202 STUDIES OF NATURE. 



the wonderful harmony which prevails in the di- 

 ilrlbution of the Globe, abandoned, as fome would 

 have it, to the limple Laws of motion and of 

 chance» 



I have prefented a new theory of the courfes of 

 the Tides, of the motion of the Earth in the 

 Ecliptic, and of the Univerfal Deluge : and I am 

 now going to attack, in my turn, the methods of 

 our Reafon, and the Elements of our Sciences, 

 before I proceed to lay down fome principles, 

 which may indicate to us a certain path to the dif- 

 çovery of Truth. 



But let it be underftood, that if, in the courfe of 

 this Work, and particularly in this article, I have 

 combatted our natural Sciences, it is only fo far 

 as fyfiem is concerned : 1 give them full credit on 

 the fide of obfervation. Bcfides, I highly refpeft 

 the perfons who devote themfelves to the purfuit 

 of Science. I know nothing in the world more 

 eftimable, next to the virtuous man, than the man 

 of real knowledge, if, however, it be poffible to 

 feparate the Sciences from Virtue. What facrifices 

 and privations does not the cultivation of them de- 

 mand ! While the herd of Mankind is growing 

 rich and renowned by agriculture, commerce, 

 navigation, and the arts, it has been frequently 

 feen, that thofe who cleared the way for all the 



reft. 



