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and the perversion of our faculties, and not in the vast 
scheme of nature, wherein, were it not for the imperfection 
of our powers and the contractedness of our ideas, we 
should see nothing but what the Greeks so elegantly ex- 
pressed in the personification of their Graces, the mutual 
embrace of the Charities—Truth, Beauty, and Goodness— 
thus symbolising the magnificent harmony of universal 
nature. In comparison with the feelings thus engendered, 
and the sublime devotion to which they form the broad and 
rational basis, how insignificant is the taunt of the worldling, 
who gibes us with wasting our time in what he calls such 
frivolous pursuits ! 
Much still remains ‘‘ debatable land,” but the collision 
of opinions generally tends to elicit the truth; yet it should 
be conducted in an amicable spirit—for should objects which 
display the immense variety of creation in the diversity of 
their structure, and its beautiful adaptation to their economy 
and habits, and which therefore raise us to the admiration 
of the skill displayed in their formation, and which ought 
to elevate us to the adoration of the Great Being, who, in 
the plenitude of His benevolence, has created such myriads 
of animal forms that the blessing of life may be as infinite 
as it is varied, be allowed to nurture the malevolent passions 
of the mind by fanning and adding fuel to their latent 
flame? No! Let us, if we cannot check such feelings, not 
disturb nature with them, but turn back from her fields into 
the dust and turmoil of the highways of life, where amidst 
its turbulence and bustle the love of contest may be indulged 
with impunity, without frightening the tranquil investigator 
of the wonders of creation from the objects of his admira- 
tion, by showing him that his course of study is but the 
broadway that leads to the arena, the gladiatorial combats 
of which, he, to his utter disgust, must necessarily witness. 
