, and he is 
 distant from the sun one thousand eight hundred 
 millions of miles! Nor less astonishing is the 
 velocity with which he moves, which is stated to 
 be seven thousand miles an hour ! He is known 
 to have six satellites, and it is thought may have 
 many more than have yet been discovered. 
 
 Thus, Lorenzo, have we glanced at some of the 
 wonders connected with the solar system, where 
 the skill (if I may use the term) of Jehovah, is so 
 eminently displayed. " Lo, tiiese are parts of his 
 ways." Yet, slight and imperfect as is the present 
 sketch, I think it sutHcient for my purpose, were 
 there no other wonders in reserve to establish it 
 more fully. " Instead of indulging in useless spe- 
 culations, when contem})lating the wonders of the 
 celestial bodies, we should ever bear in mind, that 
 Ht who formed them was capable of sustaining 
 and supplying the creatures he placed in them 
 (supposing the planets to be habitable globes like 
 our own) with every thing suited to their necessi- 
 ties. Do we not see that some creatures are form- 
 ed for living in the water, and others under ground ? 
 And is it uidikely, then, that the inhabitants of 
 the planetary orbs are fitted for the enjoyment of 
 the situation in w hich they are placed ( Surely 
 nothing ought to excite vulgar astonishment, or 
 weaken our belief in any part of the harmonious
 
 SECOND DIVISION — TKR PLANETS. 27 
 
 and beautiful system of the universe, the work of 
 an Ahiiip,iity Power — whose magnificence and tran- 
 scendent grandeur, our most enlarged ideas are 
 totally unable to comprehend."* 
 
 At present I abstain from further comment; 
 and, as we have protracted our enquiries to an 
 unusually late hour, let us turn our attention to 
 those glittering gems, the stars — which bespangle 
 the boundless heavens, and "teach as well as 
 shine." 
 
 * C.itectusm of Astron. note, p. 16.
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 OF THE HEAVENLY BODIES. 
 
 Third Dicision — The Fixed Stars. 
 
 *' Tlie glittering stars. 
 
 By the deep ear of meditation lieard, 
 
 Still iu their midnight watches sing of Him. 
 
 THOMSON. 
 
 After the most minute enquiry, Lorenzo, into 
 those gems which we denominate the fixed stars, we 
 are obliged to revert to the interrogatory of Holy 
 Writ — "Canst thou by searching find out God? 
 canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection'?" 
 When we have explored our way for millions and 
 millions of miles, we are overcome by the pursuit — 
 we return again to earth — we leave the distant glo- 
 ries of which we have had a glimpse — till another, 
 and a better state, (when we shall be fitted to the 
 employment,) shall reveal more fully their sublime 
 and exalted history. In the mean time we may 
 avail ourselves of our imperfect knowledge, inas- 
 much as it is calcidated to lilt us above these lower 
 scenes — even to the High abode of llim who is the 
 great Author of all.
 
 THE HEAVENLY BODIES. 29 
 
 And what thinkest thou, Lorenzo, of yonder in- 
 numerable stars, which sparkle in the immensity of 
 space? Thinkest thou they were placed in their 
 orbits by the hand of chance, and hold their sta- 
 tion under no better regulation? How absurd the 
 idea! It were equally rational to deny our own 
 existence. Methinks, were it possible for the 
 Atheist to strike the sun and the moon from the 
 fair face of creation, the stars, glittering in the 
 blue expanse, would alone be sufficient to confound 
 his sagest pretensions. 
 
 We now, as some one observes, turn over the 
 most sublime page in the Book of Creation. "The 
 fixed stars," says Ferguson, "are distinguished by 
 the naked eye from the planets by being less bright 
 and luminous, and by continually exhibiting that 
 appearance which we call the twinkling of the stars. 
 This arises from their being so extremely small, 
 that the interposition of the least body, of which 
 there are many constantly floating in the air, de- 
 prives us of the sight of them : when the interposed 
 body changes its place, we again see the star, and 
 this succession being perpetual, occasions the twink- 
 ling. But a more remarkable property of the fixed 
 stars, and that from which they have obtained their 
 name, is their never changing their situation with 
 regard to each other, as the planets, from what we 
 have already said, must be always changing theirs." 
 
 These stars, as they can receive no light from 
 the sun on account of their immense distance from 
 it, and afford no light to our earth from the same 
 cause — and as many of them require a good teles- 
 cope to get a glimpse of their twinkling — are very 
 naturally supposed to be suns, having worlds 
 *D 3
 
 30 THE HEAVENLY BODIES. 
 
 revolving; round them, of which they are the cen- 
 tre, and to which they communicate their light and 
 influence. And, because of their immense distance, 
 which is said to defy human calculation, it is rea- 
 sonably concluded, that were our sun, though now 
 so bright and glowing, placed at the same distance, 
 it would appear as small as any one of them. 
 
 "Consult with Reason, Reason will reply. 
 
 Each lucid point wliich glows in yonder sky. 
 
 With beams uiibonow'd biit;htens other skies, 
 
 And worlds to thee unknown with heat and life supplies." 
 
 The number of the fixed stars is by no means 
 determined. A thousand have been seen with the 
 naked eye on a very clear night, and the telescope 
 discovers a much larger number; but astronomers 
 suppose that a thousandth part has not yet been 
 discovered. Dr. Herschel is said to have seen in 
 the Milky Way, (which is *' a streak of light run- 
 ning across the heavens, generally in the time of 
 frost, and when the moon is invisible,") in one 
 hour, by means of the telescope, fifty thousand 
 stars! They are divided into constellations, by 
 which is meant an assemblage of neighbouring 
 stars, which are considered as resembling animals, 
 &c. and receive their names accordingly, such as 
 Ursa Minor, or the Little Bear; Ursa Major, ov the 
 (jreat Bear; the NVolf, the Compass, and so on. 
 "The northern hemisphere contains thirty-four 
 constellations, including both the ancient and mo- 
 dern ;" and the southern a much larger number. 
 ]k'si(les these there are a number which are de- 
 nominated unformed stars. They also vary in 
 their apparent magnitude. 
 ** Instead then of one sun, and one world only, in
 
 THIRD DIVISION — THE FIXED STARS. 31 
 
 the universe, as the ignorant in astronomy imagine, 
 that science,' says Ferguson, "discovers to us such 
 an inconceivable number of suns, systems, and 
 worlds, dispersed through boundless space, that if 
 our sun, with all the planets, moons, and comets 
 belonging to it, were annihilated, they would be 
 no more missed by an eye that could take in the 
 whole creation, than a grain of sand from the sea- 
 shore!" At least, so says my author: and facts, 
 in addition to the testimony of other respectable 
 writers, seem to confirm it. 
 
 "What an august! what an amazing concep- 
 tion ! (if human imagination can conceive it,) does 
 this give of the works of the Creator ! Thousands 
 of thousands of suns, multiplied without end, and 
 ranged all around us, at immense distances from 
 each other, attended by ten thousand times ten 
 thousand worlds, all in rapid motion, yet calm, 
 regular, and harmonious, invariably keeping the 
 paths prescribed them; and these worlds peopled 
 with myriads of intelligent beings, formed for end- 
 less progression in perfection and felicity!" And, 
 " if so much power, wisdom, goodness, and mag- 
 nificence is displayed in the material creation — 
 how great, how wise, how good must He be, who 
 made and governs the whole!" "All these glories 
 are His, and yet He cares for wie.'" 
 
 "But I lose 
 
 Myself in Him, in light ineffable! 
 
 Come tlien, expressive silence, muse his prai,e!"
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 OF THE PHENOMENA OF THE 
 HEAYENS. 
 
 Comets — Eclipses — Narthern Lifi^hts — Atlraction or Gravi- 
 tation — Air or Atmosphere — Winds — Chnds — }]'aler- 
 Spout — Ruin — Hail — Sunw— Lighttiini; — Thunder. 
 
 XHE excursion to the solar and planetary system 
 havinc; proved so agreeable on both sides, it was 
 determined that a similar meeting should take 
 place on the next evcninp;, to discuss other won- 
 ders of the material world, so large a portion of 
 which was yet unexplored. 
 
 Passing by, somewhat hastily, said Eugenius, 
 the flaming comet, which strikes such terror into 
 the mind of the uninformed and superstitious, but 
 which is supposed, by astronomers, to l)e "an 
 o|)a(pie heavenly body like a planet, nu)ving in its 
 own orbit, which is very eccentric, and presenting 
 an aj)pc:irance of being bearded, tnilcd, or haired, 
 according to its position;" and whicii has its re- 
 gular periods of revolution round the sun, though, 
 from its orbit being so extensive, and its returns so
 
 PHENOMENA OF THE HEAVENS. 33 
 
 few, much of its history is yet in the bosom of fu- 
 turity ; — passing by the general theory of eclipses 
 of the sun and moon — the former of which is brief- 
 ly said to be ** a darkness occasioned by the moon 
 passing between the sun and the earth, and ob- 
 structing the rays of light;" the latter " by the 
 earth coming between the sun and the moon ;" — 
 also the Aurora Borealis, or northern lights, the 
 phenomena of which ** are supposed to arise from 
 electric matter, and particles of the nature of light- 
 ning," supplying in the polar regions, in some 
 measure, the absence of the sun, by their vivid 
 and brilliant light:— passing by these, let us ad- 
 vert for a moment to a subject of quite a different 
 nature, but one which, since the discovery of it by 
 Sir Isaac Newton, explains many of the phenomena 
 of the heavens and the earth, and accounts for 
 many apparent impossibilities in the world around 
 us. The subject to which I allude is the law of 
 attraction or gravitation. Attraction is briefly de- 
 fined — ** a certain principle in nature, by which all 
 bodies and particles of matter tend towards each 
 other." And " the attraction of gravitation is 
 that law, or principle, by which the planets, satel- 
 lites, and comets, tend towards the sun, and to- 
 wards each other." Thus the earth and the planets 
 are kept in their proper station, and poised so 
 wonderfully, though rolling in the immensity of 
 space, and hanging, as it were, upon nothing. 
 Thus the sun is the centre of attraction, around 
 which the mighty masses move, according to their 
 several distances. Thus we account for many 
 things which come under our daily observation, 
 the causes of which would otherwise be to us
 
 34 PVIENOMENA OF THE HEAVENS. 
 
 iinkno\An. And thus are we relieved from all anx- 
 iety in reference to the jarring or concussion of the 
 worlds around us, the anticipated destruction of 
 which mioht otherwise till us with dread.* 
 
 What think \ou, interrupted Lorenzo, of refer- 
 ring this wonderful law of the universe, to blind, 
 uncertain chance — the Atheist's God? 
 
 Think! why I should as soon think of referring 
 the mechanical operations which are going on yon- 
 der, that display such admirable contrivance and 
 ingenuity, to the same unconscious agent. No, 
 Lorenzo — there is something here, as in all the 
 laws of nature, which plainly intimates the exist- 
 ence of Nature s God! And happy is he who can 
 identify his Father's hand, in the daily manage- 
 ment and control of this wondrous law. 
 
 Let us now, continued Eugenius, turn our atten- 
 tion to the atmosphere, or the air that encompasses 
 the earth on all sides— the element in which we 
 breathe — without which we could not live — and 
 whose properties are so wonderful. The height of 
 the atmosphere is supposed to be about forty miles 
 above the earth, and becomes gradually thinner 
 and lighter towards the top. Its pressure is said 
 to be about fifteen pounds upon every scpiare inch; 
 and we sustain the pressure because we are our- 
 selves fdled with the subtle fluid, '* and pressed by 
 an ecpial force on every side." Its pr()})erties are 
 many; one of which was just explained. In ad- 
 dition may be mentioned, that though invisible, it 
 
 • Ft U rcuiarkiiblr, that the fnllinff of nn apjile from ti tirr in an or- 
 chard, is said to have l<i'cii the orii;in of Sir Isaac Newton's theory of at- 
 traction or gravitation.
 
 AIR AND WINDS. 35 
 
 is the vehicle of sounds and oi smells, the nourisher 
 of vegetation and nutrition in animals — and the 
 alleviator of burning and intense heat. It more- 
 over swells the canvass of the mariner, and wafts 
 him to distant shores — scatters a variety of seeds, 
 which take root in various parts of the earth.* — 
 and is the medium of innumerable blessings to 
 mankind. Without it, how vain were the music of 
 yonder grove ! how vain the essays of the birds to 
 expand their silken wings ! And how much of that 
 pleasing sensation, derived from the odoriferous 
 fields and groves, would be unknown to us on the 
 present occasion! *'0 Lord, onr Lord! how ex- 
 cellent is thy name in all the earth !" (Psalm viii. 1.) 
 
 When air is put in motion, we call it wind in 
 general : and a breeze, gale, or storm, according to 
 the quickness of that motion. f There are several 
 kinds of winds, each of which has its appropriate 
 appellation, viz. regular winds, or trade winds, 
 which greatly facilitate the course of the mariner 
 on the ocean— periodical winds, of which number 
 are the monsoons — sea and land breezes — variable 
 winds, and whirlwinds. And such is the wise or- 
 dination of Providence, that " boatmen often see a 
 wind coming by the dark curl that it makes upon 
 the surface of the waters, and thus have time to 
 guard against its effects. "J 
 
 But, as " the atmosphere is the scene of the me- 
 teors; and therein is collected the matter of rain, 
 hail, snow, thunder, and lightning, and a great 
 many other things observable in the air;" let us 
 
 * See seciion v. t Gutlirie's Geofrapliy, vol. i. ijitroduc. p. 
 
 t Arts of Life and Society, p. 8y.
 
 36 PHENOMENA OF THE HEAVENS. 
 
 take another excursion into the aerial regions; 
 and, not content with grovelling upon the earth, 
 ascend, as it were, to 
 
 " Rain's fountain liead, the magazine oDiail, 
 The northern nests of feathei'd snows. 
 The brew of thunders, and the flaming forge 
 That forms tlie croolicd liglitning." 
 
 Clouds, which are the grand repository of the 
 watery element on high, first demand our atten- 
 tion. Without these, so nicely borne up in the air 
 above us, and poised upon nothing, what a univer- 
 sal dearth would there be on the earth's surface, 
 which is now covered with verdure and beauty ! 
 The clouds are a collection of vapours drawn from 
 the earth and the sea, and raised into the air by 
 the heat of the sun. The dark cloud in the air, 
 which, at certain seasons, descends towards the 
 water of the ocean by a conical ])rojection, and is 
 termed the water-spout, is a phenomenon well 
 worthy of our attention. *' The water thus raised 
 gradually mingles with the circulating air, and 
 forms itself into a cloud ; and from the circum- 
 stance that little or no salt is contained in the 
 water deposited by water-spouts, it should seem 
 that the whole water is raised by a process ana- 
 logous to very rapid evaporation."* These clouds, 
 when thus raised on high, (according to the ap- 
 pointment of infinite Wisdom,) afterwards descend 
 in fructifying showers, and are the occasion of 
 innumerable blessings to the various tribes of the 
 earth. Hail, it seems, according to the philosophy 
 
 * I.ibraiy for tiie I'coiile, p. '.»2.
 
 RAIN — HAIL — SNOW, ETC. 37 
 
 of Mr. Locke, is occasioned by the drops of rain 
 freezing in their falling — and snow is said to be 
 the small particles of water frozen before they 
 unite into drops. "By the breath of God frost is 
 given: out of the south cometh the whirlwind, 
 and cold cometh out of the north. He saith to 
 the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the 
 small rain, and to the great rain of his strength. 
 With God is terrible majesty!" (Job xxxvii. 6, 9, 
 10, 22.) 
 
 But see, Eugenius, exclaimed Lorenzo, how the 
 lightning is "glancing with forked fury from the 
 angry gloom !" And hark ! the distant peals of 
 thunder — how they burst upon the astonished ear, 
 and hold the most sceptical in dumb amazement ! 
 "With God, indeed, is terrible majesty!" Who 
 can conceive the strength of that arm which wields 
 the thunderbolt — which scatters the lightning — 
 which commands the whirlwind? Yet, what a 
 happiness to reflect, that these elements are in His 
 hands, and subject to His control, who is "won- 
 derful in power and excellent in working!" 
 
 Yet while I paint the dreadful scene, I start; 
 My bosom scarce can hold Its panting heart. 
 Hark ! tremble !— murmurs in the distant air 
 Whisper of God— His awful way prepare ! 
 He fires the heavens; earth to her distant shores 
 Feels the broad flashes ; now his thundei roars: 
 His voice exalted with majestic sound, 
 Augments its terror through the vaulted round: 
 Great is the thundering God, and great his deeds; 
 Nor less his work our loftiest thoughts exceeds. 
 
 SCOTT. 
 
 But let us not, resumed Eugenius, be terrified at 
 the scene before us. Let us remember that these 
 storms rage not in vain ; but, by means of them, 
 
 E
 
 38 PHENOMENA OF THE HEAVENS. 
 
 the air is purged and cleansed of its impurities 
 or unuhi)lesonie vapours, and swarms of insects, 
 which might prove very destructive to vegetation, 
 are destroyed. Respecting the cause of the elec- 
 tric shock, I would just read a short extract from 
 a book now before me, which may prove very inte- 
 resting, •' Lightning, whether it takes place as a 
 communication between one cloud and another, or 
 between a cloud and the earth, is merely an effort 
 of nature to restore the two substances between 
 which the lightning passes to the same electric 
 state; and it is violent in proportion to the diffe- 
 rent states previous to the discharge. The thunder, 
 or noise, is the mere mechanical consequence of 
 the lightning : the great heat which the lightning 
 produces in its rapid course, expands the air to 
 
 almost a vacuum ; and, the tendency of 
 
 the air to come together after the instantaneous 
 tire passes, and the momentarily heated air con- 
 denses, may be equal to many thousands of tons, 
 and quite suflicient to occasion a sound louder than 
 that which is ])roduced by any artillery. Thunder 
 and lightning occur most frequ(MJtly at those phices 
 and those seasons of the year where the heat is 
 most intense; and a violent tliunder-storm usually 
 j)roduces a change of the weather."* 
 
 Such are some of the wondrous works of CJod. 
 Rut as it is growing late, and the night air is 
 beginning to be unpleasant, let us, Lorenzo, retire 
 to our dwellings, and tliere seek, under the pro- 
 tecting hand of Heaven, 
 
 * See a modern piiblicallon, eiilillrd "A l.iltiiiiy for llie People," 
 kfcond divis p )(iO.
 
 THE SUBJECT CONCLUDED. 39 
 
 "TirM nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep," 
 
 'till the ruddy morning awakes in the eastern sky, 
 and discloses new scenery to aid our contempla- 
 tion, and calls us afresh to the deliirhtful theme.
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 OF THE EARTH IN GENERAL. 
 
 First Division — 'lite resrctuble World, 
 
 \ read His awful name emblazon'd liiiili, 
 
 In golden letters, on th' ilhiniin'd sk)'; 
 
 Nor less the mystic characters I see 
 
 Wrouirht in each flower, inscrib'd on every tree: 
 
 In every leaf that trembles to the breeze, 
 
 r hear the voice of God amon^ the trees ; 
 
 In every creature own His forming power. 
 
 In each event His providence adore. 
 
 BARBAULD. 
 
 At an early hour the next mornini^, Lorenzo was 
 awakened from his slumbers by the orient beams 
 of the ertul<ieiit king- of day. It was one of the 
 most delightful mornings that ever peeped from 
 the summer sky. All nature was hushed in pro- 
 found silence, save when the welcome notes of the 
 early choristers of the grove, or tiie murmurings 
 of the sweet-flowing strean), broke occasionally 
 upon the ear. It was a time iitted for meditation. 
 As he arose, and cast his eyes towards the eastern 
 scenery on high, he was powerfully reminded of 
 tiie rapturous couplet of the poet —
 
 THE EARTH IN GENERAL. 41 
 
 " The j^lory comes ! hail to the risine ray ! 
 Great lamp of lis^ht, and second source of day ! 
 
 And hail, Sun of Righteousness! said he, of 
 whom the natural sun is but a faint emblem. Do 
 thou shine upon us, " witli healing in thy wings!" 
 
 In a short time, according to agreement, he re- 
 joined his friend Eu genius, whom he found, though 
 at this early hour, waiting his arrival, and occu- 
 pied in reading his favourite Thomson, towards 
 the beginning of his sublime description of Sum- 
 mer, line 81 — 90. 
 
 Having surveyed, said Lorenzo, •* those immense 
 globes that roll above us," and the phenomena of 
 the airy regions on high, let us now descend to 
 this earth upon which we tread, " which unfolds 
 so many treasures to our view." We have a large 
 field for observation before us; but, as we have 
 determined to devote the whole day to the pursuit, 
 we may probably explore many hitherto unbeaten 
 tracks, and see fresh instances of the wisdom and 
 power of the great Maker of all things. 
 
 I willingly accept your invitation, returned Eu- 
 genius; and, as you have committed the task to 
 me, I shall therefore choose my own method of 
 procedure. 
 
 Great as unquestionably are the objects which 
 we have been considering, the wonders of the Al- 
 mighty are not confined to the skies. Behold the 
 beauteous and varied landscape around us ! Let 
 us contemplate awhile the charming scene. Thus, 
 as has been observed, we shall find 
 
 "Tongues in trees; books in the running brooks; 
 Sermons in stones; and good in every thins,'." 
 
 *' The constituent parts of the earth are two — 
 E 3
 
 42 THE EARTH IN GENERAL. 
 
 land and water.'' The water is said to occupy 
 rather less than three-fourths, and the land rather 
 more than one-fourth of the earth's surface.* As 
 I shall speak of the ocean and of rivers in a sub- 
 sequent part of our discourse, [ wave it at present; 
 but before I j)rocee(l to describe the other portion 
 of the earth and its inhabitants, it will not be amiss 
 to observe, by way of exalting the great Former 
 of the universe, that though the number of persons 
 on the earth is supposed to exceed eight hundred 
 millions, "it is probable the ' human face divine,' 
 in every instance, varies in some of its features. "f 
 We have, indeed, as you observe, a large field 
 for observation before us: the earth and its pro- 
 ductions, including the animal, vegetable, and 
 mineral kingdoms — the ocean and its peculiarities 
 — and whatever else comes under this general 
 branch of our subject. And of all the studies 
 that can engage a serious mind, (the Book of Grace 
 excepted,) the study of the volume of Nature is 
 perhaps the most dignified and interesting. In 
 this delightful employment, though somewhat cir- 
 cumscribed, we are now to be engaged. — 
 
 AnJ 1ft Us o'er the fields 
 
 Across the down, or through the sliclvinu wood, 
 Wind our uncertain w;iy. Let fancy ic.id; 
 And be it ours to follow, anl admire, 
 As well we may, llic graces infinite 
 
 Of Nature Not a tree, 
 
 A plant, a leaf, a hlo<som, but contains 
 A folio volume. We may read, atid read, 
 And read ajfain, and still find somethini; new, 
 Something to please and somethini; to instruct, 
 K'en in tlie noisome weed 
 
 nuunis. 
 
 * Arts of Life and Society, p. I.Ho. 
 
 t Williams's CoHaRC Hible, vol. iii. y. Uhh, note.
 
 FIRST DIVISION VEGETABLES. 43 
 
 And though not able to enter into their minn- 
 ticE, or treat of the wonders of creation, with the 
 wisdom of Solomon, who " spake of trees, from the 
 cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop 
 that springeth out of the wall ;" who " spake also 
 of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and 
 of fishes;" (1 Kings iv. 33;) we may at least at- 
 tempt to sketch their more prominent features. 
 
 And first, of the vegetable kingdom. 
 
 Observe the tribes of vegetables in the beauteous 
 scene before us. ** These," says Mr. Locke, " may 
 be divided into three sorts — herbs, shrubs, and 
 trees. In vegetables there are two things chiefly 
 to be considered — their nourishment and propaga- 
 tion. Their nourishment is thus: The small and 
 tender fibres of the roots being spread under 
 ground, imbibe from the moist earth juice fit for 
 their nourishment; this is conveyed by the stalk 
 up into the branches and leaves, through little, 
 and, in some plants, imperceptible tubes, and from 
 thence by the bark returns again to the root: so 
 that there is in vegetables, as well as in animals, 
 a circulation of the vital liquor. Nature has pro- 
 vided for the propagation of the species of plants 
 several ways. The first and general is by seed. 
 Besides this, some plants are raised from any part 
 of the root set in the ground ; others by new roots 
 that are propagated from the old ones, as in tu- 
 lips ; and in others, the branches set in the ground 
 will take root and grow; and, last of all, grafting 
 and inoculation, in certain sorts, are known ways 
 of propagation."* 
 
 * Elements of Natural Pliilosopliy, p. 28.
 
 44 THE EARTH IN GENERAL. 
 
 With respect to the propagation an(i continu- 
 ance of phmts, the author of a work 1 lately met 
 with,* has carried us a step or two further: and, 
 as it will set forth the wisdom and power of the 
 Creator, in an eminent degree, I shall indulge my- 
 self in an extract from the beginning of the first 
 volume, dialogue i. p. 13. " A plant," he ob- 
 serves, •* that bears seed, is fixed in the earth, and 
 cannot transfer the seeds to any other place; for 
 this reason Nature, if I may use the expression, 
 has given wings to these seeds, to prevent their 
 falling all in one place. Some burst their shells 
 with great vigour, and scatter themselves over a 
 large extent of land ; others are really furnished 
 with little wings, which convey them, by the assis- 
 tance of the wind, to a great distance ; and others, 
 besides this advantage, have small hooks, that, in 
 spite of the wind, fix them to some particular 
 place. The design of the Author of Nature could 
 not have a more evident display. The seeds are 
 entirely abandoned to the wind ; from whence we 
 infer, they ought to be scattered up and down; 
 though they are not to take root wherever they fall, 
 but in such places only where they meet with juices 
 proportioned to the smallness of their pores." 
 
 This fact, so confirmatory of tlie superinten- 
 dence and control of the great Creator — of the 
 matchless wisdom which he displays in the varied 
 works of his hands — ami of ujy position, that 
 chance can produce nothing that is uniform and 
 unvarying, and that nothing can, strictly speak- 
 
 • "Spectacle de In Nature, or Nature Displayed," 4 vols. J2mo. trans- 
 lated from tlie Freiicii by Mr. Hiiiii|ilii(>ys : an intciestinif and instruc- 
 tive publication.
 
 FIRST DIVISION — VEGETABLES. 45 
 
 ing, arise spontaneously, no, not even a blade of 
 grass ; — I say, this fact, so pleasing to the lover of 
 Nature, is confirmed by the testimony of a respec- 
 table writer, in a small pamphlet which has lately 
 made its appearance, under the title of *' Outlines 
 of Botany." Speaking of plants, he says, — " That 
 they may never become extinct, the number of 
 their seeds is often immense; Ray counted thirty- 
 two thousand in one poppy-head ! Where the 
 seeds are less numerous, their safety is secured by 
 the extra strength of the seed-vessel, their nau- 
 seous, poisonous nature, and other means." He 
 then adds — "The various modes in which they 
 are spread over the face of the country, afford 
 equal evidence of a peculiar providential care. 
 The seed-down bears some through the air to a 
 distance; some cling, by their rough appendages, 
 to the coats of animals ; others are borne by neigh- 
 bouring streams, or by the winds, to an immense 
 distance; cocoa nuts float from the tropics to the 
 shores of Norway ; African seeds are blown over 
 the southern coasts of Spain ; and birds, animals, 
 and even the seed-vessels themselves, by an ejec- 
 tive power, all perform a part in the office of dis- 
 semination." 
 
 The number of plants known to botanists, near 
 one hundred thousand, is surely worth our notice. 
 And when we reflect that they are endued with a 
 certain degree of sensation or life, approaching 
 very near to animal existence, as instanced par- 
 ticularly in the sensitive plant; that roots some- 
 times change their form to suit the moisture or 
 dryness of the soil in which they grow ; when we 
 consider also the variety of seed-vessels, and of
 
 46 THE EARTH IN GENERAL. 
 
 Stalks or stems; the curious and interesting; ana- 
 tomy of plants; the phenomena of vegetable life; 
 the food of plants, which, botanists tell us, they 
 search for by means of their roots; or the fact, 
 ** that the root is gifted with the power of rejecting 
 what is hurtful, and selecting what is beneficial to 
 its parent plant;"* — I say, whether we consider 
 all or any of these circumstances, it must be blind- 
 ness indeed not to discover the operations of that 
 Being, whose wisdom and whose power shine so 
 conspicuously in this part of the fair creation. 
 Apart from this recognition, indeed, how just is 
 the inference of the poet — 
 
 " What tlioni^li 1 trace each herb and flower 
 
 That drinks the inornini? dew — 
 Did I not own Jehovali's power. 
 
 How vain were all I knew !" 
 
 In this part of creation, how the eye is charmed 
 with the rich profusion every where so conspicu- 
 ous! There is something peculiarly pleasant to 
 the eye in the cheerful green which forms a car- 
 pet beneath our feet, and in the blue or azure sky. 
 The wisdom of the Creator is here very conspicu- 
 ous, as the organs of seeing are refreshed rather 
 than injured by the view. "Common experience 
 as well as philosophy tells us," says Dr. Watts, 
 **that bodies of blue and green colours send out 
 such rays of light to our eyes as are least hurtful 
 or offensive; we can endure them longest: where- 
 as the red and yellow, or orange colour, send 
 more uneasy rays in abundance, and give greater 
 confusion and pain to the eye." 
 
 Oiilliiies of Hotaiiy, p Ti, G.
 
 FIRST DIVISION — VEGETABLKS. 47 
 
 And then, what abundant provision, during 
 many months of the year, is afforded to the ani- 
 mals which are scattered over the lowly valleys, 
 the lofty hills, or the verdant fields, by the pro- 
 duce of vegetation ! See too what a rich repast it 
 yields to the various tribes of insects! of which 
 v*'e shall presently treat. Not a plant or a flower 
 but sustains innumerable multitudes of the insect 
 tribe; and not a tree is there but affords a refuge 
 to some portion of the feathered race, which sing 
 among the branches. If we look forward, lo the 
 clustering fruit hangs on the bending branches, 
 and seems to invite us to the pleasing repast! If 
 we gaze still further, herbs of various size and 
 name, and of unparalleled medicinal qualities, 
 present themselves in abundance. On the right 
 and on the left the sense of smell is regaled by the 
 odoriferous tlower-gardens, which contain inhabi- 
 tants of every form and hue. And behind us is 
 the spacious wood — 
 
 " That clothes the weary steep, and waves in the breeze 
 Her sea of leaves. Thither we turn our feet." 
 
 What a comparatively wild and neglected spot 
 is this! Yet here the all-bountiful Disposer of 
 events deigns to visit, and to spread his life-giv- 
 ing, life-sustaining influence around. 
 
 " Behold the stately cedar stands, 
 Rais'd in the forest by his hands!" 
 
 Here is the stately oak, so long in coming to 
 perfection, but which, when matured, seems to bid 
 defiance, by its strength, to all opposition. Who 
 that gazes upon it now would suppose that it once 
 was no bigger than an acorn? or rather, that the
 
 48 THE EARTH IN GENERAL. 
 
 acorn was the germe of its future or present great- 
 ness? Without the aid of the forest timber, where 
 wouUI be the ponderous and noble vessels that 
 glide along the liquid element? or what would 
 support the more humble places of our abode, or 
 the useful seats of merchandise? The sacred tem- 
 ples too, those dwellings of Jehovah, and the 
 scene of our devotion and praise, would want 
 some of their main props and supporters. And, 
 indeed, in every work of this kind, of the least 
 magnitude, we should be continually put to a 
 nonplus, had not Heaven so graciously provided 
 these abundant aids to our industry and con- 
 trivance.
 
 SECTION VL 
 
 OF THE EARTH IN GENERAL. 
 
 Second Division — Mountains. 
 
 But we must quit this pleasant scene, Lorenzo, 
 and go in search of others. The cool, the pleas- 
 ing streams, we pass by at present; but yonder 
 are the heaven-crowned mountains, to which we 
 will repair. *' High and low, elevated or de- 
 pressed, each corner of the earth affords matter 
 for contemplation ; but no theatre is more instruc- 
 tive than the craggy sides of tremendous moun- 
 tains," (such as are to be seen abroad,) ** which 
 rise in dreadful majesty — and whose venerable 
 brows are charged with eternal ice." Compared 
 with such as these, the mountains before us appear 
 as the plain, and their height as nothing. The 
 origin of these stupendous masses cannot be ascer- 
 tained, though their uses may; and the tremen- 
 dous height and astonishing phenomena of some 
 of them, seem to bid defiance to all conjecture. — 
 Guthrie makes mention of Norway as abounding 
 in huge mountains, and says, from the peculiar 
 F
 
 60 THE EARTH IN GENERAL. 
 
 formation and size of some of tlicni, having; im- 
 mense caverns beneath, and reservoirs of water on 
 the top, that they form a most surprising part of 
 the landscape. 
 
 Of all mountains, volcanic, or burning; ones, 
 seem the most remarkable. Of these there are 
 said to be one hundred and eighty-nine in ex- 
 istence, though many are supposed to be extinct; 
 and it is further stated, that as so much of the 
 earth is yet unexplored, there are probably no fewer 
 than two hundred and fifty!* Of these we have 
 been accustomed to hear most of Mounts Vesuvius 
 and Etna. The circumference of the summit of 
 the former is said to be about three thousand feet; 
 and the height of the latter, eleven thousand feet, 
 or two miles, from the level of the sea.f Besides 
 these, may be named the volcano of Stromboli, 
 one of the isles of Eolus, in the north of Sicily, 
 which has frequent eruptions; Hecla, scarcely ha- 
 bitable by reason of the severe cold, whose top is 
 always covered with snow, and its interior always 
 filled with fire;t with a variety of others nearly as 
 wonderful. " Volcanoes are the most awful phe- 
 nomena known to man. Of their terrific sj)hn- 
 dour, their deafening noise, their overwhehiiing 
 torrents of burning lava, and their to\Vering masses 
 of smoke," we ha\e freipiently heard, and stood 
 awhile in silent astonishment; yet '* no one can 
 form a just idea who has not seen one; and those 
 who have seen them, find the powers of language 
 inadecpiate to describe their feelings." 
 
 Among mountains which are not volcanic, but 
 
 * Wonders of Niilurc III! J Art, p 7L'. 1 Ibid, p. ;•;>. j Ibid.
 
 SECOND DIVISION — MOUNTAINS. 51 
 
 which are remarkable for their size and height, 
 may be named the following, as enumerated in the 
 work just referred to.* 
 
 REMARKABLE RIDGES OF MOUNTAINS. 
 
 The Himalayas, to the north of Hindostan, some of which are from 
 twenty-five to twenty six thousand feet high. 
 
 The Andes, in Peru, many of which are twenty to twenty-two thou- 
 sand feet high. 
 
 The Tartarian, sixteen thousand feet. 
 
 The Alps, from ten to sixteen thousand feet. 
 
 The Pyienees, from nine to ten thousand feet. 
 
 The Norwegian, same height. 
 
 The Stony Mountains, in North America, six or seven thousand feet. 
 
 The Scottish Mountains, from four to five thousand feet. 
 
 The Welsh Mountains, from three to four thousand feet. 
 
 SINGLE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 Sumatra Peak, sixteen thousand feet, 
 
 Ttie Peak of Tenerlffe, twelve thousand three hundred feet. And— 
 Mount Etna, (volcanic,) before named, eleven thousand feet, or two 
 miles high. 
 
 *' The spectacle," from these towering heights, 
 ** has in it something magical and almost superna- 
 tural." The tops and ascents of many of them 
 are covered with verdure, which affords pasturage 
 for animals which climb these steep precipices, 
 and whose skins are useful to mankind; innume- 
 rable springs also come gushing forth, and form 
 sweet-flowing streams in the vales beneath; and 
 in many other respects, these mountains seem well 
 calculated to lead the mind to the *' awful God" 
 who presides above all these inferior operations of 
 his hands. 
 
 • Wonders of Nature and Art, p. 9S.
 
 SECTION VII 
 
 OF THE EARTH IN GENERAL. 
 
 Third Division— The Mineral World. 
 
 " Nor to the surface of the enliven'd earth, 
 Graceful with tiills, and dales, and leafy woods, 
 Her liberal tresses, is thy force coiifiird; 
 But to the bowel'd cavern, darting deep. 
 The mineral kinds confess thy mighty power." 
 
 From the foregoing-, Lorenzo, at your request, 
 1 turn to minerals, or matter dug- out of the bowels 
 of the earth. These, according to Mr. Locke, are 
 called by one common name — fossils; compre- 
 hending ** metals, minerals or half-metals, stones 
 of divers kinds, and sundry bodies that have the 
 texture between earth and stone." 
 
 The Divine Wisdom is particularly discoverable 
 in these secret recesses of the earth ; not only by 
 the supplies afforded us, but by choosinc; this con- 
 venient lodgment for them. Were they to be 
 found on the surface of the earth, they would con- 
 tinually be in our way, and be a bar to vegetation;
 
 THE EARTH IN GENERAL. 53 
 
 but the depository in which they are placed is not 
 only removed out of the way of every thing of this 
 kind, but seems, from some considerations which 
 will presently appear, the most suitable that can 
 possibly be imagined. 
 
 Among the productions of these lower regions, 
 let us begin with metals. Some of these, such as 
 gold and silver, are very valuable and precious, 
 and very useful also. By means of these, trade 
 and commerce is conducted on a large scale, and 
 labour receives its remuneration; and though dug 
 out of the bowels of the earth, they form splendid 
 ornaments and utensils for the use or embellish- 
 ment even of royalty. Besides these, art has 
 made them subservient to many other and impor- 
 tant services. 
 
 But though less valued, and of coarser texture, 
 not less useful perhaps is iron. Without this me- 
 tal, which grows in such abundance, trade would 
 almost be at a stand, as there are few implements 
 in trade which do not partake of its strength- 
 giving power. Then may be named that useful 
 metal, copper, such large portions of which you 
 have noticed on the exterior of our ships, to pre- 
 vent the incursions of the waters, as well as to add 
 strength and durability to those ponderous vessels. 
 The domestic circles also confess the use of the 
 latter, as many articles in the household economy 
 are formed of this enduring substance. Next to 
 these, (though less durable, yet extremely useful,) 
 may be named the common white metal, tin, 
 which, under the contriving hand of Art, is used 
 for a variety of purposes. Nor must the soft me- 
 tal, lead, be overlooked, as without it we should 
 F 3
 
 54 THE EARTH IN GENERAL. 
 
 want a most desirable requisite in building, &c. 
 Last, not least, from some of these, or from a 
 combination of them, are formed those indispen- 
 sable vehicles of literature and science, the print- 
 ing-types — by means of whose all-prolitic power, 
 the '* thoughts that breathe and words that burn," 
 may be transmitted, at a small expence, from one 
 part of the earth to another, and enlighten, and 
 moralize, and evangelize, where their author never 
 was known ! 
 
 Thus kind is the Author of Nature in this por- 
 tion of the works of his hands. Shall we turn 
 from these, Lorenzo, to those hard substances de- 
 nominated stones, of various hues and texture? 
 Here infinite Wisdom immediately discovers itself. 
 For it is said to be a fact, that those enormous, 
 hard, and heavy stones, so useful in building, 
 when in the quarry from which they are dug, are 
 so soft, that they may be cut out of their beds 
 with comparative ease, though, immediately they 
 are freely exposed to the air, they become ex- 
 tremely hard and dural)le. — Were they thus hard 
 in their birth-j)lace, it would be next to impossible 
 to raise them from their beds; and were they thus 
 soft when used in our bridges or dwellings, the 
 very circumstance would render them liable to im- 
 mediate decay, nor coidd we reckon at all on the 
 safety of those ])laces in which they formed a pro- 
 minent feature. But is the Atheist wise in refer- 
 ring all this to chance ? 
 
 In these secret repositories, Lorenzo, as just 
 hinted, are stones of various sorts and hues — some 
 precious, some common, some transparent, some 
 op-.upie — and they are valued a<cor(ling to their
 
 THIRD DIVISION — MINERALS. 55 
 
 lustre, colour, smoothness, or weight. Here is the 
 precious diamond, the hardest and most beautiful 
 of stones; here is the ruby, and the garnet, and 
 the hyacinth, and the amethyst, and the emerald, 
 and the beryl, and the sapphire, and the topaz, 
 and the cornelian, and the onyx, and the agate, 
 and the jasper. Here also are stones of a com- 
 mon order or race, but useful in rearing statues, 
 building public edifices, constructing monuments 
 for the dead, spanning rivers, paving our streets, 
 &c. Here too are marbles, and alabasters, and 
 flints, and crystals, and slates; all formed so ini- 
 mitably by the fostering hand of Heaven, and so 
 useful in their kind, under the metamorphosing 
 power of the Arts and Sciences. 
 
 We pass from these to a most invaluable fossil 
 used in firing — I mean coal. Here are prodigious 
 storehouses and inexhaustible mines of this useful 
 article, of various qualities and richness, and 
 adapted to the various purposes of the arts of life 
 and society. And it is probably owing to the 
 smoke emitted from these when kindled into a 
 flame, that, in large cities, we are preserved from 
 the devastating plague. In the domestic eco- 
 nomy, as well as in the multifarious concerns of 
 trade, we should often want a most important 
 article, were we destitute of this useful fossil. 
 Among fossils too we must not omit to mention 
 the several sorts of " ochre, chalk, that which 
 they call black lead, and other bodies of this 
 kind, which are harder than earth, but have not 
 the consistency and hardness of perfect stone. 
 Besides these there are found in the earth several 
 sorts of salts, as eating or common salt, vitriol
 
 56 THE EARPU IN GENERAL. 
 
 salt, gemma, and others. The semi (or half) 
 metals that are dug out of the bowels of the earth 
 are antimonv, cinnabar, zinc, c*v:c. to which may 
 be added brimstone." The mineral kingdom is 
 also of use in a medicinal point of view. And, in 
 conclusion, upon the authority of your favourite 
 Locke — " All stones, metals, and minerals, are 
 real vegetables ; that is, grow organically from 
 proper seeds, as well as plants."* 
 
 • Elements, p 27.
 
 SECTION VIII 
 
 OF THE EARTH IN GENERAL. 
 
 Fourth Division — The World of Waters. 
 
 " From flo^vel•s and meads, and woods and shades, we change, 
 
 And for a while we'll on the Ocean range; 
 
 The wonders of the deep we'll now explore," 5:0. 
 
 Having thus surveyed the surface of the earth, 
 and made an excursion into some of her secret re- 
 cesses, I now propose, Lorenzo, previous to looking 
 into the animal creation, to bestow some conside- 
 ration on the great world of waters, comprehend- 
 ing springs, rivers, and the ocean. 
 
 On this subject, as I know he is a favourite, I 
 shall begin by reading a quotation from Mr. 
 Locke, contained in p. 22 of his Elements, before 
 referred to. " Part of the water that falls down 
 from the clouds, runs away upon the surface of 
 the earth into channels, which convey it to the 
 sea; and part of it is imbibed in the spongy shell 
 of the earth, from whence sinking lower by de- 
 grees, it falls down into subterranean channels.
 
 58 THE EARTH IN GENERAL. 
 
 and so under ground passes into the sea; or else, 
 meeting with beds of rock or clay, it is hindered 
 from sinking lower, and so breaks out in springs, 
 which are most commonly in the sides, or at the 
 bottom of hilly ground. Springs make little ri- 
 vulets — those uniting make brooks — and those 
 coming together make rivers, which empty them- 
 selves into the sea." 
 
 Of the various uses of rivers I need not here en- 
 large. Besides adorning the scenery, they aftbrd 
 drink to man and beast, fertilize and refresh the 
 lands through which they pass, and aid, in an ex- 
 traordinary manner, the commerce of the world. 
 When we reflect upon their number, and the enor- 
 mous size of some of them, in some instances — 
 
 " Rolling with wealthy pride o'er sands of gold," 
 
 and extending for hundreds of miles, we are utterly 
 at a loss to conceive of any source (except the 
 great Source of all things) capable of supplying 
 their ever-rolling streams. " What source," says 
 one, with evident amazement, " is sutticient to 
 feed such a river as the Rhone? What storehouses 
 large enough to supply the mighty cisterns of the 
 Danube, the Ganges, or the Kiver of the Amazons, 
 (in America?) Where are those immense, invisi- 
 ble reservoirs, which, through so many hidden 
 channels, pour forth such inexhaustible treasures 
 of water, tilling the vast bosoms of the rivers with 
 a profusion abun(hintly suflicient for all our wants, 
 and yet restrained within such proper bounds, as 
 not to overflow instead of enriching the countries 
 through which they pass?"
 
 FOURIH DIVISION — THE WATERS. 59 
 
 And then, Lorenzo, the Ocean — what a mighty 
 storehouse is there! As before hinted, nearly 
 three-fourths of the earth, we are told, is covered 
 with ivatfr, and only little more than one-fourth is 
 land! The ocean, says Guthrie, is a great and 
 spacious collection of water, without any entire 
 separation of its parts by land. There are three 
 extensive oceans, (besides lesser seas, which are 
 only branches of these,) — namely, the Atlantic, 
 the Pacific, and the Indian Ocean. The Atlantic 
 or Western Ocean, which divides the eastern and 
 western continents, is three thousand miles wide; 
 the Pacific divides America from Asia, and is ten 
 thousand miles across; and the Indian Ocean, 
 wliich lies between the East Indies and Africa, is 
 three thousand miles wide ! * 
 
 Here are things creeping innumerable ! There 
 go the ships, those mighty aids to Commerce; and 
 thousands and thousands of riches are derived 
 from the important tratfic. There go the mis- 
 sionaries, to teach the arts of peace ; to beat the 
 swords into ploughshares, and the spears into 
 pruning-hooks ! Yonder comes a vast store of 
 provisions in the form of fishes, of which I shall 
 presently treat. And it is worth while to remark 
 for a moment, as it evinces the Divine Wisdom, 
 that of those fishes which are beneficial for food or 
 otherwise, we have an abundant and wonderful 
 increase; while those monsters of the deep which 
 terrify or annoy us, are found to breed remarkably 
 slow. 
 
 The sea indeed is a wonderful repository; and, 
 
 • Gntlirie's Ceograpli. Gram. 8vo. introdnc. vol. i. p. 40.
 
 60 THE EARTH IN GENERAL. 
 
 from good authority, we learn, that it is at least 
 two miles in depth. I know not whether we are 
 warranted in adopting the idea of the author ot 
 the Spectacle de la Nature, who says we are justi- 
 fied in concluding that the bottom of the sea is 
 covered with plants like the land, but of quite a 
 different nature; that it has its forests and mea- 
 dows, wherein the inhabitants of the waters find 
 such food as is convenient for them ; and though 
 not of immediatt use to us, yet that our benefit was 
 the end of their creation, since he supposes they 
 serve for the nourishment, retreat, or defence of 
 such fishes, tortoises, and shell-fish, as supply our 
 tables both with plenty and dainties. Whether 
 this hypothesis be founded in reason or not, we 
 know that there are some sorts of plants in the sea. 
 Sponge, which is very soft, is one of these ; and 
 coral, which is entirely stony, and grows on rocks 
 in the sea, and is attainable by a curious kind of 
 fishery, is another. The history of the latter is 
 very interesting. We are told that it is always 
 within of a stony, solid, and very hard nature, 
 even when in the water, except the extremities of 
 branches, which afterwards grow hard, and petrify 
 in the air. The bark or rind is a little rough and 
 jagged, but takes a very fine polish. One ob- 
 server of their minutim afiirms, that on the sides 
 of some young branches of coral he found little 
 tumours or excrescences, pinked in the form of 
 stars; and from within he saw flowers shooting 
 forth, which withdrew again into them upon the 
 coral's being exposed for a time to the open air.* 
 — • 
 
 • S|pccljiclc do \a N.ttuiT, vol. iii.
 
 FOURTH DIVISION — THE WATERS. 61 
 
 This, Lorenzo, is offered as a small part of the 
 wonders of tiie mighty deep. Perhaps we never 
 see the power of God more fully displayed, than 
 in those storms which agitate the troubled ocean, 
 and the succeeding calm. This I have elsewhere 
 described, and, as such, shall here partially re- 
 trace the scene. At a distance before me roll the 
 billows of the mighty ocean, covering in its deep 
 a world of wonders. There the awful God is seen 
 to ride forth in terrible majesty, and to proclaim 
 his superiority to all that is created. I see a 
 storm arise. The heavens frown upon the deep — 
 the storehouses send forth the impetuous show- 
 er. — Armed with more than mortal strength, the 
 angry winds bellow in rage — the thunders are 
 heard — the lightnings play upon the deep — Ocean 
 is convulsed, and heaves his sighs in awful gran- 
 deur! — while the terrified mariners shriek in ago- 
 ny as the vessel alternately is tossed to the height 
 of the mountains or sunk again to the deep! But 
 see! as if to shew the same powerful God, how 
 perfect is the calm ! The elements cease their 
 contention — the billows retire to their accustomed 
 bounds— the foaming surges forget their fury — the 
 lacerated vessel again cuts the tranquil deep — and 
 the affrighted mariners once more are safe from 
 the impending danger. 
 
 But I must not here enlarge. The last thing 
 that I mention under this head is that motion of 
 the water called tides, which is a rising and fall- 
 ing of the waters of the sea, and is caused by the 
 attraction of the moon. Here is a fresh instance 
 of the Divine power and goodness. Were the 
 ocean to sleep in profound silence, or become stag- 
 G
 
 62 THE EARTH IN GENERAL. 
 
 nant, it would be an intolerable burden to the 
 land, and become the cause of destruction to all 
 around ; but by means of the salutary influence 
 of the tides, the \vaters are purged of their tilth, 
 and become an invaluable blessing instead of a 
 curse, by nourishing the animals that reside there- 
 in, and being serviceable in a variety of other 
 ^vays. 
 
 But this brings us to the tribes which inhabit 
 the watery realms; of which, and the rest of the 
 animal creation, in a future conference.
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 OF THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 First Dirishm — Fishes. 
 
 We liave now arrived at a new and an inte- 
 resting part of our subject — the animal creation 
 in general. Man and brute, says Locke, divide 
 all the animals of this our globe. We shall com- 
 mence with the latter, reserving the former for the 
 sequel of our discourse. *' Brutes," continues Mr. 
 L. " may be considered as either aerial, terrestrial, 
 aquatic, or amphibious. I call those aerial which 
 have wings, wherewith they can support them- 
 selves in the air. Terrestrial are those whose 
 only place of rest is upon the earth. Aquatic are 
 those whose constant abode is upon the water. 
 Those are called amphibious which live freely in 
 the air upon the earth, and yet are observed to 
 live long in the water, as if they were natural 
 inhabitants of that element." 
 
 Having just considered the other wonders ap- 
 pertaining to the boundless main, it seems natural 
 that we should next consider the inhabitants there-
 
 64 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 of, whether truly aquatic, or of the amphibious 
 kind. We can afterwards turn to terrestrial and 
 aerial animals, which are equally deserving of 
 attention. 
 
 It is pleasing to observe how Providence adapts 
 every creature to the situation in which it is des- 
 tined to move. "Fishes, like other animals, are 
 admirably fitted for their situation. Their bodies 
 are finely made for cutting and gliding through 
 the waters, and their fins give them as much the 
 command of the sea as wings give fowls that of 
 the air. They are all covered with a glutinous 
 matter, that defends them from the immediate 
 contact of the surrounding fluid. Their sensations 
 are not so perfect as those of terrestrial animals, 
 only because not so necessary. Their rapacity, 
 though insatiable, is connected with a faculty of 
 sustaining hunger to a length of time totally in- 
 credible Their astonishing longevity 
 
 seems one of their chief characteristics. Indeed 
 they appear to have no limits either to their age 
 or their size. And yet their fecundity is still 
 more wonderful and extraordinary. Some multi- 
 ply by hundreds, some by thousands, and others 
 by millions." 
 
 The last-mentioned fact relative to the fecundity 
 of fishes, is particularly evident in the case of 
 herrings. They are known to set out from the 
 northern icy sea about the middle of winter, in 
 such incredible nundiers, that if all the men in 
 the world, says my author, were to be loaded with 
 them, they could not carry the thousandth part 
 away! But they are soon thinned by the n)illions 
 of enemies that waylay them in their course. The
 
 FIRST DIVISION — FISHES. €5 
 
 immense swarm, however, which escapes the ra- 
 vages of their enemies, gives a new appearance to 
 the ocean. It is, says the above author, divided 
 into distinct columns of five or six miles in length, 
 and three or four in breadth, while the water 
 before them curls up, as if forced out of its bed. 
 Under these circumstances they are easily caught, 
 in some instances above two thousand barrels at 
 a draught. It is said they breed so fast, that a 
 single herring, in twenty years, if unmolested, 
 would produce a family ten times as numerous as 
 all the tribes which animate our earth; but the 
 balance of nature is so managed, by unerring 
 Wisdom, that their consumption keeps pace with 
 their increase. Otherwise, "the sea would soon 
 become overcharged with the burden of its own 
 productions; and that element, which at present 
 distributes health and plenty to the shore, would 
 suffocate and load it with putrefaction.'* 
 
 I think, Eugenius, said Lorenzo, the cod-fish is 
 equally (if not more) celebrated for its fecundity. 
 
 One of those, resumed the former, incredible as 
 it may appear, is said to produce at least as many 
 of its kind in one season, as there are persons in 
 England. But as it is a fish so well known, I 
 shall not dwell upon its history, but proceed to 
 the fire-flare, a phenomenon of the ocean, which 
 appears to be dreaded even by experienced fisher- 
 men, on account of its being furnished by nature 
 with a forked weapon, which grows from the tail, 
 and is five inches Ions:. The ancients assert it to 
 
 * Beauties of Natural History, p. 311, to which ( am indebted for 
 soni*- interestiog particulars. 
 G 3
 
 66 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 be of a venomous nature, and many philosophers 
 and fishermen, it seems, concur in the same opi- 
 nion. Not very dissimilar in reference to self- 
 defence, is the routih-ray, which, though it ap- 
 pears harmless, is covered witii prickles which it 
 puts forth at pleasure, to the great discomfiture 
 of those who attemi)t to take it in their hands, 
 unless they should happen to seize it by the little 
 fin at the end of the tail, where there are none of 
 those prickles. The peculiar habit of this fish is, 
 the choosing those parts of the sea which have a 
 black muddy bottom, where it devours every thing 
 with which it comes in contact, that is not able 
 to resist its superior power. But one more won- 
 derful than either of these, perhaps, is the torpedo. 
 The instant this fish is touched, "it numbs not 
 only the hand and arm, but sometimes also the 
 whole body. The shock received, by all accounts, 
 most resembles the stroke of an electrical machine 
 — sudden, tingling, and painful. And that it 
 proceeds from a certain kind of animal electricity, 
 which the creature has some hidden power of 
 starting uj), is perhaps the most plausible account 
 that has yet been given of the phenomenon."* 
 Beyond this, there is nothing very extraordinary, 
 either in its nature or in its general aspect. 
 
 The sun -fish is worthy of notice. These are of 
 a large size, and one taken near Plymouth, it 
 seems, was about five hundred weight. They 
 have a very small mouth, and each jaw contains 
 two broad teeth, with sharp edges. The back is 
 dusky and dappled — the belly of a silvery w hite. 
 
 • Ilcaittics. p. .^0().
 
 riRST DIVISION-FISHES. G7 
 
 Among testaceous animals, (or those which have 
 shells,) which inhabit the mighty waters, there 
 are two which claim our notice: and, although 
 they are so common among us, I feel persuaded 
 that their history is by no means uninteresting. 
 The first of these is the muscle. This little crea- 
 ture, as is well known, "consists of two equal 
 shells, joined at the back by a strong muscular 
 ligament, which answers all the purposes of an 
 hinge. By the elastic contraction of these, it can 
 open its shells at pleasure, about a quarter of an 
 inch from each other. The fish is fixed to either 
 shell by four tendons, by means of which it shuts 
 them close, and keeps its body from being crushed 
 by any shock against the walls of its own habita- 
 tion." Their fecundity is astonishing: it is said 
 that *' a single muscle, if there ivere not another 
 in the ivorldy would soon replenish the ocean !" 
 although their enemies, it appears, are numerous 
 and rapacious. But that from which they sufter 
 most, is the agitation of the waters. For this 
 reason nature has provided them with threads or 
 strings, which are of a glutinous nature, and which 
 they are enabled to fix to the rocks, or any other 
 mooring, and thus arrive at that fixation which is 
 so necessary, in order to their enjoying the aliment 
 all around them. The tongue of the muscle too, 
 according to the " Spectacle de la Nature," per- 
 forms the office of a foot, and enables her, when 
 necessary, to move onward. It is said she can 
 extend it full an inch and a half out of the shell. 
 
 The other above alluded to is the oyster. This 
 creature also considers fixation as necessary to its 
 well-being. For this purpose it is in possession of
 
 68 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 a kind of glue, which it fastens to rocks, sea- 
 weeds, or stones, at the bottom of the waters ; and 
 which, when cemented, "is as hard as the shell, 
 and not less dithcult to break. The shell, how- 
 ever, is sometimes furnished with a beard, not a 
 little similar to that of a muscle, which answers 
 the same purpose. They cast their spawn in May, 
 which at first appear like drops of candle grease, 
 and stick to any substance they fall on. These 
 are covered with a shell in two or three days, and 
 in three years the animal is large enough to be 
 brought to the market." These are the common 
 oysters. But rock oysters, which adhere to rocks 
 at the bottom of the sea, are sometimes found full 
 as broad as an ordinary plate; and "the largest 
 of all are those of the East Indies, some of whose 
 shells are two feet over." The pearls which are 
 found in some oysters, and from which it is said 
 the mother-of-pearl is taken, form a variety of 
 useful articles. These pearls are sometimes seen 
 *' adhering to the shell, sometimes making a print 
 in the body of it, and sometimes at large within 
 the substance of the tish."* As if to silence the 
 cavilling sceptic, oysters (although so numerous 
 and regular in their season) are produced in the 
 same manner as njuscles. So wonderful, so mys- 
 terious, so varied, so powerful, arc the operations 
 of the Divine Hand ! 
 
 But I must pass by hastily the curious flying 
 fish, which, when narrowly pursued, makes its 
 exit from the water into the air; the wonderfid 
 sea unicorn, or narwhal, which is sixty feet in 
 
 * lUautics of Natural History, p. 326.
 
 FIRST DIVISION — FISHES. 09 
 
 length, and has an enormous pointed tooth, *'fioni 
 nine to fourteen feet long, as straight as an arrow, 
 •^bout the thickness of the small of one's leg, 
 wreathed in a manner we sometimes see twisted 
 bars of iron, and is whiter, heavier, and harder 
 than ivory;" also the huge dolphin, (so celebrated 
 by the ancients,) whose scales, all over its body, 
 *' are of a bright, beautiful, silver colour, and, 
 when it rises from the sea, sparkle in the sun like 
 a cluster of diamonds;" the large grampus, which 
 exceeds twenty feet in length, and is proportiona- 
 bly thick ; and the voracious porpus, (not quite so 
 large as the latter,) the determined enemy of fish 
 of passage, such as the herring, the mackarel, the 
 salmon, and others, which it fiercely pursues and 
 devours, in the season when they make their ap- 
 pearance. I must pass by these thus briefly, in 
 order to hasten to one or two monsters of the 
 deep, long celebrated in natural history, with a 
 description of which I must bring this branch of 
 our subject to a conclusion. 
 
 The first of these is the formidable shark, which 
 "joins to the most amazing rapidity the strongest 
 appetite for mischief. His strength is enormous 
 — his celerity is unparalleled. He is found from 
 twenty to thirty feet long; the head is of a mon- 
 strous size, and somewhat flatted, and the mouth 
 of a terrible width. So wide is his throat, that 
 he can swallow a man with ease! He has six 
 rows of teeth — hard, sharply -pointed, and of a 
 wedge-like figure: there are said to be seventy- 
 two in each jaw, which make the fearful number 
 of one hundred and forty-four in the whole! He 
 has the power of erecting and depressing them at
 
 70 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 pleasure. When he is at rest, they lie quite flat 
 in his mouth ; but when his prey is to be seized, 
 they are instantly erected, by means of a set of 
 muscles that join them to the jaw." To these 
 outlines may be added " his fins, large and bristly, 
 agitated like the mane of a lion; his great gog- 
 gling eyes, rolling furiously on every side to see 
 his prey, as well behind as before." His skin 
 is hard, rough, and prickly, and is used for cover- 
 ing instrument cases; iiis bones are gristly; and 
 his whole appearance is fierce and savage in the 
 extreme. 
 
 So much for the shark, that prodigy of creating 
 power: and now, "last not least," comes that 
 still more wonderful creature, the enormous whale. 
 Of this a great deal might be advantageously 
 said, but I must draw my remarks into a small 
 compass. 
 
 Whales are seen in some seas above an hundred 
 and sixty feet long; but the Greenland whale, 
 which is from sixty to seventy, is the one with 
 which we are most intimately acquainted. The 
 head is of a monstrous size; the fins on either 
 side are from five to eight feet, and so strong as 
 to give facility to the movements of the enormous 
 creature, when activity is its object; the tail is 
 about twenty-four feet broad, and prodigiously 
 strong; •' the skin smooth and black, and in some 
 places marked with white and yellow, which, run- 
 ning over the surface, has a very beautiful effect." 
 Its eyes are not larger than those of an ox, and its 
 sense of hearing is wonderfully (juick and power- 
 ful. Its outward covering is not thicker than 
 parchment; but beneath this is another, full an
 
 FIRST DIVISION — FISHES. 71 
 
 inch thick, under which is found the fat or blub- 
 ber, which, when the animal is in a healthy state, 
 is of a yellow cast, and from eight to twelve inches 
 deep. This fat or blubber turns to oil ; and 
 every whale is computed to yield between sixty 
 and a hundred barrels of oil. The bones of its 
 body are of no use, being as hard as an ox's; but 
 the tongue, which is about eighteen feet long, is 
 inclosed in long pieces of the substance we deno- 
 minate whalebone: on each side of the tongue, 
 however incredible it may appear, there are about 
 two hundred and fifty pieces of this hard sub- 
 stance ! 
 
 Such are some of the wonders pertaining to this 
 huge creature. And the dangers arising from his 
 depredations, &c. are so well known, that I think 
 it unnecessary to say any thing further concerning 
 his eventful history. 
 
 Those amphibious animals, the crocodile and the 
 sea-horse, not properly belonging to the head — 
 " Fishes," will come in for a share of attention in 
 Section xii. under the denomination of *'The Sa- 
 vage or Untamed Tribes." 
 
 Here closes our investigation of that world of 
 wonders, the sea, and its numerous and interesting 
 tribes. And although much is left unsaid that 
 would aid our cause, for w ant of time and oppor- 
 tunity, yet sufficient surely has been advanced to 
 lead the mind to the Great First Cause of all 
 things ; whose power is so wonderfully displayed 
 in this portion of the works of His hands.
 
 SECTION X. 
 
 OF THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 Second Ditision — Insects. 
 
 Our first excursion, Eugenius, said Lorenzo, in 
 the animal creation, has proved to me highly inte- 
 resting- and amusing. And having surveyed the 
 watery realms and the phenomena of the deep, we 
 are naturally led to the creatures which inhabit 
 the land — the cattle upon a thousand hills— the 
 savage tribes — the insects that crawl upon the 
 earth or flit in the air — as well as that interesting 
 portion of animated nature, the feathered race of 
 songsters, which enliven and render vocal the 
 grove — and their kindred, of sprightly plumage 
 or domestic use, that hold their residence on the 
 land. 
 
 As you are by far my senior, and your method 
 has hitherto been pleasing, I shall leave the de- 
 scription to yourself. 
 
 Engciiius then resumed the investigation thus. — 
 I want but little invitation, Lorenzo, on this de- 
 lightful lIu'MU'. "The view of nature enchants me.
 
 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 73 
 
 and I find new pleasure in it every day, even with 
 respect to the minutest objects. Let us first con- 
 sider the smallest objects — we may afterwards 
 ascend by degrees. Let us begin with these insects, 
 so much despised by others, but of which you are 
 so fond. If the Deity did not consider it unworthy 
 of himself to create them, is it beneath us to con- 
 sider them? Their minuteness seems, at first 
 sight, to justify the contempt we entertain of 
 them ; but, in reality, it affords us fresh reason to 
 admire the art and mechanism of their structure, 
 which associates so many vessels, fluids, and move- 
 ments, in a point that is frequently imperceptible. 
 Vulgar prejudice considers them as the effect of 
 chance, or the refuse of nature ; but an attentive 
 eye discovers in them a Wisdom which, far from 
 neglecting them, has been particularly careful to 
 clothe, arm, and accommodate them, with all the 
 instruments necessary to their condition."* 
 
 This is indeed a most interesting portion of the 
 animated world. For, whether we advert to the 
 beauties of their clothing — arms, offensive and 
 defensive — organs, and implements for working — 
 origin, and first state — intermediate, and last or 
 final state, a resurrection to newness of life ; — their 
 food, its wonderful variety, peculiarity, and abun- 
 
 * While on this part of the subject, it may not be amiss to observe, 
 that tliere are animalcules ■jo small, ttiat, "reclvoning sixty drops to a 
 dram, there would be a number in a gallon of water exceeding by one 
 iialf the amount of the population of the whole terraqueous globe! 
 How inconceivably minute must the vessels, organs, and fluids of these 
 animals be ! The diameter of several of these animalcules does not ex- 
 ceed the four-thousandth part of an inch. A whale requires a sea to 
 sport in : a hundred and fifty millions of these would have ample scope 
 for their evolutions in a tumbler of water!" 
 H
 
 74 THE ANIMAL WOKLD. 
 
 dance — their ring:s, by contracting or dilating 
 which they are enabled to move forward or back- 
 ward — their number, and variety of species, (silk- 
 Avorms and caterpillars exceeding; three hundred,) 
 — manner of working, uses, produce, and forecast 
 — their industry, as instanced in the toiling ants 
 and bees — promptness with which they assist their 
 species — their houses, streets, and kingdoms — the 
 curious manner in which some of them build their 
 sepulchres or tombs, in which they remain in a 
 torpid state till the time for their transformation 
 or metamorphosis appears; — I say, whether we 
 advert to all or any of these, so beautifully detailed 
 in the Spectacle de la Nature, before adverted to, 
 we evidently perceive the superintcndency of a 
 Being whom we denominate God, who regulates, 
 w ith such scrupulous exactness, their varied move- 
 ments; — 
 
 "Whose hand unseen 
 
 Moves and guides the vast niacliine;" 
 
 a superintendency as much superior to that of an 
 earthly kind as the most finished piece of mecha- 
 nism is to disorder and confusion: and which 
 plainly declares that all things — even the minutest 
 and most insignificant, as well as the most impor- 
 tant — owe their origin and continuance to II IM, 
 the Great First Cause of all things — the Creator 
 of animate and inanimate nature; — in whom we 
 *'live, move, and have our being!" 
 
 But to proceed at once to the subject before us. 
 
 An insect is a small creeping or flying animal. 
 "Every insect, whether it flies or creeps, is com- 
 posed either of several riut;s, which shrink from
 
 SECOND DIVISION— INSECTS. 75 
 
 or approach one another in a common membrane 
 that connects them; or else of several distinct 
 scales, that slide over one another; or lastly, of 
 two or three principal parts, connected by a thread 
 they call a ligature. It should seem that the term 
 insecl, which is appropriated to all these separate 
 parts, sections, and movinp; rings, is derived from 
 a Latin word, which signifies to cut, and is ap- 
 plied in general to all these little creatures." 
 
 There are several thousand species of insects, 
 and almost every species, unlike other animals, has 
 its peculiarities, in reference to origin and manner 
 of subsisting, as well as the changes which are 
 undergone during their short earthly existence. 
 Indeed, the varieties here discernible almost batiie 
 the powers of description. I hold in my hand 
 nine closely-v,ritten folio manuscript pages, which 
 merely contain a sehction of the wonders apper- 
 taining to the insect tribe, and which I had 
 sketched in anticipation of the subject; but brief 
 as is this apparent lengthened detail, I find I must 
 forego the pleasure of reading it, and submit (what 
 will better accord with the time we allotted our- 
 selves) some general remarks upon the whole. 
 
 In all the works of man, however beautiful, a 
 close investigation discovers some imperfection ; 
 but in the works of the all-wise Creator, even with 
 respect to the most unsightly creatures, there is a 
 perfection and a beauty which mark them as 
 Divine. 
 
 "In the interior parts you w ill always find a free- 
 dom, a plainness, and a set of springs, whose art, 
 structure, and correspondence, are known by Him 
 alone. In the exterior, the finest touches of the
 
 76 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 pencil, with magnificent svmnietry and amiable 
 graces, diffused through the whole. Observe the 
 head of a common fly in a magnifying glass. One 
 can never be satiated with surveying such a profu- 
 sion of gold and pearls on a head so inconsidera- 
 ble. Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed 
 like one of these!"* 
 
 Are not insects, Eugenius, divided into different 
 classes'? 
 
 Yes, they are sometimes divided into four classes. 
 Among insects of the first class (which have no 
 wings) may be ranked the following. And how- 
 ever offensive these may be, their history is by no 
 means uninteresting. — 
 
 1. The Spider. J .^. The Scorpion. 
 
 2. The Flea. J 4- The Leeci). 
 
 Of that offensive little creature, the flea, it is 
 particularly remarked, that it "will draw a chain a 
 hundred times heavier than itself; and to compen- 
 sate for this force, will eat ten times its own size 
 of provisions in a single day!"t Its appearance 
 too, when seen through a microscope, is by no 
 means uninteresting. I myself remember seeing 
 one through a glass of this kind ; and it certainly 
 appeared, with its chain of gold about it, no very 
 contemptible object. The body secnis all over 
 curiously adorned with a polished sable armour, 
 neatly jointed, and beset with multitudes of sharp 
 pins, very similar to the cpiilis of a porcupine. 
 It has six legs, which it can dilate or contract at 
 
 * Sprclaclc (Ic lii Nainio, vol. 1. j). 7- t BpaiUies, p. 121.
 
 SECOND DIVISION — INSECTS. 77 
 
 pleasure; and the dexterity with which it employs 
 them is equally \\onderful and amazing.* 
 
 I must pass by the minutice of the spider, 
 though every way interesting, and that of" the 
 scorpion, which, in some parts of the East, is 
 found full as large as a lobster, and whose sting 
 is of so fatal a nature— as Avell as that of the 
 leech, with whose nature we are more familiar. 
 
 Insects continued. 
 
 The second class of insects have two wings, 
 which furnish them with many advantages over 
 the tribe above mentioned. Among these are 
 included — 
 
 1. The Dragon Fly. J 6. The Earwia. 
 
 2. The Aut I.ioii. J 7. The Fiotli Worm. 
 
 3. The Grasshopper. J 8. The Water Fly. 
 
 4. The Locust. J 1». The Water Scorpion. 
 
 5. The Cricket. J 10. The Ephemera. 
 
 These are " produced from eggs, like some of 
 the former, but not in a perfect state ; for w hen 
 first excluded, they are totally without wings." 
 After a time, however, they are ''seen to assume 
 two wings, which, like a budding flower, burst 
 through the case that contained them, and they 
 become at once complete winged insects. "| 
 
 The history of each of these would furnish us 
 with useful matter for reflection, and well employ 
 
 Beauties of Natural Hi.-torv, p, 125. t Ibid p. 131. 
 
 H 3
 
 78 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 the powers of the miiu). It may, however, be 
 briefly remarked, that the dragon fly is a numerous 
 race, and their birth-place the waters. The pro- 
 minent features of their history are the same. 
 The metamorphosis they undergo, from their first 
 state till they become winged inhabitants of the 
 air, is truly wonderful. Their two eyes are said 
 to resemble glittering mother of pearl; they have 
 four expansive silver-coloured wings; and they 
 have a very long body, which, like a rudder, di- 
 rects their varied motions.* 
 
 The ant lion, in its finished state, very much 
 resembles the latter, but difters from this in many 
 respects in its reptile state. With the little grass- 
 hopper we are most of us familiar. It is (with 
 some slight exceptions) of a green colour, and 
 breeds plentifully in the meadows, where it che- 
 rups away its hours during the summer. Its head 
 is said to be like that of a horse, its mouth filled 
 with crooked teeth, and its tongue of a reddish 
 cast, fixed to the lower jaw. It has six legs, four 
 wings, and undergoes, at a certain period, a trans- 
 formation peculiar to its kind. 
 
 Of the formidable locust we have read much in 
 the sacred pages, and are happy if we only know 
 it theoretically. It is about three inches long, and 
 its appearance, when narrowly surveyed, is very 
 beautiful. It abounds in warm climates; and 
 whenever it comes with a large company threatens 
 destruction to the fruits of the earth. Of the 
 cricket and the earwig, whose names are so fami- 
 liar to us, I must say nothing, though not unworthy 
 
 * Uianlirs of Niitinal History, p. Ul.
 
 SECOND DIVISION — INSECTS. 79 
 
 our notice. The froth worm "lies hid in that 
 frothy matter which we find on the blades and 
 flowers of plants. Its colour, shape, and size, are 
 all sufficiently known to the school-boy." In the 
 water fly we find an admirable adaptation to its 
 situation and wants, which sufficiently evidences 
 the wisdom of the Deity. It swims upon its back 
 instead of its belly, and is thus enabled to procure 
 its food with ease, as it feeds on the under side of 
 plants which grow on the surface of the water. 
 The water scorpion is about an inch in length, 
 and is to be found in ponds. It is said to be a 
 very rapacious animal. Lastly, the ephemera, 
 "in its fly state, is a very beautiful winged insect." 
 It has four wings and a long body, and, before it 
 acquires all its beauties, undergoes a variety of 
 changes. Much more I have at hand respecting 
 these interesting creatures; but I must forbear, 
 and proceed to the 
 
 Third class of the insect tribe, which com- 
 prises — 
 
 1. The Caterpillar. J 3. The Moth. 
 
 2. The Butterfly. ; 4. The Silk-worm. 
 
 ** Caterpillars are distinguished from the worm 
 tribe by the number of their feet — and butterflies 
 by the beauty and opaque nature of their wings 
 from beetles." Caterpillars, it seems, are pro- 
 duced from the eggs of butterflies. Their kinds, 
 like their numbers, are truly astonishing, for we 
 are told that every vegetable has its peculiar tribe. 
 During the first formation of this little creature, 
 its life is a scene of transformation from one skin
 
 80 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 and colour to another. At length it throws aside 
 its reptile state, and assumes an appearance al- 
 together different from any of the former, which 
 is extremely beautiful. 
 
 The butterfly is but the caterpillar in its perfect 
 and matured state. What a transformation ! Of 
 these it is said there are upwards of" seven hun- 
 dred different kinds! Their wings are a mark of 
 distinction from all other flies. They have four 
 wings, of a transparent substance; and if" at any 
 time deprived of two of them, the order of Provi- 
 dence is such, they can fiy with those remaining. 
 Moths, which I mention next, the third in this 
 list, are a kind of nocturnal butterflies. They not 
 only flutter among the flowers by day, but, it is 
 asserted, they gambol in the night in numerous 
 tribes, and expand, at that season, the most en- 
 chanting colours. They only differ from the but- 
 terfly in some trifiing particulars. 
 
 The silk-worm is a large whitish caterpillar, or 
 maggot, having twelve feet, and producing a but- 
 terfly of the moth kind. We are under numerous 
 obligations to the silk-worm, for its " soft, shining, 
 exquisitely fine silken threads." The wonderful 
 prc])aration it makes (in common with all the 
 caterpillar kind) for assuming its last and most 
 perfect state, constitutes, we are told, that fine 
 and delicate stuff", to which the exterior of fashion- 
 able life owes so many obligations. Its own-made 
 sepulchre; its manner of secluding itself" therein 
 for a season ; its issuing therefrom, throwing aside 
 its shroud, awaking from its torpor, assuming a 
 form entirely new, adornetl in sumptuous array, 
 and becoming, from a creeping insect, a winged
 
 SECOND DIVISION — INSECTS. 81 
 
 inhabitant of the air; are every way interesting", 
 and worthy of our attentive regard. 
 
 Instcts continued. 
 
 But I must hasten to the/ourth class of insects, 
 denominated srubs. The names of these follow. — 
 
 1. The Bees. » 7. The GloivAVorm. 
 
 2. The Wasp. J 8. The Kermes. 
 
 3. The Hornet. ^ '). The Cochineal. 
 
 4. The Ichneumon Fly. » 10. The Gall Insects. 
 
 5. The Ants. J 11. The Gnats. 
 
 6. The Beetle. J 
 
 These, like the former insects, undergo great 
 transformations, and from maggots become winged 
 animals. The difference, however, in many re- 
 spects, is considerable. The grub has fewer feet 
 than the caterpillar, and, when set at liberty, 
 "its wings are either cased or transparent; not 
 coloured with that beautiful painted dust which 
 adorns the wings of butterflies." And if I should 
 only glance at many of the insects included in the 
 above list, (which is unavoidably the case, for 
 want of time to pursue the enquiry,) it is, not 
 because any are unworthy of our attention, but 
 because others are deserving of a more minute 
 detail. 
 
 To begin then with the proverbially-industrious 
 bees. And, of all insects, these are perhaps the 
 most interesting. They fly from flower to flower, 
 extracting the sweets, and then return home, to
 
 82 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 deposit them in the hives. The cells are formed 
 of wax, and their manner of working is worthy of 
 attention. When they commence working, they 
 divide into four parties. One provides materials; 
 another is seen in the bottom and partition of the 
 cells; a third is engaged in smoothing the inside 
 from corners and angles; a fourth in relieving 
 those who return with burdens, and in bringing 
 food for the rest. Their cells, when tinished, are 
 perfect curiosities; and the builders appear to be 
 artificers in miniature. Their manner of rearing 
 their young, with such admirable tenderness and 
 care, evinces the same superintending Power and 
 Wisdom before so conspicuous. Indeed, their 
 whole history is highly interesting. And if, in 
 their various movements, they are directed by 
 chance alone, it is chance of an uncommon and 
 unprecedented order. 
 
 Passing by hastily the well-known wasp, whose 
 cell is as curious as that of the bee; the stinging 
 hornet, about twice as large as the wasp; and the 
 ichneumon fly, whose course is marked by slaugh- 
 ter; the next on our list are the sagacious and 
 foresighted ants. These little creatures are known 
 to most of us; yet, there are some parts of their 
 history which claim our especial notice. The 
 manner in which they lay up in store for the fu- 
 ture, evinces a foresight not to be expected in any 
 but the rational creation. If any thing useful is 
 found which is too heavy for one to bear, and can- 
 not be divided, several are seen to unite in endea- 
 vouring to force it alonii, some dragging and others 
 pushing it. When a fortunate discovery is made, 
 the whole republic is instantly in motion, anxious,
 
 SECOND DIVISION — INSECTS. 83 
 
 in a collective capacity, to secure the prize. I 
 remember an instance of a little ant having been 
 observed to climb a steep ascent, with a bit of 
 corn in its possession, tifty-nine times, and as 
 often to fall down again ; but such was the perse- 
 verance and industry of the little creature, that it 
 made an attempt the sixtieth time, and succeeded. 
 From this circumstance I learned, says the observer 
 of it, never to despair in reference to the attain- 
 ment of any object within the compass of reason: 
 and he attributed much of his success in life to 
 this useful event. 
 
 The uncommon and assiduous attention which 
 the ants pay to their young, is extremely interest- 
 ing and pleasing. They generally raise their hills 
 near a tree and a stream, for this obvious reason, 
 that one may afford them water and the other 
 food. A pyramid is the form of their structure, 
 which is said to be composed of various leaves, 
 chips of wood, sand and earth, bits of gum, and 
 grains of corn. In these habitations are various 
 winding ways, through which they pass and repass 
 to the water and the tree, with great parade and 
 expedition. 
 
 The tropic ants differ from those of Europe in 
 their manner of laying up provisions, and their 
 superior dexterity in building, and are said to be, 
 in every way, a much more formidable race. Many 
 travellers tell us that their sting produces insup- 
 portable pain. 
 
 Beetles, which next present themselves, are of 
 various kinds, and are defended from external in- 
 jury by the cases to their wings. They originate 
 from eggs, and after undergoing some transfer-
 
 S'l' THE AMMAL \VOKLD. 
 
 mations, break forth with wings in full maturic)-. 
 The dark beetle " is of a reddish brown colour, 
 sprinkled with a whitish dust," and makes a 
 strange buzzing with its wings. The tumble dung 
 beetle is a native of America ; it is not much lar- 
 ger than our common one, but extremely strong. 
 Its breast is covered with a shield of crimson, 
 which shines like metal ; its head is red, mixed 
 with green ; and a shining black horn is seen on 
 the crown of its head, reclining backwards. 
 
 The glow-M'orm must not pass unheeded. The 
 male has cases to his wings, and can mount the 
 air at pleasure, but the female, we are told, is 
 destined to a reptile state for life. Her charms, 
 however, are of a peculiar nature. She possesses 
 the power of assuming aluminous appearance in 
 the darkest situations. 
 
 The kermcs are produced in the oak. They are 
 only met with in warm climates, where they run 
 about the branches and leaves of trees. The 
 cochineal is known in America and Mexico. Those 
 in the latter place are of an ash colour, about the 
 size of a small pea, of an oval form, with six feet, 
 and a large snout. Their usefulness is acknow- 
 ledged in dyeing and medicine. Gall insects, the 
 next on our list, are known in Asia as proceeding 
 from bodies which adiiere to a kind of oak. They 
 finally leave their re])tilo state, creep from the 
 gall-nut, which had long been their dwelling, and 
 change their existence into tiiat of a Hy. (jnats, 
 in the last place, are a numerous and a well-known 
 race, and proceed from little worms, generally 
 discovered at the bottom of standing waters. The 
 eggs are laid on the surface of the water, sur-
 
 SECOND DIVISION — INSECTS. 85 
 
 rounded with an unctuous substance, which pre- 
 vents their sinking, and they are sf-cured by a 
 thread to the bottom, to prevent the wind carrying 
 them away. The gnats at first are amphibious, 
 but afterwards become winged insects. Their 
 forms are worth investigating, and tlieir numbers 
 infinite. 
 
 Insects concluded. 
 
 Protracted as is the foregoing account beyond 
 what I intended, I must yet beg your attention, 
 Lorenzo, for a few moments, while I hasten to some 
 particulars by way of conclusion. 
 
 " The common opinion that insects rise from 
 putrefaction, is," says the author of the Spectacle 
 de la Nature, " injurious to the Creator, and dis- 
 honourable to our own reason. For if we bestow 
 the least attention on these minute animals, who 
 are formed with so much symmetry and art — we 
 must either confess them to be the production of Al- 
 mighty Wisdom or the offspring of chance. Now, 
 'tis the last absurdity to ascribe agency to chance 
 — nor is it at all better to say, that chance acts 
 with any design, precaution, or uniformity. The 
 same Wisdom, therefore, that appears so admi- 
 rable in the structure of the human body, is as 
 visible in the composition of an insect ; and cor- 
 ruption is no more the parent of these than it is of 
 other animals, or even of men themselves." How, 
 then, is it, it may be demanded, that insects are 
 always to be found in these corrupt lodgments ? 
 I
 
 86 THE ANIMAL WOULD. 
 
 To this our author answers, " Because other insects 
 have deposited their eggs there. The parents can 
 fly, and find out convenient lodgments for tlieni. 
 All nature is full of animals, some fixed to one kind 
 of nourishment, others to a different: all have 
 their eyes attentive on their' prey, and nothing 
 eludes their penetration. They are attracted by 
 the odour, uhich exhales to a great distance : nay, 
 this very odour was appointed to act upon them by 
 such an attraction. And, therefore, if you always 
 see insects in a body as soon as it begins to corrupt, 
 it is, not because these animals are engendered by 
 putrefaction, but only because they have mothers 
 who know that impaired and corrupt bodies afl"ord 
 the properest nourishment for their young. And 
 this choice of the parent to lay her eggs in a place 
 that abounds with convenient nourishment for her 
 young, demonstrates that corruption cannot engen- 
 der any being — that chance has no agency — and 
 that it is only Nature (or, rather, Nature's God) 
 who prescribes to every animal its place, its func- 
 tions, and its food."
 
 SECTION XI 
 
 OF THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 Third Dicision — Quadrupeds. 
 
 W^E have hitherto gone but a little \vay in our 
 investigation of the animal creation. When ^ve 
 began our survey of the insect tribes, I was deter- 
 mined to use great brevity of speech ; but the time 
 stole so insensibly and agreeably away, that I was 
 surprised at the rapidity of its flight, and yet hard- 
 ly knew how, on a theme so prolitic, to check the 
 excursions we were taking. I must now hasten to 
 our enquiries respecting the animal creation in 
 general, without pretending to bestow much time 
 on any particular species. 
 
 Who can fail to admire the Power and Wisdom 
 so conspicuous in the animal creation? *' Such 
 as share our friendship lend all their assistance in 
 keeping other, and more hostile tribes, at defiance. 
 Some of them afford us the most nourishing food, 
 and enrich our persons with the finest clothing; 
 and we may be said to live entirely either by their 
 industry or on their flesh. By others we transport
 
 88 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 ourselves from place to place without labour, and 
 frequently repair our health without medicine. 
 Even those who continue to dispute our superio- 
 rity, take shelter in the most solitary recesses of 
 nature," and, in some way or other, are made sub- 
 servient to our good. 
 
 Let us push our enquiries a little further on 
 this interesting subject, putting aside that class 
 M'hich has already been under our notice. 
 
 Among the animals denominated quadrupeds^ 
 (or four-footed,) and which are divided into va- 
 rious sections, there are a variety which would 
 yield us much satisfaction. What a merciful 
 provision do we find in the continued and uninter- 
 rupted succession of that noble creature, the horse, 
 the source of so many enjoyments to the animal 
 man ! His majestic appearance, his bold, open 
 chest, his smooth, glossy skin, his extreme sen- 
 sibility, his proud and fearless aspect, and yet ever- 
 willing subjection to the mandate of his ruler, 
 render him an object every way interesting to the 
 inquisitive and tlie admiring mind. The zebra, 
 which is of tiie iiorsc kind, is a native of Africa, 
 and frequently exhibited in this country. It per- 
 haps excels the horse in beauty, as much as the 
 latter excels the former in usefulness. " The de- 
 licacy and regularity of its colouring, exceed all 
 description. Every part of it is striped alternate- 
 ly black and white, vvitii unerring exactness. Yet, 
 with all its perfections, our endeavours to tame it 
 have been liitiierto unsuccessful." 
 
 Among tli(> next tribe we cannot pass by the 
 cow, th(! object of such general utility. Besides 
 yielding us her calves, whicii are conducive to tiie
 
 THIRD DIVISION— QUADRUPEDS. 89 
 
 support of our bodies, she supplies us with an 
 abundance of the most wholesome and nutritious 
 milk, so indispensable an article in the household 
 economy. The sheep affords us not the same ad- 
 vantages, yet tills up an important place in the 
 scale of being. Besides the flesh of the sheep 
 being- most wholeiiome nourishment, its wool is 
 extremely useful, and is, by the wise Disposer of 
 nature, happily adapted for various articles of 
 clothing. 
 
 The wisdom of Providence appears two- fold in 
 the fleecy robes of the sheep — as it affbrds it (1.) 
 a warm covering during the coldness of winter, 
 and (2.) when its weight and thickness would, in 
 the warmth of summer, prove burdensome, it holds 
 out a powerful stimulus to man, (from the j)rolit 
 attendant on the labour,) to ease it of the cum- 
 brous load, in that season which we denominate 
 sheep- shearing. 
 
 The wisdom of Providence also appears con- 
 spicuous, in withholding from this, and other do- 
 cile victims to our appetites, every thing like a 
 knowledge of its future destiny. The heedlessness 
 of the little frolicsome lamb, the nutritious oft- 
 spring of the sheep, is finely sketched by the poet 
 in the following verses — 
 
 The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day. 
 Had he thy reason, could he skip and play .' 
 Fleas 'd to the last, he crops tlie flowery food. 
 And licks the hand just rais'd to siied his bloodi 
 O ! blindness to the future, kindly yiven, 
 That each may fill the circle niark'd by Heaven. 
 
 FOFE. 
 
 Among the deer tribe, the stag or hart, (the 
 1 3
 
 90 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 female of which is called the hind,) for his noble 
 gait and amiable disposition, ranks, says an ano- 
 nymous author, among the iirst of quadrupeds. 
 His head, from the beautiful cluster of horns 
 which dignify and adorn it, has a wild and roman- 
 tic appearance. His size, his strength, his make; 
 sprightly and graceful motions; his eyes, which 
 are said to be much finer than those of any other 
 animal in our island, and sweetly shining and sen- 
 timental ; render him a pleasing object in creation 
 — and afford new instances of that unbounded 
 variety and beauty so discoverable in the wide 
 creation. 
 
 Of that knowing, useful, and faithful animal, 
 the dog, much might be said ; but, as he is so 
 well known, I need not describe his pleasing qua- 
 lities. Suffice it to say, that History has lent her 
 aid in immortalizing him, and Poetry added the 
 deserved meed of praise. The pleasing mention 
 which is made by Homer of the affectionate dog 
 of Ulysses, who more than recognized his master 
 after an absence of twenty years, is very pleasing, 
 and I am tempted to read a part of the passage. — 
 
 He knew his lord; lie knew and strove to meet; 
 In vain he strove to crawl and kiss his feet; 
 Yet all he could, his tail, his ears, his eyes, 
 Salute his master, and confess his joys. 
 
 This dojr, whom fate thus j;raiited to behohi 
 His lord, when twenty tedious years liad roll'd. 
 Takes a last look— and havini? seen him — dies! 
 So clos'd forever faithful Argus' eyes. 
 Then pity touch'd the niinhly master's soul, 
 And down his cheek a tear unhidden stole. 
 
 liut we must pass by, Lorenzo, the wily fox, of
 
 THIRD DIVISION — QUADRUPEDS. 91 
 
 which so many things have been said ; the rich 
 ermine, so famous in Siberia, and whose skin is 
 said to be an article of commerce all over the 
 North of Europe ; the sworn foe of the crocodile, 
 denominated the ichneumon, which is said to enter 
 the mouth of the former when asleep, and to eat 
 up its vitals; the timorous, the gentle hare, so 
 cruelly persecuted by the human species; the pro- 
 lific and burrowing rabbit ; the lively and playful 
 squirrel; the harmless and defenceless guinea-pig; 
 the earth-born mole; the ugly but useful hedge- 
 hog, and him whom Shakspeare has termed the 
 ** fretful porcupine," of which we have all heard ; 
 the leaping, bounding frog; the crawling toad; 
 and the industrious, mechanical beaver; and pro- 
 ceed to an investigation of another, and a different 
 tribe of creatures— equal displays of Almighty 
 Power — and concerning which, were the whole 
 history given, 
 
 " I could a tale uufoJd, whose lightest words 
 Would Marrow np the soul."
 
 SECTION XII 
 
 OF THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 Fourth Diiisii>u — The Savage or Unlamed Trilies 
 
 XHE foremost in the rank, I would now bring 
 before you, is the noble, the generous, the majes- 
 tic lion. He has justly been denominated the 
 king of beasts. His voice of thunder, his bold 
 and commanding aspect, his dreadful shining 
 inane, his fiery eye-balls, his fearful jaws and de- 
 structive teeth, his prickly tongue, his moi'.strous 
 j)aws, added to his unprecedented strength when 
 roused to the combat, jK)int him out as one of the 
 most wonderful instances of the awful power oi 
 God. Generosity is one of the characteristics ol 
 his nature. And though so fierce and terrible 
 when impelled by hunger, he will not in general 
 niake an attack under more favourable circum- 
 stances. 
 
 Next to tlie lion comes the tiger, so well known 
 for his ferocity and beauty. As if to shew the di- 
 versity of his power, the Divine Being has endued 
 him with all the ferocity of the lion without any
 
 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 93 
 
 of his good qualities. *' He kills merely because 
 he delights in carnage; and his courage and rage 
 seem to increase only as he meets with no re- 
 sistance." But see a new instance of the power 
 of creative Wisdom, in the beautifully spotted 
 panther or tiger, which is found in the hottest and 
 least habitable climates ! See too the sagacious, 
 nocturnal wolf— 
 
 " By wintry famine roas'd 
 
 Cruel as death, and hungry as the grave! 
 Burning for blood! bony, and gaunt, and grim !' 
 
 And mark too the wily fox, and the keen and furi- 
 ous hyena ! The latter is so horrible a creature, 
 so monstrous in its appetites, and so ferocious, that 
 the very idea of one being let loose in our favour- 
 ite isle, would fill us, at this pleasurable moment, 
 with the most thrilling horror and fear. Observe 
 likewise new wonders in the abhorred ourang- 
 outang, a species of the monkey tribe. These are 
 sometimes taller than a man, and, with a form ap- 
 proximating to ours, walk upright. The strength 
 of one is said to be equal to that of ten ordinary 
 men! Baboons, another kind of monkeys, are 
 less in stature, being from three to four feet high. 
 They have a formidable, crooked tail, of about 
 eight inches in length, are covered with long, 
 thick, reddish hair, and walk upon all-fours. In 
 the common monkey we do not behold many of 
 these awful features. His ferocity diminishes with 
 his size; but his artifice and cruelty, unless kept 
 under by chastisement, are sutliciently obvious to 
 appear truly formidable. Thanks be to the wise
 
 04 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 and beneliceut Author of Nature, that these ab- 
 horred aiui cunning- creatures do not frequent our 
 isle. 
 
 But I must not, Lorenzo, although our time is 
 hastening on, omit to mention the fearful crocodile. 
 Its size, being sometimes thirty feet long, (though 
 its usual length is eighteen,) added to its enormous 
 strength, mahgnant dispositions, and voracious 
 appetites, render it one of the most terrible and 
 deadly of the amphibious race. Its history is \vell 
 worth our attention, but cannot engage us now. 
 Its places of rendezvous are along the banks of 
 great rivers; and it fearfully prevails about the 
 banks of the famous Nile, in Egypt, a province of 
 Africa. 
 
 His bulk is chari^'d witli such a furious soul, 
 Tliat clouds of smoke from his spread nostrils roll, 
 As from a furnace; and when rous'd his ire, 
 Fate issues from bis jaws in streams of fire. 
 Strength on his ample shoulders sits in state; 
 His well-join'd limbs are dreadfully complete I 
 His flakes of solid flesh are slow to part ; 
 As steel his nerves, as adamant his licart ! 
 
 1)K. YOUNG. 
 
 Though not so formidable in its nature, the pon- 
 derous and sagacious elephant must here come in 
 for a share of attention. " Surely it must fill the 
 mind with no ordinary conceptions of greatness and 
 sublimity, to see such a huge mass of matter in a 
 state of animation;" and it seems "as if Nature 
 intended solely by him to try how niuch j)ower 
 and bulk, independent of all inferior considera- 
 tions, could be thrown into one form." His size 
 and propensities are too well known to you, Lo-
 
 FOURTH DIVISION — THE SAVAGE TRIBES. 95 
 
 renzo, to need any laboured description. His 
 enormous bulk, added to bis heiiibt, wbich is from 
 seven to fifteen feet, and Ins altogether singular 
 appearance, render him one of the wonders of this 
 our lower world. He is remarkably mild and ge- 
 nerous when unmolested ; but, should his anger be 
 roused, he will not fail to convince the aggressor 
 of his ability and his determination to avenge the 
 wrong. 
 
 The Savage Tribes continued. 
 
 But of all the creatures of Almighty Power, it 
 would perhaps be unpardonable to omit that pro- 
 digy of bulk and strength among amphibious ani- 
 mals, the sea-horse, called the hippopotamus, or 
 behemoth. This huge creature, from the extremi- 
 ty of his proboscis to the root of his tail, measures 
 about seventeen feet ; and his head is full four feet 
 in length, and nine in circumference. He has a 
 body of an enormous size; his jaws open two feet 
 wide, and his teeth (of which he has eight) are 
 more than a foot long ! "He is," in the energetic 
 language of the Book of Job, ** the chief of the 
 ways of God. He moveth his tail like a cedar; 
 his bones are as strong pieces of brass ; his bones 
 are like bars of iron ! " Of all the descriptions I 
 have ever read of this celebrated creature, none 
 please me better than the animated description of 
 Dr. Young, in his Paraphrase on part of the Book 
 of Job. As my memory will not allow me to do 
 justice to the passage, I am tempted, Lorenzo, to
 
 96 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 read it verbatim. The beauty of the imagery, and 
 the glowing: scenery, will, I trust, be a suliicicnt 
 atonement for the length of the quotation. 
 
 Though large his frame, 
 
 Smootli is his temper, and repress'd his flame 
 While unprovok'd. This native of llie flood 
 Lifts his broad foot, and puts ashore for food: 
 Eartli sink« beneatli liim as he moves along 
 To seek the herbs and mingle with tlie throne. 
 Ste, with what strent'th liis harden'd loins are bound 
 All over proof and shut against a wound; 
 How like a mountain cedar moves his tail ! 
 Nor can his complicated sinews fail. 
 Built high and wide, iiis >olid bones surpass 
 Tlie bars of steel ; his ribs are ribs of brass ; 
 His port majestic, and his armed jaw, 
 Give the wild forest, and the mountain, law. 
 The mountains feed him; there the beasts admire 
 The mii^hty stranger, and in dread retire 
 At length his greatness nearer they survey, 
 Graze in his shadow, and his eye obey. 
 The fens and marshes are his cool retreat. 
 His noontide fihelter from the burning heat ; 
 Their sedsry bosoms his wide couch are made, 
 And groves of willows give him all their shade. 
 His eye drinks Jordan up when fir'd with drought; 
 He trusts to turn its current down his throat; 
 In Icssen'd waves it creeps along the plain; 
 He sinks a river, and he thirsts again! 
 
 But we must not forget that wonder of height 
 and bulk, the giraffe, or camelopardalis, a speci- 
 men of which, with a variety of other animals, 
 idols, <^c. ^c. 1 lately saw at the Missionary Mu- 
 seum in London. Its common height is said to be 
 from fifteen to seventeen feet, but some have been 
 seen more tiian twenty feet. The specimen I saw 
 was about sixteen feet. According to the cata- 
 logue of the museum, this peculiar animal was 
 known to the Romans in early times; iidiabits the
 
 FOURTH DIVISION— THE SAVAGE TRIBES. 97 
 
 interior parts of Africa, and the forests of Ethiopia; 
 is remarlvable for the great disproportion of height 
 between the fore and hind parts ; its head is hke a 
 stag's, neck slender, tail long, with strong hairs at 
 the end ; the whole of a dirty white, marked with 
 large broad rusty spots. It is very timid, but not 
 swift; runs awkwardly, as you may suppose from 
 its stature, and is easily taken. It browses on 
 trees, yet can stoop so as to feed on the grass, and 
 drink water from the brook. The one I saw was 
 shot in the Griqua Country, South Africa, by Mr. 
 Campbell's party, in his Missionary Tour of 1814, 
 and towards the latter end of the month of July. 
 It certainly exactly corresponds with the sketch 
 here given, and with that of the Catalogue of the 
 Missionary Museum, p. 14, 15. 
 
 But a new race of creatures present themselves 
 before our view— a race awfully frightful and 
 beautiful — I mean the serpent tribe. In these the 
 Most High, in a new variety of ways, has dis- 
 played his awful power; and there are no crea- 
 tures, perhaps, to which humanity has greater 
 antipathies than to these insidious and artful ene- 
 mies. Their characteristics are cruelty and cun- 
 ning. They are said to be thirty, forty, and fifty 
 feet long, their size varying according to their 
 age. Their venom is of a most dreadful nature; 
 their appearance not unfrequently extremely beau- 
 tiful ; and though very rapacious, their abstinence, 
 when necessity enforces it, is truly wonderful and 
 confounding. The great Animater of Nature here 
 appears to write, in indelible characters, "Nothing 
 is too hard for the Lord ;" for it is said to be a 
 fact, that these creatures, if deprived by accident 
 K
 
 98 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 of their supplies, '* can still bear famine for weeks, 
 months, nay, for years together ! Vipers are often 
 kept in boxes for six or eight months without any 
 food whatever; and there are little serpents some- 
 times sent o^er to Europe from Grand Cairo, that 
 live for several years in glasses, and never eat at 
 all, nor even stain the glasses."* 
 
 Survey the venomous rattle-snake; the eastern 
 whip-snake; the black-snake; the amphisba^na, 
 or double-headed serpent; the prince of serpents, 
 (a native of Japan,) so called from its unrivalled 
 beauty; the gerenda of the East Indies, to which 
 the natives of Calcutta pay religious homage; the 
 depona of Mexico, a most terrific creature ; the 
 great jeboya of Java and Brazil, which has been 
 seen fifty feet long; and lastly, the boiquacu, ano- 
 ther of this enormous and terrible family, which 
 has been known to swallow a goat whole; — and 
 then say, are these like the products of chance 
 or accident, or manifest evidences of a Power 
 Divine? 
 
 * I'fautio.-* of Natural Histoiv.
 
 SECTION XIII. 
 
 OF THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 Fifth Dii-ision — Bii-ds in general. 
 
 Having dwelt so long upon the scenes of 
 earth, '* let us now take our flight from terrestrial 
 dross, and grow acquainted with the inhabitants of 
 the air. Cast your eyes on that bird who wings 
 the air. Nothing is more natural to eyes that 
 have been habituated to such a sight, and nothing 
 is so astonishing to the optics of reason. It is 
 evident that a passage through the air, which has 
 been denied to other animals, is open to these. 
 The fact is certain— and yet seems to be altogether 
 impossible. A bird in flight is a mass raised aloft 
 in spite of the weight of the air and the powerful 
 gravitation impressed on all bodies, which impels 
 them to the earth." 
 
 Let us begin our description of birds with the 
 most interesting portion to be found in nature — 
 I mean, Lorenzo, those inhabitants of the airy 
 regions, who delight us with their melodious war- 
 bling.
 
 100 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 "I love to be awake, and hear 
 
 Tlieir morning songs twittei'd to young-ey'd day." 
 
 These we need not go far to discover — they are 
 to be found hovering near the abodes of man. 
 *' This delightful race of animals embellish our 
 forests, enliven our walks, and, through all the 
 retreats of rural retirement, fill our hearts with in- 
 expressible gaiety. From them we have nothing 
 to fear. Their pleasures, their desires, and even 
 their animosities, animate the general complexion 
 of nature, and give harmony to meditation." 
 
 Among birds of this class we may particularly 
 mention the lark, the linnet, the canary, the gold- 
 finch, and the nightingale. These charm our ears 
 with their delightful songs, and ever and anon 
 give music to the grove. In reference to the first, 
 the tuneful lark — 
 
 How sweet the song 
 
 Day's harbinger attunes ! I have not heard 
 Such elegant divisions drawn from art. 
 And what is he that wins our admiration? 
 A little speck tliat floats upon the sunbeam! 
 What vast perfection cannot Nature crowd 
 
 Into a puny point ! 
 
 HURDIS. 
 
 And concerning the nightingale, the lovers of 
 song have said the nu)st enthusiastic things. 
 ** What the peacock is to the eye," says the au- 
 thor of the Spectacle de la Nature, " the nightin- 
 gale is to the ear. It visits us only in April, and 
 leaves us again in August. Nor is it ever found 
 but in the most southern parts of this country." 
 But there arc none with whose history I am more 
 pleased than with that of ihe American mock-
 
 FIFTH DIVISION —BIRDS IN GENERAL. 101 
 
 bird, as it is termed. It is a plain bird to the eye, 
 about the size of a thrush, of a whitish grey co- 
 lour, and a reddish bill. This facetious little crea- 
 ture " is possessed not only of its own natural 
 notes, which are musical and solemn, but it can 
 assume the tone of every other animal in the wood, 
 
 from the wolf to the raven He at one time 
 
 allures the smaller birds with the call of their 
 mates, and uhen they come near him, terrifies 
 them with the scream of an eagle. There is not 
 a bird in the forest which it does not take off, as 
 the phrase is, and none which it has not deceived 
 by its call." He frequently perches himself on 
 the chimney top, and " pours forth the sweetest 
 and the most varied notes of any bird whatever. 
 He often builds his nest in the fruit trees about 
 houses, feeds on berries and other fruits, and is 
 easily rendered domestic." 
 
 But, " of all that flutter in the garden, or ani- 
 mate the landscape, the humming-bird (of Ame- 
 rica) is the most amiable, and, for its size, the 
 most splendid. It is not bigger than a hazel-nut, 
 and yet completely furnished out with a bill, fea- 
 thers, wings, and intestines, exactly resembling 
 those of the largest kind. The feathers on its 
 wings and tail are black, and the exquisite down 
 on its body and under its wings, is of a greenish 
 brown, with a fine red cast or gloss, which no silk 
 or velvet can imitate. It has an elegant crest, 
 green at the bottom, and, as it were, gilded at the 
 top, which, in the middle of its little forehead, 
 sparkles in the sun like a diamond or a star. The 
 bill is black, straight, slender, and the length of a 
 small pin. As soon as the sun rises, multitudes 
 K 3
 
 102 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 of these beautiful creatures are seen fluttering 
 about the flowers," from whicli they extract the 
 liquid sweets, on which alone they subsist. It is 
 impossible for the lover of Nature to quit this 
 part of our subject but with feelings of regret ; 
 and I know you would wish me, Lorenzo, long to 
 linger on the charming theme. But our time for- 
 bids. I am particularly pleased with the struc- 
 ture and mechanism of the birds' nests. Some 
 build them, with instinctive forecast, upon the 
 tops of trees, far away from the intrusion of 
 lawless depredators, and others on the ground, 
 under a canopy of grass and trees. What too 
 is remarkable, each species has a particular way 
 of building and laying out the furniture of the 
 apartment. 
 
 Mark it ivell, within, without; 
 
 No tool li.icl he that wioiiffht, no liiiife to cnt, 
 No nail to fix, no bodkin to insert, 
 No 1,'lne to join; his little beak was all. 
 And yet how neatly fini.Ui'd! What nice hand, 
 With every implement and means of art, 
 And twenty years' appreiiticcshi|) to boot, 
 
 Could make me such another? 
 
 HUROIS. 
 
 I confess myself delighted also with their con- 
 nubial teiulerness and attachment to their young, 
 as well as courage in defending them. In short, 
 can we fail of being charmed here, where we have 
 the " brightest colours, the most lively manners, 
 the sweetest nnisic," and all that is agreeable and 
 lovely, concentrated? 
 
 Quitting these lovely tribes of the tenanted 
 air, we proceed to others of the feathered race —
 
 FIFTH DIVISION — BIRDS IN GENERAL. 103 
 
 which, although they may not afford us the same 
 satisfaction, are yet wonderful instances of cre- 
 ating power and wisdom. It is said that there 
 are at least eight hundred different kinds of birds. 
 To name them would be impracticable, and to 
 describe so considerable a number would be much 
 more so. All I can attempt will be a selection 
 from the varied tribes of this numerous family. 
 And this must be done with the greatest brevity ; 
 it being impracticable with our limited plan to 
 go far into a detail, however pleasing it might 
 appear. 
 
 Birds continued. 
 
 The rapacious, towering eagle; the voracious 
 vulture; the plundering buzzard; the nocturnal 
 screech-owl; the depredating raven; the carrion 
 crow, whose name imports his nature ; the prating 
 jackdaw; the rook; the beautiful but plundering 
 magpie; the pretty variegated jay ; the chatterer 
 of Germany; the insect-seeking woodpecker; the 
 bird of paradise, found in the delightful woods of 
 the east; the cuckoo; the saucy-tongued parrot; 
 the gentle, the innocent dove ; have each pecu- 
 liarities that might well engage our attention, 
 and well repay the most minute investigation. 
 Among a larger race which hover about the earth, 
 and which are in a measure subject to man, may 
 be reckoned the cock, so common among us; 
 the beautiful and unrivalled peacock, of which the 
 Greeks and Romans are said to have been so
 
 104 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 fond ;* the turkey, the pheasant, Ac. What must 
 be the beauty of the latter bird, to cause the cele- 
 brated Solon to say, " Having- seen the beautiful 
 plumage of the pheasant, no other linery can ever 
 astonish me? ' In short, in this part of animated 
 nature, as \vell as among insects, new beauties, 
 new wonders, rush upon us at every step. And if 
 Chance adorned these various creatures in their 
 unrivalled hues, and gave them that regularity in 
 size, disposition, and habits, which always charac- 
 terizes the same members of the same species. 
 Chance must be one of the most wonderful me- 
 chanists in the universe; although we have no 
 idea of finished mechanism if Chance be not 
 excluded ! 
 
 There are a few others of the feathered race 
 which must not be lorgotten. And behold the 
 towering ostrich ! Mark its uncommon height 
 and slim appearance ! and wonder at the new va- 
 riety here so discoverable! It is the largest of 
 birds, and is said to be seven feet high, reckoning 
 from the ground to the top of its head. It has 
 wings of a prodigious size when expanded; and 
 its plumage, which is generally the same in all, is 
 a mixture of black and white. It is said it eats 
 most voraciously, but drinks nothing. Its food is 
 of the ACgetable kind, and its lil'e is at once inno- 
 
 Mow rich the peacock! ivhiit biialil glories lu'u 
 From |ihiine lo pinmc, iiiiJ vaiy in the Mini 
 He promlly sprcinK tliem lo the >,'oldiMi ruy, 
 <;ives all U\r< colours, and rtdoriis tlie diiy ; 
 With conscious btiitc the spacious round displays, 
 And ^lo\vly moves amid the wHvini; bluze, 
 
 YOUNG.
 
 FIFTH DIVISION — BIRDS IN GENERAL. 105 
 
 cent and social. These creatures live in the sandy 
 deserts abroad; and, says my author, " they may 
 be considered as filling up one of those chasms of 
 nature, which separate one tribe of animals from 
 another," being similar in appearance to the ca- 
 mel kind, and seem as if covered with hair instead 
 of feathers. Some say they lay their eggs in the 
 sands, and leave them to accident ; but others 
 deny this, and say they look after their young 
 with great tenderness. Their uncommon fleetness, 
 when put to the chase, is, however, generally 
 allowed. 
 
 Mark also the singular and indolent pelican, 
 which seldom rouses from its lethargy unless im- 
 pelled by hunger. These birds have a bill of 
 about fifteen inches long, and a pouch beneath it 
 which will hold fifteen quarts of water! This 
 bag they draw up when empty; it hangs under the 
 edge of the chap, reaching half way down the 
 neck. '* When empty it is not seen ; but when the 
 bird has fished with success," which it does when 
 its hunger returns, ** it is then dilated to an incre- 
 dible extent. When the bill is fully opened, a 
 person may run his head into the bird's mouth," 
 which, Lorenzo, I once saw a daring adventurer 
 do, '* and conceal it in this monstrous pouch." 
 
 Behold the stately swan cutting the liquid ele- 
 ment in yonder pleasant stream ! *' When seen," 
 says the author above quoted, ** as it proudly rows 
 in state, with arched neck between its white wings 
 mantling, there is not perhaps in all nature a more 
 lively image of dignity and grace." I cannot stay 
 to describe its peculiarities, nor those of the gab- 
 bling goose, the waddling duck, the beautiful
 
 lOG THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 kingfisher, the awkward crane, the unnielodious 
 stork, the long-bellied woodcock, the beautiful 
 great northern diver, <^c. But surely the view we 
 have taken is sufficient for our purpose, — to lead 
 the mind *' through Nature up to Nature's God." 
 And if we have seen that the "flat and burning 
 desert, the rocky clift', the extensive fen, the 
 stormy ocean, as well as the pleasing lawn, the 
 sheltering wood, the solitary grove, and the gay 
 shrubbery, have all their peculiar inhabitants" — 
 surely it cannot be unreasonable to suppose that 
 these had an original Former, have still a Pre- 
 server — and that it cannot be any one short of 
 that great and stupendous Being we denominate 
 God.
 
 SECTION XIV 
 
 OF THE AMMAL WORLD. 
 
 Sixth Division — Man, the Lord of Creation. 
 
 Creation's heir ! 
 
 The world, the world is mine! 
 
 GOLDSMITH. 
 
 Having surveyed the animal creation thus far, 
 we are led, in the last place, to the consideration 
 of the wonders appertaining to the king of ani- 
 mals, man — who appears as the sovereis^n of the 
 inferior tribes, and exacts from them a willing and 
 a cheerful obedience. 
 
 " 'Tis for hU sake all nature moves, 
 And stars their circles keep." 
 
 And is there any evidence, in the various parts 
 which compose the creature, man, of the work of a 
 Being of a superhuman order— as much above that 
 of chance as any of the beings before considered? 
 I am not afraid, indeed, of having an answer in 
 the negative, both of us having before paid some
 
 108 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 attention to the subject. I am much pleased with 
 a thought which 1 have somewhere met with, illus- 
 trative of the subject in hand, to this effect: — 
 Though no shining sun nor twinkling star be- 
 decked the curtain of the sky; though neither 
 vegetable, beast, nor bird, were seen on the surface 
 of this globe, nor lurking gem beneath; though 
 the great sea slept in profound silence, and the air 
 had left no thunder to pronounce its Maker; — yet 
 MAN at home, within himself might find the Deity 
 immense; and in that frame, so fearfully, so won- 
 derfully made, see and adore his providence and 
 power ! 
 
 To this, Lorenzo, I shall add some observations 
 from a work of my own. What a diversity of 
 parts compose the human franie ! how much to 
 evince, as just hinted, that we are fearfully and 
 wonderfully made ! The rapid circulation of the 
 vital fluid; the quick pulsation of the heart; the 
 elasticity of the limbs; the several senses with 
 which we are endowed; the immortal principle 
 within; the powers of the mind and understand- 
 ing, joined to all the discoveries of the sons of 
 ^sculapius; are enough, surely, to convince any 
 Atheist, that there is an all-wise, all-powerful 
 Creator; and that such a combination of parts is 
 His work, and cannot possibly be attributed to un- 
 certain chance. 
 
 " To bring this subject more within the grasp of 
 human comprehension," says the late Rev. David 
 Simpson, when referring to the human frame, 
 *' let us take it as it were to pieces, and examine 
 the several parts of which it is composed, and we 
 shall lind a jKrfcction among its several powers.
 
 SIXTH DIVISION — MAN. 109 
 
 and an adaptation to its situation in the grand scale 
 of existence, far surpassing human skill. Let the 
 most perfect anatomist that ever existed make his 
 observations upon the human frame ; let him ex- 
 plore the whole and every part with the greatest 
 degree of accuracy, knowledge, and judgment, 
 that ever centered in man; and then let him ho- 
 nestly say whether he could suggest the smallest 
 improvement in any one respect. If he were an 
 Atheist before such investigation, like the celebra- 
 ted Galen, he would be converted to the belief of 
 the Divine existence — would compose a hymn in 
 praise of the Creator of the world — and sing, with 
 the great progenitor of mankind — 
 
 " These are thy glorious works, Parent of good! 
 Thus wondrous they; Thyself how wondrous then! 
 
 There is a manifest superiority in man over the 
 brute creation in his walking upright; but in some 
 particulars he seems to come into the world with 
 fewer advantages than they. While animals in 
 general are born with their clothing ready pre- 
 pared and fitted for them, man comes into the 
 world naked and destitute; and while other ani- 
 mals are speedily able to help themselves, and to 
 procure their support unaided by their parents, 
 man not only comes into existence in an helpless 
 condition, but continues so for a great length of 
 time : nor is he able, for a series of years, to minis- 
 ter to his own comfort, much less to provide for his 
 own maintenance. He requires the most assidu- 
 ous attention in order to insure his well-being, and 
 no small expence too; and frequently, after the 
 L
 
 110 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 greatest care, is bowed down with the weight of 
 infirmities which wouki make hut httle impression 
 upon the less favoured part of the animal creation. 
 Yet, with all these abatements, the characteristics 
 of his nature are great and important. There 
 appears to be a dignity stamped upon his nature, 
 in vain sought for among all other beings in the 
 animal creation. The gift of speech, denied to 
 all besides, wonderfully raises him in the scale of 
 being; though his tongue, alas! is too seldom 
 employed in the praise of Him who made him. 
 The sense of seeing, of hearing, of smelling, and 
 of taste and touch, are possessed by animals in 
 general, and, therefore, are not the characteristics 
 of man; yet, while this must be admitted, it is 
 equally true, that these senses are not enjoyed 
 with that peculiar zest by the irrational as they 
 are by the rational creation. This is more parti- 
 cularly the case in reference to those who are the 
 spiritual children of the Most High — who have be- 
 gun to see what is the true end of living — and who 
 are thus raised infinitely higher, in these respects, 
 than the mere natural man. While the brute 
 beast has an eye which naturally dwells upon the 
 grosser parts of matter, man has an eye formed ibr 
 looking upwards; which, not content with dwel- 
 ling upon these lower scenes, can pierce through 
 the veil that hides distant and obscure objects; 
 which can traverse through trackless space, and 
 (especially when aided by the light of revelation) 
 can ken the objects which are dim to all besides. 
 While, moreover, one has an ear which is ever 
 open to its interests, and which is chiefly subser- 
 vient to that purpose, the other possesses an ear
 
 SIXTH DIVISION — MAN. Ill 
 
 which is finely formed for discriminating sounds, 
 and which is capable of affording him the most re- 
 fined enjoyment, (more especially when connected 
 with religion,) by reason of that noble understand- 
 ing which is the characteristic of his nature. While 
 too the animal gratification in one is assisted by 
 the sense of smell, and animals are thereby in- 
 stinctively led to their favourite food ; in the other 
 that sense answers a higher and a nobler purpose, 
 when the objects upon which it is exercised are 
 pure, and is capable of ministering largely to the 
 refined enjoyments of his nature. While, likewise, 
 one possesses the sense of taste in its grosser 
 forms, and appears to relish the peculiar food that 
 is suited to its nature, and there to rest satisfied ; 
 the other seems to possess that sense in a very 
 enlarged degree, and to be capable of enjoying, 
 not only that greater diversity of food which is 
 provided for him, but of enjoying it with a zest of 
 a peculiar kind, unknown to the mere animal crea- 
 ture. And while, in the last place, the sense of 
 touch is possessed by brutes as well as by man; 
 yet the latter certainly appears more exquisitely 
 alive to pleasurable or painful feelings, arising 
 from the acuteness of this sense, than do any of 
 the brute creation. 
 
 These considerations arise, in some measure, 
 out of the investigation in which we have just been 
 engaged. You well remember, in our survey of 
 the heavenly bodies, as well as in the wonders of 
 these lower scenes, how the eye was charmed with 
 the objects which it surveyed ; and then the ear, 
 how it was held a willing captive by the sweet me- 
 lody of the grove; and the sense of smell, how its
 
 112 THE ANIMAL WORLD. 
 
 gratifications rose above those of mere animal 
 existence, as we paced the pleasant fields and 
 beauteous flower-gardens, and inhaled the balmy 
 breeze ; and then the luscious fruit, and the other 
 objects of mental or corporeal taste, how they 
 seemed to lift us above the grovelling appetites of 
 the mere brute ; not to say how much more alive 
 were the feelings of our nature, and susceptible of 
 the most tender touches of pleasure, to what were 
 discoverable in the brute creation around us. 
 
 Beyond all this, the spiritual part of man — the 
 immortal soul — raises him infinitely higher than 
 every other part of the animal creation. And, 
 viewing the great things of which he is capable 
 when refined by education and religion — the dig- 
 nity stamped upon his nature, and the helpless 
 condition in which he is originally found, in con- 
 junction with that depravity, which, alas! too 
 often marks his history — we are led to ask, " Lord, 
 what is man?" and to exclaim, in the language of 
 the immortal bard — 
 
 How poor, liow rich, Iiow abject, how nuifnst, 
 How complicate, liow wonderful, is man ! 
 How passing wonder He wlio made liim sncli, 
 Wlio center'd in onr make such strange extremes! 
 An heir of (?lory ! a frail child of dust I 
 Helpless immortal! insect infinite! 
 A worm! agod! — I tremble at myself, 
 And in myself am lost!— How reason reels! 
 O what a miracle to man is man ! 
 
 VOUNO, Night 
 
 But, if we would fully know his nature, Lorenzo, 
 and his hinh and important destinies, we must go 
 to the page of Inspiration, where ALONE we can
 
 SIXTH DIVISION — MAN. 113 
 
 find satisfaction. But as this would ill accord 
 with our plan, while we are merely listening to the 
 voice of Nature and of Reason, and, as I shall 
 have a future opportunity of so doing, 1 must 
 wave it at present, satisfied of the favourable 
 result of those enquiries which we have made into 
 the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms — 
 the heavenly bodies— and the phenomena of the 
 earth and air. 
 
 L 3
 
 SECTION XV, 
 
 A BRIEF REFUTATION OF 
 ATHEISM. 
 
 State of the Argument — RecapituUithm — hifercnces- 
 Reflcctioiis — ('onclusioti. 
 
 The Christian creed is, " I believe in God the Father, Maker of hea- 
 ven and earth." The Atheist's creed is, " I believe in nothing, tlie origin 
 of all things." Which do you think is most philosophical? 
 
 DK. GHOSVENOR. 
 
 " Dnll Atheist 1 could a giddy dance 
 
 Of atoms, lawless hurl'd, 
 Construct so wonderful, so wise, 
 
 So harmoniz'd u world?" 
 
 Here, Lorenzo, I take my stand. These are 
 palpable evidences of the heinc, and attribntes of 
 tlie Deity. Tliat union and harmony of all the 
 parts of Nature in one simple end, and the unifor- 
 mity of means that conduce thereto, evidence the 
 Unity of the j^reat Contriver; and, next to his 
 Unity, his PoWKR seems admirably displayed by 
 the varied works of his hands, particularly in
 
 A BRIEF REFUTATION OF ATHEISM. 115 
 
 forming and sustaining^ the worlds which float on 
 high. Linked with his Power or Omnipotence is 
 that Wisdom every where so discoverable, in 
 keeping the earth and sea in their proper bounds; 
 nor less evident is the Independence of the 
 Deity, and that he pleased himself alone in the 
 disposal of the works of his hands. And lastly, 
 that attribute of his nature, unsullied Goodness, 
 whatever may at first sight appear to the contrary, 
 seems pleasingly set forth in the products of his 
 creating power. 
 
 There are two kinds of arguments for the Being 
 of a God. The first are arguments d priori, or 
 those taken from the necessity of the Di- 
 vine Existence. The second are arguments 
 d. posteriori, or those taken from the works of 
 Nature. The latter, bein^ the most interesting 
 and popular, have already engaged our atten- 
 tion ; though the practical inferences deducible 
 therefrom remain yet to be considered. But be- 
 fore we proceed to consider these, I would ofl:er 
 a few observations on the first kind of proofs, I 
 mean those taken from the necessity of the Divine 
 Existence. And what I intend is done so much 
 to my mind, and withal so ingeniously, by the 
 sprightly and perspicuous Addison, that 1 shall 
 offer it verbatim. 
 
 1. 'Tis certain, he says, that no being could 
 have made itself; for if so, it must have acted be- 
 fore it was, which is a contradiction. 
 
 2. That therefore some being must have existed 
 from all eternity. 
 
 3. That whatever exists after the manner of 
 created beings, or according to any notion which
 
 116 A BRIEF REFUTATION OF ATHEISM. 
 
 we have of existence, could not have existed from 
 eternity. 
 
 4. That this Eternal Bein"; must therefore be 
 the Great x\uthor of Nature — the Ancient of Days, 
 — who, being at an infinite distance in his perfec- 
 tions from all finite and created beings, exists in a 
 quite different manner from them, and in a manner 
 of which they can have no idea.* 
 
 Admit a God, tliat mystery supreme, 
 That cause uncaus'd.— all other wonders cease; 
 Nothini; is marvellous tor Him to do: 
 Deny Him— all is mystery besides. 
 
 DR. YOUNG. 
 
 Before we proceed to argue, Lorenzo, upon the 
 evidences adduced, in their collective capacity, it 
 will not be amiss rapidly to glance at the ground 
 we have gone over. 
 
 Our first enquiry, after the preliminaries were 
 dispatched, was into those vast and inconceivable 
 bodies, the heavenly host; including the sun, the 
 centre of the solar system, and those moving 
 worlds, the planets, with those astonishing and 
 countless orbs, the fixed stars, which glitter in the 
 boundless heavens. Our next excursion was to 
 the flaming comets, and to ascertain the nature of 
 eclipses of the sun and moon, together with the 
 causes of those northern lights which sometimes 
 appear in the heavens. From thence we repaired 
 to that invaluable discovery of Sir Isaac Newton, 
 which explains so wonderfully many apparent im- 
 possibilities in astronomy, &.v. the law of attraction 
 
 • Addison's Mi-ccllaneou$ Pieces.
 
 A BRIEF REFUTATION OF ATHEISM. 117 
 
 or gravitation impressed upon all bodies, by which 
 they keep their assigned stations in the vast uni- 
 verse. Anon we ascended to the higher regions 
 of the air or atmosphere, to enquire into its na- 
 ture, to ascertain its all-important uses, and the 
 height to which it extended. We then observed 
 those floating meteors, the clouds, hung above us 
 on high, and suspended upon nothing by the 
 mighty power of the Great Contriver of Nature, 
 and the phenomena of their ascending in water- 
 spouts from the ocean, and afterwards dispersing 
 themselves in showers of rain upon various parts 
 of the earth. The birth-place of hail and snow, 
 and the crooked lightning, and the hoarse thunder, 
 with their causes, next engaged our attention, and 
 raised our meditations sublimely high. 
 
 From these higher objects we descended to the 
 earth, and surveyed its constituent parts, land and 
 water. In our first division of the land, the asto- 
 nishing variety and deeply-interesting tribes of the 
 vegetable world engaged our attention ; in our se- 
 cond, mountains and their phenomena; and in 
 our third, the wonders of the mineral kingdom. 
 In the second division of the earth, the waters of 
 the ocean, and some of the wonders of the mighty 
 deep, with the causes of springs, rivers, the tides, 
 &c. claimed our notice, and rewarded our atten- 
 tion, by increasing our veneration for their Author, 
 and raising us to his sublime abode. 
 
 The heavens and the earth being thus far sur- 
 veyed, the animal world next called upon our at- 
 tention. And having just peeped into the mighty 
 reservoir of waters, we naturally made the tribes 
 of the ocean, and of rivers in general, our first
 
 118 A BRIEF REFUTATION OF ATHEISM. 
 
 division of animated nature. The second division 
 of the animal world contained that numerous and 
 wonderful race called insects, with their peculiai 
 construction and varied appearances; the third, 
 some terrestrial animals, and their peculiarities; 
 the fourth, the savage or ferocious inhabitants 
 of the deserts and forests, including the more 
 august quadrupeds; the fifth, birds of note or 
 prey, and those of uncommon size or hue, &:c. ; 
 and the sixth, that wonder of creating might — 
 man, the lord of creation ; whose characteristics 
 or peculiarities, in the last place, engaged our 
 attention. 
 
 From this retrospect it appears how impractica- 
 ble it would be, to argue from each and every part 
 in individual order. The most that our time will 
 allow, will be some general arguments and infe- 
 rences from the more j)rominent parts in the Book 
 of Creation, and in contradistinction to Atheism.* 
 And this I shall do pretty much in the language of 
 my " Christian Shield," towards the conclusion of 
 the second essay ; which I shall make no apology 
 for quoting, as the present attempt is intended, ill 
 some measure, to supersede it. 
 
 Here, then, let us pause, to give place to some 
 reflections arising out of the subject. And first I 
 remark, it appears obvious, (and, indeed, beyond 
 dispute,) that the mightiest of human works are 
 
 * Mhehm \i of two kUidn—practtcal and (fienretical. But because 
 
 the foriiH-r arises out ol llic latter, i» is licre cliielly dwelt upon.
 
 A BRIEF REFUTATION OF ATHEISM. 119 
 
 no further excellent than as they are subject to 
 certain regulations, and governed by the rules of 
 order. — For instance, if a skilful artisan were to 
 undertake to build a bridge, and, when he had 
 signed the contract, were to employ a number of 
 ignorant and unskilful men — men, in fact, who 
 were unacquainted with the business— and then 
 leave it to them promiscuously to carry on the 
 building, and direct its varied movements, — what, 
 think you, would be the probable result? Sup- 
 pose they actually succeeded in rearing the super- 
 structure, would it, think you, long sustain the 
 shock of the outrageous billows, when they rolled 
 in anger at its base? Would not the natural con- 
 sequence be — destruction to the whole fabric, and 
 to all who came in contact with it? Now, apply 
 this to the tenets of Atheism, and the inference, I 
 imagine, will be natural and easy. If all things, 
 as the Atheist maintains, were put in motion by 
 unskilful chance, on what principle can he account 
 for the evident traces of design and contrivance — 
 of order and regularity — of the fitness of every 
 thing for the situation it holds, and its adaptation 
 to the apparent end of its creation ? How is it, I 
 ask, that the sun has never forgotten to shine, or 
 to give his kind and refreshing heat? How is it 
 that the stars, which, if guided alone by chance, 
 might have been hurled from their station in an 
 unexpected moment, have never ceased to keep 
 their appointed bounds, and to move in a pre- 
 scribed order, for hundreds and thousands of 
 years? How is it that they have not fallen upon 
 our diminutive world, and sunk it beneath the 
 pressure?— for the destruction of our world, when
 
 120 A BRIEF REFUTATION OF ATHEISM. 
 
 compared with the heavenly bodies, would, as the 
 eloquent Chalmers observes, be only like the fall- 
 ing of a leaf in a forest, it being a mere speck 
 in comparison with the vaster regions on high. 
 How is it that day and night have alternately had 
 the sway? that the seasons have regularly re- 
 volved ? that the sea, with its multitude of waves, 
 has kept its appointed bounds'? or that the va- 
 rious creatures which are subject to man, have 
 moved in their subordinate stations, and ever filled 
 up their proper place in the scale of being? How 
 can the uniformity discoverable be accounted for 
 on any other principle, than by referring it to the 
 superintendency of a great, a wise, a powerful 
 God? who guides the wheels of nature ; whc first 
 set them in motion ; who appointed the sun his 
 bounds ; who ordained the goings forth of the 
 moon ; who fixed the stars in the firmament ; who 
 bade day and night, summer and winter, alter- 
 nately to appear ; who settled the earth and esta- 
 blished it; who appointed the sea its bounds, that 
 it cannot j)ass; whose glory fills the heavens, and 
 whose praise is in all the earth ! 
 
 And here permit me to mention an anecdote of 
 one who was well acquainted with the sublime 
 science of astronomy, and the evidences its disco- 
 veries afford relative to the Divine existence. Per- 
 haps the absurdities of Atheism were never placed 
 in a more just point of view. — 
 
 *• The famous astronomer, Athanasius Kircher, 
 having an accjuaintance who denied the existence 
 of a Supreme Being, he took the following me- 
 thod to convince him of his error, upon his own 
 principles. Expecting him upon a visit, he pro-
 
 A BRIEF REFUTATION OF ATHEISM. 121 
 
 cured a very handsome globe of the starry hea- 
 vens, which, being placed in a corner of the room 
 where it could not escape his friend's observation, 
 the latter seized the first occasion to ask from 
 whence it came, and to whom it belonged. ' Not 
 to me,' said Kircher, ' nor was it ever made bif any 
 person, but came here by mere chance.^ • That,' 
 replied his sceptical friend, ' is absolutely im- 
 possible: you surely jest.' Kircher, however, se- 
 riously persisting in his assertion, took occasion 
 to reason with his friend on his own atheistical 
 principles. * You will not,' said he, ' believe that 
 this small body originated in mere chance, and yet 
 you would contend that those heavenly bodies, of 
 which it is only a faint and diminutive resem- 
 blance, came into existence without order and de- 
 sign r Pursuing this chain of reasoning, his friend 
 was at first confounded, in the next place con- 
 vinced, and ultimately joined in a cordial acknow- 
 ledgment of the absurdity of denying the existence 
 of a God." 
 
 Again. Observe the mechanism of a watch. 
 How wonderfully do the several parts agree in 
 forming a correct estimate of time ! When set in 
 motion by the hand of Science, and subjected to 
 the rules of uniformity and order, the effects are 
 very apparent; but if, on the contrary, its several 
 parts were promiscuously thrown together, and 
 subjected to no rule or order, how deranged, how 
 confused, would every part appear! how evident 
 would it then be, that chance, and not a wise and 
 skilful workman, had set its various wheels in mo- 
 tion, and produced the derangement every where 
 so visible. The same, or similar remarks, are 
 M
 
 122 A BRIEF REFUTATION OF ATHEISM. 
 
 applicable to an organized arm\, to the arrange- 
 ment of naval forces, to the government of states 
 and kingdoms, to the arts of life and society, and 
 so on. Now if, in all these instances, order and 
 systematic arrangement be so necessary, and so 
 plainly evince the superintendency of a designing 
 and a conscious agent, will not analogy also shew, 
 in reference to the uniformity every where so ob- 
 servable in nature, that there is no such thing 
 as chance, either with regard to the original crea- 
 tion of the universe or its preservation and har- 
 mony to the present moment? — Hence we arrive 
 at this conclusion — that, as there are evident 
 marks of contrivance, there must have been a con- 
 triver; as there are undeniable proofs of wisdom, 
 this contriver must have been w ise ; as there ap- 
 pear to be, from the uniformity in the laws of 
 nature, evident traces of an uninterrupted govern- 
 ment and preservation of the universe, this con- 
 triver must be omniscient and omnipresent; as 
 also there appear to be no limits to creating power, 
 this contriver must be omnipotent and infinite; 
 and as there are such numerous and undeniable 
 evidences of purity, equity, and goodness, in the 
 wide creation, notwithstanding some apparent 
 contradictions, this contriver nmst, though incom- 
 prehensible, be holy, just, and good. Ergo — 
 He must be worthy of our adoration and our 
 praise. 
 
 Thus much, or nearly so, appears evident from 
 the light of Nature alone; though, from the dark- 
 ness of the human mind, we stand in need of a 
 Divine Revelation, to aid us where reason fails. 
 It appears, from an account in " Crantz's Green-
 
 A BRIEF REFUTATION OF ATHEISM. 123 
 
 land," that an uninstructed Greenlander, in com- 
 mon with his fellow-countrymen, had arrived at this 
 conviction prior to the preaching of the missiona- 
 ries. That which is purely a discovery of Revela- 
 tion, the doctrine of an atonement by a Saviour, 
 this man knew nothing about; but he was not 
 without some idea of an all-powerful Creator. He 
 himself had reasoned, from looking at a canoe, 
 that certainly it could not have made itself; much 
 less could a man, who is so much more compli- 
 cated, have been his own creator. And though 
 they could trace one generation back to another, 
 still there must have been a first man ; that man 
 must have had a Maker; and that Maker, it was 
 inferred, must be great, and wise, and good. 
 
 Once more. 'Tis observable of every human 
 work, that it has its limits. When we look at 
 some mighty fabric, and observe its impenetrable 
 walls, its mighty pillars, its firm foundations, we 
 are sometimes inclined to say, 
 
 " That strength-girt tower will last for aye:" 
 
 but a little reflection convinces us, that strong as 
 it may appear, it must eventually yield to the cor- 
 roding hand of time, and sink beneath the pres- 
 sure of years. The ingenious time-keeper requires 
 the continual aid of man after it has received the 
 finishing stroke of the workman, or its wheels 
 would soon forget their movements; 'perpetual 
 motion is unattainable by the weak eftbrts of man. 
 Now, allowing chance to have set the sun, and 
 moon, and stars in motion, and to have wheeled 
 the earth into its present station, is it not reasona-
 
 124 A BRIEF REFUTATION OF ATHEISM. 
 
 ble and exceedingly natural to suppose, that what 
 was set in motion by mere chance, would be sub- 
 ject to its weak guidance and feeble power! And 
 however strong at first might have been the wheels 
 of nature, may we not infer, that they would have 
 yielded, ere this, to the powerful attacks of time, 
 if only supported by feeble chance, as there would 
 then be a great degree of doubt whether they 
 would uniformly move according to the first im- 
 pulse, and maintain their stations unimpaired, nor 
 yield to the corroding hand of time ? May we 
 not also conclude, that the earth, in whirling on its 
 own axis for so many thousands of years, would 
 fail in some material point? or the sun have be- 
 come weary with age? or the stars, as before 
 hinted, have drop))ed from their orbits? as we see 
 the monuments of the strength of art recede before 
 us, and leave no traces of their former greatness. 
 And how can we account for the undeviating; per- 
 formances of these vast bodies, (so much above 
 the power of man or the skill of chance,) but by 
 supposing, as before, that there is One who is con- 
 tinually regulating their movements, and uphold- 
 ing them by his power — who first ordained their 
 going forth — and who is continually repairing, if I 
 may so speak, what would otherwise yield — to the 
 ravages of time and of years ? 
 
 Indeed, so monstrous is the inconsistency of 
 referring these evidences of the Iking of a God 
 to any cause except the great first cause of 
 all things — so contrary is it to Ihe plainest dic- 
 tates of connnon sense, that it may well excite our 
 wonder how any, by a deliberate use of their rea- 
 son, can embrace so monstrous an absurdity. If
 
 A BRIEF REFUTATION OF ATHEISM. 125 
 
 there can be no effect without a cause, what shall 
 we say of that multiplicity we have been consi- 
 dering, which present themselves to our under- 
 standings and our senses in every direction? The 
 minutest worm, the smallest blade of grass, the 
 atom that floats in the sunbeam, a single hair 
 of the head, when minutely investigated, is enough 
 to confound the Atheist, and to render ridiculous 
 his sagest pretensions. 
 
 Will any, then, presume to tell us, notwith- 
 standing the proofs to the contrary, that the di- 
 versified objects we meet with in creation, are 
 merely the effect of blind and uncertain chance? 
 Is it at all consistent with reason, that the strict- 
 est rules of order should arise out of confu- 
 sion, or that the most unrivalled beauty should 
 ever be the production of inactive, unconscious 
 particles of matter? As well, nay, with more 
 consistency, might I assert, that the present work 
 is the oflfspring of mere chance; — that, by some 
 unaccountable accident, the pen moved upon the 
 paper in the form of letters, the letters formed 
 themselves into words, the words into sentences, 
 the sentences into paragraphs, the paragraphs 
 into pages; and that the whole manuscript was 
 finished in the same fortuitous manner, and with- 
 out the aid of a conscious agent! In short. 
 Atheism is involved in such an amazing labyrinth 
 of inconsistency and absurdity, that it seems pass- 
 ing strange that it should ever find a place in 
 the understanding of a rational and an immortal 
 being. 
 
 M 3
 
 126 A BRIEF REFUTATION OF ATHEISM. 
 
 Inferences and Reflections concluded. 
 
 Thus far, Lorenzo, have we gone in our enquirv. 
 And now what shall we say of Atheism? If there 
 is any truth in the statements now made — if there 
 is a great and a powerful God — 
 
 " And that tliere is, all nature cries aloud;"— 
 
 if he lias so constructed things, that to deny his 
 existence is to deny our otcn, and fraught with 
 equal absurdities — and if, moreover, to teach us 
 more clearly, he has given us a revelation of him- 
 self (which, as elsewhere shewn,* bears the stamp 
 of Divinity) to aid us where the light of the hu- 
 man understanding fails — then must the situation 
 of the Atheist be awful indeed ! What a sad 
 being! He is *• without liope and without God 
 in the world." He goes through life as a sad 
 wanderer in a waste and howling wilderness, wiio 
 is continually in danger from beasts of prey and 
 the conflicting elements, but who acknowledges no 
 guide, no director, determined to set up his own 
 judgment in opposition to that of his Maker; — or 
 as a ship lauiuhcd on the mighty ocean, without a 
 pilot or rudder; subject to every revolution of the 
 watery element, and of the storms on high, when 
 set in array against it! He tells you of the world 
 being a combination of atoms, formed by the ope- 
 ration of blind chance! How sad the idea, when 
 brought in connexion with his present peace and 
 comfort! for, if the worlds around be suspended 
 
 * Kcfcrring to tlic \'oi(T of Trntli.
 
 A BRIEF REFUTATION OF ATHEISM. 127 
 
 on the slender thread of chance, how reasonable is 
 it that they should fill hini with continual dread as 
 he surveys their wonders, lest these worlds should, 
 in an unexpected moment, burst in one general 
 conflagration, and sink him into the nothingness 
 from which he sprung! For I am free to confess, 
 if I could once adopt the perverse creed of the 
 Atheist, these and a thousand other fears would 
 continually beset my path, and 1 should feel (on 
 viewing the planetary systems around) all that 
 terror which a person would be conscious of, when 
 approaching the verge of some fabric falling into 
 decay, whose jutting timbers and tottering walls 
 might chance, in a moment, to fall, and bury all 
 beneath in one promiscuous heap of ruins! Thus 
 those objects which, when viewed in the mirror of 
 Divine Revelation, reflect a double glory on the 
 Creator, and inspire our mind with infinite pleasure 
 and delight, would, on the principles of Atheism, 
 fill us with terror ; or, to say the least, with far 
 other feelings than those of joy and satisfaction. 
 
 Thus sad is the influence of Atheism in life; 
 and the departure of the Atheist is equally sad, 
 and fraught with equal uncertainty. In the article 
 of death, there is nought but an aching void, when 
 he views the principles for which he has been con- 
 tending. This life, which, at best, he found to be 
 a state of trials and sorrows, is about to close 
 upon him — the time of his departure is at hand — 
 the cold grasp of Death he has already felt, and a 
 few moments more will make the insatiable tyrant 
 impatient of delay. Well, what is the ground of 
 his consolation? what the hopes that now fill his 
 bosom? Alas! to talk of consolation, he esteems
 
 128 A BRIEF REFUTATIOiN OF ATHEISM. 
 
 a folly, and his hopes — what are they? Not to 
 be borne on the wings of seraphic spirits, and 
 transplanted to the paradise above, amidst the 
 sonos and symphonies of angels. No! these are 
 hopes which he leaves to those who, he affects to 
 say, ha\e been following the effects of priestcraft, 
 (though these hopes alone are now truly valuable.) 
 And he hopes — how shall we name it? — to sink 
 into annihilation like a dog, or on a level with the 
 vilest reptile that moves on the face of creation ! 
 His highest hope is to sink into his primitive no- 
 thingness; and he dies hoping, rather than believ- 
 ing, that such will be his fate. 
 
 O, hast thou ever beheld the shipwrecked mari- 
 ner gasping for breath, and endeavouring, in vain, 
 to cling to some weed for support, and then sink- 
 ing beneath the watery element, for want of that 
 assistance he so eloquently implored? Or hast 
 thou ever seen the distracted victim of destruction 
 appearing at the shattered windows of the con- 
 suming tenement, the crackling embers falling 
 around, and at last burying him beneath their 
 ruins? Ah ! thy nature, if susceptible of sympa- 
 thy, must needs mourn at such sad spectacles — 
 thine eyes o'erflow with tears when witness to such 
 scenes of complicated misery. Yet, sad as the 
 exit of these appear, infinitely more sad is the de- 
 parture of the Atheist ! These sunk to rise no 
 more in this world, but their immortal part might 
 be safe, and their dismissal from earth might be 
 the forerunner of an entrance on a scene, undis- 
 turbed by sorrow. Hut the situation of the Atheist 
 is rendered affecting by its connexion with eternity! 
 Eternity is bursting upon him — the grave yawns
 
 A BRIEF REFUTATION OF ATHEISM. 129 
 
 to receive him — and we see him cutting himself 
 off from hope of mercy, by his daring hardihood 
 and mad-Hke rage, But — he will awake beyond 
 the precincts of time and its narrow bounds — he 
 will awake — to his utter confusion — in eternity! 
 
 " Where all his secret guilt will be leveal'd, 
 Nor the minutest circumstance conceal'd." 
 
 May ice, Lorenzo, die the death of the righ- 
 teous; and may our last end be like his! 
 
 But there is yet another character, the Deist, who 
 is equally inconsistent with the unbeliever in the 
 Deity, because he professes to venerate the Cre- 
 ator and to worship in the temple of Nature and 
 of Reason, and yet spurns at the Revelation of the 
 Most High. His sage pretensions on these points, 
 you know, Lorenzo, I intended to combat at the 
 end of the discussion, and to shew, that there are 
 as good reasons for believing in the Divinity of 
 the Book of God, as there are for believing in the 
 Divinity of the Book of Nature. But this will 
 now form a work of itself, in an enquiry into the 
 analogy between the discoveries of the God of Na- 
 ture, and Him whom we denominate the God of 
 the Bible. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 R. aay, Printer, Bread Street Hia.
 
 B 000 002 734 2