THE SHOKES OF BRITAIN. 



Before we launch forth to investigate the won- 

 ders of the vast Ocean, a little time will not be 

 misspent in observing a few of the curious pro- 

 ductions which it brings to our very doors. We 

 shall greatly err, if we suppose that only in dis- 

 tant parts of the world the works of God can be so 

 studied as to illustrate His infinite power, and skill, 

 and benevolence: we may have to search distant 

 regions to find the giants of the deep, the huge 

 whale, the Indian cuttle, or the island madrepore ; 

 but in the most minute crustacean that hops above 

 the retiring wave, or the most fragile shell that 

 lies upon the shingle, there is the indelible im- 

 press of the mind and hand of God. Indeed, it 

 may be asserted, that of two created objects of dif- 

 ferent magnitude, but possessing similar organs, 

 equally adapted to their requirements, that one in 

 which these organs are of minute size is the more 

 calculated to excite our admiration. Our own 

 shores swarm with little creatures of many kinds, 

 some so small as to escape the eye of any one but 

 a naturalist, which yet are well worthy of being 

 examined and studied. Take one example. Walk- 

 ing along a sea-beach, where the loose shingle 

 rattles under the retiring waves, we may find a 



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