212 Natural Theology, 



of life is preserved and all its parts joined and ad- 

 justed to each other. There is no doubt proof of 

 design in the structure of the eye, the loop, the 

 hinge, or the ball and socket joint ; but it is in com- 

 prehending the magnitude and perfection of the 

 plan by which all these varied contrivances make 

 up individuals, and the individuals are adjusted in 

 myriads to the globe, that we rise to the comprehen- 

 sion of the power and the goodness of the Creator. 

 As in some great manufactory, we may see contri- 

 vance in every spindle that twists a thread, and in 

 every pulley that turns a shaft, though nothing else 

 is seen, yet it is only when we pass from room to 

 room and see the snowy fibres passing through the 

 maze of machinery, each process preparing it for the 

 next, that we understand a more comprehensive 

 design, that, from the ponderous wheel which rolls 

 beneath the ever-falling waters, up through all the 

 lines of shafts and belts and points of steel to the 

 loom itself, forms one vast machine for the produc- 

 tion of the web. 



But in the works of God we have a field hardly 

 entered by us yet in this discussion the field of 

 mind. For the lower animals, the world needs only 

 to be adjusted to their physical wants, and their 

 wants are the same in all ages. The lion, the eagle, 

 and the insect, are unchanged for a thousand gene- 

 rations. They require to-day the same conditions 

 they required ages ago. Under the guidance of 

 instinct they provide food and shelter for themselves 

 and their young. Beyond this they never rise, and 



