STUDY I. I2Î 



relations of Plants, in a manner fufficiently lumi 

 nous to demonftrate the exiftence of this new or- 

 der. The vegetable order has, moreover, furnifhed 

 me with occafion to fpeak of the relations of the 

 Globe, which extend diredly to animals and to 

 men ; and, likewife, to fuggeft fome hints refpeft- 

 ing the earlieft voyages of the Human Race, to 

 the principal Quarters of the World. 



I apply, in the following Study, the laws of Na- 

 ture to Man. I eftablifh the proofs of the immor- 

 tality of the foul, and of the exiftence of the 

 Deity, not on the principles of our reafon, which 

 fo frequently mifleads us, but on an intimate feel- 

 ing, which never deceives nor betrays. I refer to 

 thofe phyfical and moral laws, the origin of our 

 predominant paflions. Love and Ambition, and 

 even the caufes which interrupt the enjoyment of 

 them, and which render our joys fo tranfient, and 

 our melancholy fo profound. I flatter myfelf with 

 the belief, that thefe proofs will intereft the Reader, 

 both by their novelty, and by their fimplicity. 



I proceed, afterwards, from thefe notions, to 

 propofe the palliatives, and the remedies, adapted 

 to the ills of Civil Society, the reprefentation of 

 which is delineated in the firft Volume. It was 

 not my wifh to imitate the example of moft Mo- 

 ralifts, who fatisfy themfelves with lafhing vice, 



or 



