ON THE GENERAL DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE. 



and harmony the seasons revolve and appear in 

 constant succession. The composition of the 

 atmosphere is the same under every latitude, and 

 light and heat are diffused by the same law in 

 every region of the earth. One law causes a 

 stone to fall to the ground, and by the operation 

 f the same law, the moon is retained in her 

 orbit around the earth, the planets directed in 

 their revolutions round the sun. arid the whole 

 universe compacted into one harmonious system. 

 In short, ail the arrangements and operations of 

 nature, so far as our knowledge extends, present 

 to our view a single design, regularly executed 

 by a single agency. The fair inference, there 

 fore, is, that every part of the world in which we 

 dwell, and every department of the solar system, 

 are under the government of one Intelligence, 

 which directs every movement throughout the 

 universal system. And the more extensively 

 our views of the? universe are enlarged, the 

 marks of unity in operation and design become 

 more strikingly apparent. Now, if two or more 

 intelligences had the government of the universe 

 in their hands, and if they had equal power and 

 contrary designs, their purposes would clash, 

 and they could never become the parents of that 

 harmony which we clearly perceive throughout 

 the system of nature. Thus the operations of 

 the visible world confirm and illustrate the decla 

 ration of the inspired oracles, that &quot; there is none 

 other God but one.&quot; 



2. A scientific investigation of the material 

 world opens to us innumerable evidences of 

 Divine Wisdom. 



Wherever we turn our eyes in the visible 

 \7orld around us, and survey with attention the 

 various processes of nature, we perceive at every 

 step the most striking marks of intelligence and 

 design. We perceive the wisdom of the great 

 Author of nature, in the admirable constitution 

 of the atmosphere, and the wonderful properties 

 of the constituent principles of which it is com 

 posed, in the motions of light, the inconceiva 

 ble smallness of its particles, its adaptation to 

 the eye, and the admirable manner in which 

 vision is performed, in the nature of sound, the 

 laws by which it is propagated, and the various 

 modifications of which it is susceptible, in the 

 process of evaporation, and the rains, dews, and 

 fertility which are the results of this admirable 

 part of the economy of nature, in the utility of 

 the mountains and valleys with which the eanh 

 is diversified, and the beautiful colouring which 

 is spread over the face of nature, in the morn 

 ing and evening twilight, and the gradual ap 

 proaches of light and darkness, in the vast 

 expanse of the ocean and its numerous produc 

 tions, in the grand, and picturesque, and beau 

 tiful landscapes with which our globe is adorned, 

 in the composition and specific gravity of 

 viater, and in the peculiar structure and density 

 ef the solid parts of the earth, in the expansion 



of water in the act of freezing, and the natVlu 

 and properties of heat arid flame, in the po t&amp;gt;t 

 of steam, the properties of the gases, the quali 

 ties of the magnet, and the agencies of the Ljal- 

 vanic and electric, fluids, in the structure of 

 vegetables, the adaptation of their seeds, roots, 

 fibres, vessels, and leaves to the purpose of vege 

 tative life, the curious processes which are 

 continually going on in their internal parts, their 

 delicate contexture and diversified hues, arid 

 the important purposes they serve in the system 

 of nature, in the structure of the various ani 

 mated beings which traverse the air, the waters, 

 and the earth. the provision made for the con 

 tinuance of the species, their architect ivefacul- 

 ties, their wonderful instincts, and the injinite 

 diversity of organization which appears among 

 them, suited to their various wants and modes of 

 existence. in the admirable organization of the 

 human frame, the numerous bones, muscles, 

 ligaments, membranes, arteries, and veins which 

 enter into its construction, the apt disposition of 

 all its parts, the means contrived for the recep 

 tion and distribution of nutriment, the effect 

 which this nutriment produces in bringing the 

 body to its full growth and expansion, its self- 

 restoring power when diseased or wounded, the 

 provision made against evil accidents and incon 

 veniences, the variety of muscular movements 

 of which it is susceptible, the process of respira 

 tion, the circulation of the blood, the separation 

 of the chyle, the exquisite structure of the dif 

 ferent senses, and the nice adaptation of every 

 organ and movement to the ends it was intended 

 to subserve. The same wisdom is perceptible 

 in the position which the sun holds in the solar 

 system, in order to a due distribution of light and 

 heat to surrounding worlds ; in the distance at 

 which the earth is placed from this luminary, 

 in the order and harmony of all the celestial mo 

 tions, and in the wonderful and beautiful scenery, 

 invisible to the unassisted eye, which the micro 

 scope displays, both in the animal and vegetable 

 world. In short, there is not an object within 

 us or around us, in the mountains or the plains, 

 in the air, the ocean, or the sky, among the 

 animal or the vegetable tribes, when steadily 

 contemplated in all its aspects and relations, but 

 displays to the eye of reason and devotion the 

 consummate intelligence and skill of i s almighty 

 Author, and calls upon every intelligent agent, 

 in silent but emphatic language, to praise him 

 &quot; who made the earth, the sea, the founta : ns of 

 water, and all that live in them, for whose plea 

 sure they are and were created.&quot; 



Let us just select one example out of the 

 many thousands which might be brought for 

 ward on this subject. This example shall be 

 taken from an invisible department of nature. 

 In consequence of modern scientific discovery, 

 it has been ascertained that the atmosphere, or 

 the air we breathe, is compounded of two invi- 



