LETTER IV. 



INJURIES CAUSED BY INSECTS. 



DIRECT INJURIES. 



IN the letter which I devoted to the defence of Entomo- 

 logy, 1 gave you reason to expect, more effectually to 

 obviate the objection drawn from the supposed insignifi- 

 cance of insects, that I should enter largely into the ques- 

 tion of their importance to us both as instruments of good 

 and evil. This I shall now attempt; and, as I wish to 

 leave upon your mind a pleasant impression with respect 

 to my favourites, I shall begin with the last of these sub- 

 jects the injury which they do to us. 



The Almighty ordains various instruments for the 

 punishment of offending nations : sometimes he breaks 

 them to pieces with the iron rod of war ; at others the 

 elements are let loose against them ; earthquakes and 

 floods of fire, at his word, bring sudden destruction upon 

 them ; seasons unfriendly to vegetation threaten them 

 with famine ; the blight and mildew realize these threats ; 

 and often, the more to manifest and glorify his power, 

 he employs means, at first sight, apparently the most in- 

 significant and inadequate to effect their ruin ; the nu- 

 merous tribes of insects are his armies a , marshalled by 

 him, and by his irresistible command impelled to the 

 work of destruction : where he directs them they lay 



8 Joel ii. 25. 



