CHITONS. 223 



folded appearance of the valves,, which are not unlike the 

 lapping over of a thick warm tunic. 



To extract sentiments of piety from the works and ap- 

 pearances of nature^ is equally the duty and prerogative of 

 a Christian; it is enforced in the Scriptures, and hallowed 

 by the example of our Lord. "Behold the lilies of the 

 field : they toil not, neither do they spin ; yet your Hea- 

 venly Father careth for them.^' He expatiates on the 

 wonderful construction of a single flower, and draws from 

 it the delightful inference of confidence in God. He teaches 

 that taste may be combined with piety, and that the breast 

 which glows with admiration amid the loveliness of nature, 

 may be occupied with all that is serious and important in 

 religion. 



But here the observation naturally arises, that though 

 the flowers of the field instruct us — for some of them are 

 beautiful and others admirable in their formation, and 

 poets and moralists refer to them as striking emblems of 

 the mutability of man, — yet, what knowledge or what in- 

 struction can we derive fi'om the Chiton or Patella ? I 

 will not further enlarge upon the obvious and important 

 evidences which they afford of benevolence and design. But 

 in considering the very different habitats of these extraor- 



