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duty, when he said, " Consider the lilies of the field 

 how they grow." 



Forgive me for citing this authority, so familiar 

 to you ; for I hold it as high as you can possibly 

 do, though we may differ on some points connected 

 therewith. I have always been no less pleased to 

 see the study of nature lead good people to lay 

 aside noxious prejudices and antipathies. I love to 

 see the controversialist, like a cultivated plant, dis- 

 miss his thorns or his acrimony, and make an Eden 

 of the garden of science. But I encroach too much 

 on that province whose duties you so highly adorn. 

 I am not ignorant of your high clerical character, 

 nor of the very extensive calls you must have upon 

 you ; nor do I mean to interfere : I only contend, 

 like Ray, that the study of the book of nature is in- 

 ferior to none in dignity or utility. 



I remain, with every sentiment of respect, 

 Dear Sir, 

 Your very faithful and obedient Servant, 



J. E. Smith. 



A philosophical consideration of a future state of 

 existence beyond death and the grave, was a fre- 

 quent topic of discourse with Sir James ; not for 

 the purpose of expelling doubts, for he entertained 

 none, but for the enjoyment of recurring to the 

 first, the last, and most unconquerable desire im- 

 planted in the human heart. 



" I grieve," he says in a letter to Davall, «? to see 

 how much imbecility clouded the latter days of 

 Haller ; yet even that is an argument for the im- 



