NATURAL THEOLOGY. i 



situation. Its field is boundless ; its novelty inex- 

 haustible. If the eminence of an artist attach a high- 

 er interest to his productions ; if we should crowd to 

 see the works of a Phidias, a Praxiteles, or a Rapha- 

 el, with what emotions should those objects be sur- 

 veyed, which lead up our thoughts to an Almighty 

 Author. Shall we reserve our curiosity for the im- 

 perfect exhibitions of our own limited powers, and be 

 indifferent to the study which reveals in every form . 

 the hand of Infinite Wisdom ? Whatever reason we 

 can imagine for the study of human inventions, a far 

 higher, surely, may be adduced for directing our at- 

 tention to those Divine contrivances which immeasur- 

 ably surpass them. There is scarcely an art but has 

 its more simple and admirable parallel in some natural 

 provision. Nature either furnishes the pattern, or ex- 

 emplifies the result in a more perfect manner. The 

 telescope was improved, and the first idea of it proba- 

 bly suggested, from an examination of the Eye. What 

 is the most finished statue, compared with the living 

 form ? The works of art are soon exhausted ; and 

 by a critical inspection we can easily discover blem- 

 ishes and imperfections in them. But the more close- 

 ly we examine their great originals in the vast king- 

 dom of nature, the more proofs do they afford us of 

 the perfection of the works of God, in comparison with 

 the highest efforts of human skill. Shall our interest 

 then be excited at hearing of any new engine or piece 

 of machinery which some one has invented ? shall 

 novelty be attractive and almost irresistible, when 



