PREFACE. Vll 



instruction of the Youth of Great Britain. 

 And as iny principal design was to lay be- 

 fore them some pages of the Volume of 

 Nature, I judged that if this could be per- 

 formed in such a manner as to be also a 

 source of amusement, it would probably meet 

 with a more welcome reception, and conse- 

 quently have the better effect. 



I have likewise been cautious in checking 

 any inclination to scepticism during the 

 study of Natural Philosophy : and in guard- 

 ing against a mischievous misapplication of 

 the word Nature. I uniformly wish this 

 word to be considered as an abridged form 

 of expressing, sometimes the results of the 

 laws to which the mechanism of the universe 

 is subjected by the Supreme Being; some- 

 times the collection of beings created by 

 him. Nature viewed thus, in its true light, 

 is no longer a subject of cold unproductive 

 speculation, with regard to morality. The 

 study of its productions and its phenomena 

 not only enlightens the mind, but warms the 

 heart, by exciting feelings of reverence and 

 admiration, at the sight of so many wonders, 



bearing 



