APPENDIX. 



159 



whole material universe was brought into exist 

 ence at the same time with our earth that the 

 Creator ceased to create any new order of beings 

 in the universe, after arranging the fabric of our 

 globe that the whole system of material nature 

 in heaven and earth will be destroyed at the 

 period of the dissolution of our world that our 

 thoughts and affections should be completely de 

 tached from all created things, &c. &c. Several 

 vague notions of this description are founded on 

 the false assumption, that the globe we inhabit, 

 and the rational beings that have appeared on its 

 surface from age to age, are the chief objects of 

 God s superintendence and care and that the 

 Scriptures are the only medium through which 

 we. can view the plans and operations of the 

 Deity assumptions, which are contrary to rea 

 son, which are unwarranted in revelation, nay, 

 which are directly contradicted in numerous 

 passages of Scripture, some of which have al 

 ready been referred to in the course of this vo 

 lume. It would be of essential service to the 

 cause of Christianity, that its doctrines, facts, 

 and moral requisitions were uniformly exhibited 

 in their native simplicity and grandeur, without 

 being obscured and distorted by the vague and 

 extravagant representations with which they are 

 too frequently blended by injudicious minds. 



No. XI. 



As authority has a considerable degree of 

 weight on some minds, I shall conclude with an 

 extract on the subject of this volume, from that 

 respectable and enlightened divine, Dr. Dvvight, 

 late president of Yale college : The works 

 of God were by him intended to be, and are, in 

 fact, manifestations of himself; proofs of his 

 character, presence, and agency. In this light 

 he requires men continually to regard them : 

 and to refuse this regard is considered by him as 

 grossly wicked, and highly deserving of punish 

 ment, Psalm xxviii. 5. Isa. v. 12 14. I am 

 apprehensive, that even good men are prone to 

 pay less attention to the works of creation and 

 providence than piety demands, and the scrip 

 tures require. We say and hear so much con 

 cerning the insufficiency of these works to un 

 fold the character of God, and the nature of 

 genuine religion, that we are prone to consider 

 them as almost uninstructive in moral things, 

 and, in a great measure, useless to the promo 

 tion of piety. This, however, is a palpable and 

 dangerous error. The works alone, without the 

 aid of the scriptures, would, I acknowledge, be 

 far less instructive than they now are, and ut 

 terly insufficient to guide us in the way of right- 

 reject it. It must, however, be admitted that it is 

 not always used in this manner, aiid that it is some- 

 tomes an occasion of ambiguity. Ed 



eousness. The scriptures were designed to DO 

 a comment on these works ; to explain their na 

 ture, and to show us the agency, purposes, wis 

 dom, and goodness of God in their formation. 

 Thus explained, thus illuminated, they become 

 means of knowledge, very extensive and emi 

 nently useful. He who does not find in the va 

 rious, beautiful, sublime, awful, and astonishing 

 objects presented to us in creation and provi 

 dence, irresistible and glorious reasons for ad 

 miring, adoring, loving, and praising his Crea 

 tor, has not a claim to evangelical piety.&quot; Sys 

 tem of Theology, vol. iii. p. 477. 



No. XII. List of Popular Works on the differ 

 ent Sciences treated of in this volume, with 

 occasional remarks. 



SELECT BOOKS ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



&quot; Goldsmith s History of the Earth, and ani 

 mated nature,&quot; with notes by T. Brown, Esq. 

 published at Manchester, 6 vols. 8vo. The co 

 pious notes appended to this edition, contain an 

 account of the latest discoveries, and form a 

 valuable addition to the original work &quot; The 

 Gallery of Nature and Art,&quot; by Dr. Mason 

 Good, and others, 6 vols. 8vo. &quot; Spectacle de 

 la Nature,&quot; or Nature Displayed, 7 vols. 12mo. 

 &quot; Nature Displayed,&quot; by Dr. Simeon Shaw, 3 

 vols. 8vo. or ii 6 vols. 12mo. This work, though 

 chiefly a compilation, imbodies a great variety 

 of interesting and popular descriptions of tho 

 most remarkable facts in the system of nature, 

 which are illustrated with numerous engravings, 

 both plain and coloured. Clarke s &quot; Hundred 

 Wonders of the World,&quot; one vol. 12mo. and 

 Platt s &quot; Book of Curiosities,&quot; contain a num 

 ber of interesting selections on this subject. 

 Smellie s &quot; Philosophy of Natural History,&quot; 2 

 vols. 4to. and his translation of &quot; BufTon s Na 

 tural History.&quot; Works entitled, &quot; System&quot; and 

 &quot; Elements&quot; of &quot; Natural History,&quot; are nu 

 merous ; but the greatest part of them is confi 

 ned to descriptions of the forms, habits, and in 

 stinct of animals. On this department of natu 

 ral science, a work is just now in course of pub 

 lication, by the celebrated Cuvier, entitled &quot; The 

 Animal Kingdom&quot; with engravings, chiefly 

 from the living subjects in the Museum of Na 

 tural History at Paris. A popular and compre 

 hensive history of the facts which have been 

 ascertained respecting the earth, the atmosphere, 

 the meteors, the heavens, &c. calculated for 

 general readers, and interspersed with appropri 

 ate moral and religious reflections, is still a desi 

 deratum. The facts of natural history, next to 

 the facts recorded in the sacred volume, are the 

 first subjects to which the minds of the young 

 should be directed in the course of a general 

 education. 



