180 HERBIVOROUS AND CARNIVOROUS ANIMALS. 



great strength, and a ferocity of temper that is un- 

 social and forbidding. The appetites and the con- 

 struction of the animal agree together, and mark, in 

 the most striking manner, the design of an Intelligent 

 Being, who has formed each species to fill exactly 

 that place in the universe where his wisdom has 

 fixed it ; and so necessary is every order of creatures, 

 even those we call noxious, to the welfare of the 

 whole, that, were any kind annihilated by acciden- 

 tal circumstances, it would occasion a very injurious 

 deficiency. This was experienced by the inhabitants 

 of a certain district in Germany, who were annoyed 

 by a great number of sparrows that ate their corn. 

 The indignant farmers, determined to get rid of these 

 voracious plunderers, offered a reward for their de- 

 struction. The hope of the prize put so many hands 

 to work, that, in a short time, the district was cleared 

 of sparrows. But observe the consequence : the next 

 year they were so overrun with caterpillars, that 

 they were obliged to procure sparrows to devour 

 them. Thus it appears that every link is requisite to 

 complete the chain ; that there is nothing superfluous, 

 nothing deficient ; but that every part of this wonder- 

 ful system depends upon each other, and is connected 

 with the rest. 



I am led to these reflections by the sermon Mr. 

 Palmer preached last Sunday, on the goodness of God, 



