304 PROGKEDINOS OF PROVINCIAL SOCIETIES. 



such able and effectual assistance as in the contemplation of the stu- 

 pendous fabric which was formed by the Almighty Creator, and in 

 reading in the book of Nature those salutary and instructive lessons 

 before which even scepticism is baffled, and before which the highest 

 reach of intellect in every age and under every clime has bowed 

 with confidence and trust? Unhappily, however, the various 

 proofs of divine power and divine beneficence are looked upon by 

 the mass of mankind in too negative a light : yesterday, to. day, and 

 every day they present the same unvarying phenomena, disregarded 

 or unappreciated by the ordinary observer. The richest treasures of 

 Nature are to him, like leaves in the Sybil's book — a charmed 

 knowledge, as it were, hermetically sealed, because he will not open 

 the pages and appropriate to himself the precious contents. From 

 whence, then, this apathy to the beauties of creation ? why have 

 they not been received into the inner man in aid of that scheme of 

 regeneration which has been offered for his acceptance ? The rea- 

 son is obvious : he has been untaught and unschooled in the great 

 volume of Nature ,* his attention has not been directed to its in- 

 structive lessons ; he has not been made acquainted with its con- 

 tents ; his eye first opened upon all its charms, and because they 

 have exhibited an uniform and even aspect, he sees nothing won- 

 derful in that which is so familiar." The lecturer then strongly en- 

 forced the necessity of imbuing the youthful mind with the love 

 and knowledge of the works of God, and thus proceeds : " There is 

 a grandeur, a beauty, and a harmony in Nature which, when rightly 

 considered, cannot fail to direct the heart and mind to contempla- 

 tions beyond this world and all its concernments. The lover of 

 Nature treads, as it were, upon holy ground, unpolluted by the pas- 

 sions which usually agitate and perplex him in the more busy 

 scenes of life : all is tranquil, serene, and composed ; the tossings of 

 the storm are still ; he beholds the heavens, the sun, the moon, the 

 stars, acting in one uniform system — ' each has its place appointed, 

 each its course ;' he contemplates the earth and its adaptation to 

 the uses, the conveniencies, and pleasures of existence, ' fraught 

 with all comforts, nor yet one withheld ;' he looks into the detail of 

 Nature, and finds the minutest particle contributing to the mighty 

 whole, and each formed by the Divine Artificer for the happiness of 

 his creatures." 



After further pursuing this train of thought, the lecturer pro- 

 ceeded to state his regret that, through our own imperfect percep- 

 tions and other causes, any apparent discrepancy should have arisen 

 between revelation and the discoveries of modern science. These 

 discrepancies had been satisfactorily reconciled by others, but as the 

 objections may have been more widely spread than the refutations, 

 he considered it his duty to examine the subject. " Indeed," he 

 observes, " some examination of this question appears indispensable ; 

 for should the results of philosophical investigation prove essentially 

 repugnant to the scriptural account, to me, at least, it appears most 

 conducive to the welfare of mankind that we should distrust the 



