INTRODUCTION. 53 



of God and the gate of Heaven ! It is a delightful thing 

 to learn to see God in his works, and to admire them as 

 his. He would then be present with us as our instructor ; 

 and though our eyes might be holden that we should not 

 know Him, we should feel his influence, and we should say 

 afterwards, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he 

 talked with us by the way ?" It is possible to taste the 

 blessedness of the travellers towards Emmaus. " I am bet- 

 ter acquainted with Jesus,'' said a departed saint lately taken 

 away in his prime, — " I am better acquainted with Jesus 

 than I am with my dearest and most intimate friend."" 

 " Enoch walked with God and was not, for God took him," 

 and he wiU take us also if we walk with him — not indeed 

 without tasting of death, but dispelling our doubts and 

 fears, and making death our friend. 



" Oh ! could we make our doubts remove. 



These gloomy doubts that rise, 

 And see the Canaau that we love 



"With unbeclouded eyes ! 

 Could we but climb where Moses stood, 



And view the landscape o'er, 

 Not Jordan's stream, nor death's cold flood, 



Should fright us from the shore." 



One advantage that the study of Zoology has over that of 



