THE GOODNESS OF THE DEITY. '2ol 



perception, they compose what may be called the whole ot 

 visible nature, estimated with a view to the disposition oi 

 its author. Consequently, it is in these that we are to seek 

 his character. It is by these that we are to prove, that the 

 world was made with a benevolent design. 



Nor is the design abortive. It is a happy world after all. 

 The air, the earth, the water, teem with delighted exis- 

 tence. In a spring noon, or a summer evening, on which- 

 ever side I turn my eyes, myriads of happy beings crowd 

 upon my view. " The insect youth are on the wing.'' 

 Swarms of new-born flies are trying their pinions in the 

 air. Their sportive motions, their wanton mazes, their 

 gratuitous activity, their continual change of place without 

 use or purpose, testify their joy, and the exultation whicli 

 they feel in their lately discovered faculties. A bee amongst 

 the flowers in spring, is one of the most cheerful objects that 

 can be looked U[)on. Its life appears to be all enjoyment ; 

 so busy, and so pleased : yet it is only a specimen of insect 

 life, with which, by reason of the animal being half domesti- 

 cated, we happen to be better acquainted than we are with 

 that of others. The wJioIc winged insect tribe, it is proba- 

 ble, are equally intent upon their proper employments, and 

 under every variety of constitution, gratified, and perhaps 

 equally gratified, by the offices which the Author of their 

 nature has assigned to them. But the atmosphere is not 

 the only scene of enjoyment for the insect race. Plants 

 are covered with aphides, greedily sucking their juices, 

 and constantly, as it should seem, in the act of sucking. It 

 cannot be doubted but that this is a state of gratification. 

 What else should fix them so close to the operation, and 

 so long ? Other species are running about with an 

 alacrity in their motions which carries with it every mark 

 of pleasure. Large patches of ground are sometimes half 

 covered with these brisk and sprightly natures. If we look 

 to what the umters produce, shoals of the fry of fish fre- 

 quent the margins of rivers, of lakes, and of the sea itself. 

 These are so happy, that they know not what to do with 

 themselves. Their attitudes, their vivacity, their leaps 

 out of the water, their frolicks in it, (which I have noticed 

 a thousand times with equal attention and amusement,) all 

 condu -^ to show their excess of spirits, and are simply the 

 effects v\ that excess. Walking by the seaside, in a calm 

 evening, upon a sandy shore, and with an ebbing tide, I 

 have frequently remarked the appearance of a dark cloud, 

 Y 



