A Morning's Walk from London to Kew. 



1816.] 



gnvern org;anizecl bodies. We appear, 

 so to speak, to be capable of looking 

 down upon meie matter as matter ; but, 

 incapable, like the eye in viewing itself, 

 of retiring to such a 'oral distance as to 

 be able accurately to examine our- 

 selves. It is not difficult to conceive 

 that planetary bodies, and other masses 

 ot inorganic matter, may appear to act 

 on each other by mutuully intercepting 

 the pressure of the elastic medinni 

 which fills space; and tlie pressin^c inter- 

 cepted by each on the inner surface of 

 the other, may, by the uninferceptcd 

 external pressure on each, produce the 

 phenomena of mutual gravitation ; nor 

 is it improbable that the curvilinear and 

 rotatory motions of such masses may be 

 governed by the arrangement and mu- 

 tual action of their fixed and their lluid 

 parts; nor impracticable for the geome- 

 trician, when the phenomena are deter- 

 uiiued to measure the mechanical rela^ 

 tions of the powers that produce those 

 phenomena ; nor wonderful that a system 

 of bodies so governed by general laws 

 should move and act in a dependant, 

 eonscquent, and necessary harmony. 



Thus far the intellect of an organized 

 being may reason safely on the mechani- 

 cal relations of inorganic masses, bet^ause 

 an unequal balance of forces produces 

 their motions, and from combined mo- 

 tions result the phenomena; but, in the 

 principle of organic life, and in the du- 

 ration and final purpose of the powers 

 of vegetables and animals, there are 

 iny.steries which baffle the penetration of 

 limited observation and reason. I be- 

 hold VKGETABLES vvith roots fixcd in the 

 ground, and through them raising fluids 

 mechanically ; but my understanding is 

 overpowered with uitsatisfied wonder, 

 when I consider the animating principle 

 of the meanest vegetable, whicli consti- 

 tutes a selfish individuality, .ind enables 

 it to give new qualities to those fluids 

 by peculiar secretions, and to ap]>ro- 

 priale them to its own nonrishmerit and 

 growth. Aly ambition afler wisdom is 

 luimblcd in the dust whenever 1 enquire 

 liow the first germ of every species came 

 into existence ; whenever I consider the 

 details of (he varied powers in the ener- 

 gizing agency which originates eacli fu- 

 ture germ ; and the independant, but 

 coincident, passive rcceptable which nur- 

 tures those germs, and, <;orrecting aber- 

 rations, secures the contimiity of ev(!ry 

 flpeeies, both acting as j<jint secondary 

 causes ; and whenever I reflect on the 

 jp-owth, maturity, beauty, and variety, 

 of tilt vegetable kingdom! Ou thesu 

 1 



^1^ 



several subjects my mind renders tho 

 profoundest homage to the mysteri- 

 ous POWER which created and continues 

 such miracles; and, being unable to rea- 

 son upon them from the analogy of other 

 experience, 1 am forced to refer sucU 

 sublime results to agency not mecha- 

 nical ; or, if in any sense mechanical, so 

 arranged and so moved as to exceed my 

 means of conception. 



Looking once more upon the volume 

 of nature which lay before me, 1 beheld 

 a superior class of organized beings, 

 each individual of which, constituting an 

 independant microcosm, is qualified to 

 move from place to i>lHce, by bodily 

 adaptation and nervous sensibility. This 

 kingdom of loco-motive beings ascends, 

 in gradations of power and intellect, 

 from the hydatid to the sympathetic 

 and benevolent philosopher; and rises 

 in the scale of being as much abov« 

 the organization of vegetables, as ve- 

 getables themselves are superior to the 

 inorganic particles in which thej flourish. 

 That they may subsist while they move, 

 their roots, instead of being fixed in the 

 soil, are turned wilhin a cavity, or re- 

 ceptacle, called the stomacli, into which 

 appropriate soil, or aliment, is intro- 

 duced by the industry of the creature; 

 and, that their powers of loco-motioa 

 may be exerted with safety and ad- 

 vantage, they are provided with 

 organs for eating, and with senses for 

 smelling, tasting, feeling, and seeing 

 their food; and also with a |iowcr 

 of hearing dangers which they cannot 

 see. They are, for the same reasons, 

 enabled to j)rofit by experience in powers 

 of association, of reasoning by analogy, 

 and of volition, and are governed by an 

 habitual desire to associate in species, 

 accompanied by moral feelings, resulfing 

 from mntual deference and convenience. 

 Here again, humanly speaking, we hav« 

 a series of natural miracles — a perma- 

 nent connection between external ob- 

 jects and the sensations, icasoning, 

 and conduct of the organized being. 

 We oljserve the animal Iramc in 

 its two constituent parts, one mechani- 

 cal, the other sensitive; the mechanical 

 consistingof bones, skin, stomach, blood- 

 vessels, glands, and intestines, provided 

 with muscles and .sinews for voluntary 

 motion ; and the sensitive, consisting Jl 

 the nerves and brain, vvWcli direct the 

 motions by (he feelings of the organs of 

 sense. Euf, of that subtle princi|)le 

 whichdistinguishesorganic lifefiom inert 

 matter — of that principle of individuality 

 which generates the passion of scll-love, 



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