ANTICIPATIONS OF MAN IN NATURE. 333 



see, and enjoy, and comprehend declares in plainest lan 

 guage not only that the contriver of these grounds pos 

 sessed superior intelligence, but that he expected intelli 

 gent guests to visit, admire, and enjoy them. 



This admirably plotted park is the domain of Nature. 

 These dark, umbrageous shades and quiet dells are hers. 

 These winding highways and meandering footpaths are her 

 navigable streams, and lakes, and ocean tides. The rho 

 dodendron and azalea were first planted by the hand of 

 Nature, and her fingers taught the honeysuckle to climb 

 the rustic trellis of oaken boughs. Her providence drew 

 forth the crystal fountain beneath the beechen shade, and 

 her foresight laid by the store of coal with which we warm 

 and light our dwellings. 



To be more specific, let the reader imagine that the his 

 tory of the world had been a scene of never-ending quiet. 

 Suppose a fear of inflicting animal suffering had laid its 

 restraining hand on the volcano and the earthquake ; sup 

 pose the rocks had not been plowed up, and the deep sub 

 soil of the earth s crust laid over in mountain ridges. I do 

 not ask whether, in the midst of scenes of such monotony, 

 the occasion could ever have arrived for the deposition of 

 the coal. We will assume that it would. I do not ask 

 whether, without eruptions and terrestrial distresses, the 

 precious and the useful metals would ever have been re 

 duced from their ores ; we may assume that they would. 

 But where would lie our coal ? Buried ten thousand feet 

 from view, man would never have learned of its existence, 

 much less would he have known how to raise it to the sur 

 face. See the provision of Nature in breaking up the coal- 

 bearing strata and tilting them on edge, as much as to say, 

 &quot; Lo ! here is your desire ; search not in vain ; dig, and be 

 satisfied with warmth ; drive forth the hidden energy of 

 the abundant water, and bid the servants furnished to your 



