Literature , &c. with Commerce. 19 
their refpedtive functions ! Perhaps man, that 
Jord of the creation, as he vainly boafts himfelf, is 
indebted for many ufeful lefifons to very inferior 
animals. The voice of Nature is thus defcribed 
as crying out to him, 
Go from the creatures thy inftruftion take; 
Learn from the birds what food the thickets yield; 
Learn from the bealts the phyfic of the field ; 
The arts of building from the bee receive ; 
Learn of the mole to plow, the worm to weave ; 
Learn of the little nautilus to fail, 
Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale. 
But feveral branches of Natural Philofophy 
feem peculiarly adapted to fill up the vacant 
hours in which the tradefman can withdraw from 
his employments. A general knowledge of all 
will tend to open and enlarge his underftanding, 
at the fame time that it affords him the mod 
rational amufcment. While the ftudy of fome, 
in particular , may not only tend to effedt thefe 
defirable purpofes, but fupply him with a kind of 
information which may turn to good account, 
by furnifhing him with the means of extending 
his commercial concerns, and conducting them 
to greater advantage; of improving thofe manu¬ 
factures in which he is already engaged, or 
inventing new fabrics, which may give addi¬ 
tional life and fpirit to trade. 
As Pneumatics, or the dodtrine of the nature 
and properties of air, .difplay an ample field of 
inveftigation to the philofopher, fo will they alfo 
C 2 fupply. 
