STATE OF THE ARGUMENT. 



series of wheels, the teeth of which, catch in, and apply io^ 

 each other, conductinjrthe motion from the fusee to the bal- 

 ance, and from the balance to the pointer ; and at the same 

 time, by the size and shape of those wheels, so regulating 

 that motion, as to terminatf- in causing an index, by an 

 oquable and measured j»rogression, to pass over a given 

 space in a given time. We take notice that the wheels are 

 made of brass, in order to keep them from rust ; the springs 

 of steel, no otlier metal being so elastic ; tliat over the face 

 of tlie watch tlx^re is placed a glass, a material employed 

 in no other part of the work ; but in the room of which, if 

 there had been any other than a transparent substary^e, the 

 hour could not be seen without opening the case. This 

 mechanism being observed (it requires indeed an exami- 

 nation of the instrument, and perhaps some previous knowl- 

 edge of the subject, to perceive and understand it; but be- 

 ing once, as we have said, observed and understood,) the 

 inference, we think, is inevitable; that the watch must 

 have had a maker ; that there must have existed, at some 

 time and at some place or other, an artificer or artifi- 

 cers, who formed it for the purpose which we find it actu- 

 ally to answer ; who comprehended its construction, and 

 designed its use. 



I. Nor would it, I apprehend, weaken tlie conclusion, 

 that we had never seen a watch made : that we had never 

 known an artist capable of making one ; that we were alto- 

 gether inctpalle of executing such a piece of workman- 

 ship ourselves, or of understanding in what manner it was 

 performed ; all this being no more than what is true of 

 some exquisite remains of ancient art, of some lost arts, and, 

 to the generility of mankind, of the more curious produc- 

 tions of modern manufacture. Does one man in a million 

 know how oval frames are turned ? Ignorance of this kind 

 exalts our opinion of the unseen and unknown artist's 

 skill, if he be unseen and unknown, but raises no doubt in 

 our mind of the existence and agency of such an artist, at 

 some former time, and in some place or otlier. Nor can 

 I perceive that it varies at all the inference, whether 'the 

 question arise concerning a human agent, or concerning 

 an agent of a diflerent species, or an agent possessing, 

 in some respects, a diflerent nature. 



II. Neither, secondly, would it invalidate our conclu- 

 sion, that the watch sometimes went wrong, or that it sel- 

 dom went exactly right. The purpose of the machinery, 

 the design, and the designer, might be evident, and in tli* 



