THE VERTEBRAL COLUMN OF FISHES. 189 



object ? Because man is immortal, and ac- 

 countable for the deeds done in the body. He 

 may err, he may, in ignorance, worship an idol, 

 or gods with attributes of his own imagination, 

 personifications of virtues or vices, or of the 

 elements around him, but the substratum 

 remains still, and only bears an unworthy 

 superstructure. That substratum is a know- 

 ledge of immortality and accountability, taught 

 to primeval man, and never destroyed, though 

 often obscured and defaced ; nor can the 

 atheist divest himself of the sense of this truth, 

 under which he leads a miserable existence, 

 reUeved only when he ceases to reflect upon it. 



Such are our deductions, looking as natu- 

 ralists only at man, and considering him apart 

 from revelation. "What shall we say, then, 

 when revelation comes in to confirm a truth 

 deduced from other sources — and not only so, 

 but offers a sure and plain guide, a light unto 

 our steps, that we may avoid the track of 

 error, till we enter a heavenly kingdom, where 

 all darkness shall be for ever dispelled ? 



And here the naturalist may end — he has 

 offered proofs of the power, wisdom, and 

 goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ, for by 

 hira were all things created — and pui'suing 



