accustoming his eye to behold in every object a particular 

 manifestation of infinite intelligence, he sees in each law the 

 operating hand of the Almighty; in each being the life of 

 the Eternal; in each climate His unity; in every distant planet 

 His ubiquity ; in every provision the fulness of His mercy ; 

 and in the constancy of their action His truth : while in the 

 struggle to grasp the whole in his own finite comprehension, 

 the naturalist possibly forgets or loses sight of self. 



The Island of Lismore, in the county of Argyle, and one 

 of the Hebrides, was the birth-place of Dugald Carmichael, 

 in 1772. Born of parents who were in easy circumstances, 

 he was early designed for a learned profession ; and though 

 the opportunities which the parochial school afforded might 

 not perhaps be very great, nor calculated to enlarge the 

 youthful mind, the eye of genius is ever open, and ready to 

 avail itself of every advantage. While his schoolfellows were 

 scattered over the play-ground, pursuing their own wild 

 gambols, young Carmichael might be seen in some neigh- 

 bouring field, gathering and examining the flowers which 

 grew there, or searching in some fosse for the organic 

 remains that were then plentifully scattered throughout the 

 mosslands of Lismore. Thus do the amusements of the boy 

 " cast their shadows before," and often exhibit an outline of 

 the pursuits of the future man. He was regarded by other boys, 

 generally, with contempt or astonishment; and had not his 

 habits of silence and retirement been occasionally broken by 

 indications of spirit, which checked the insolent and awed the 

 timid, while he was characterised by uniform gentleness and 

 a more than ordinary capacity for learning the prescribed 

 lessons, his schoolfellows would not have failed to consider 

 him a fool. 



Nor was he satisfied with the mere observation of nature. 

 He took peculiar pleasure in sketching, and with a love for 

 colouring worthy of a Titian, he sought in nature for the 

 means of imitating her own hues, and blended these in the 

 best manner that he could. The inkstand afforded black, or 

 when he wanted a different shade, he had recourse to the 

 bark of the Alder ; and the tops of the Heath yielded yellow. 



