CONSTANCY OF THE NUMBER. 157 



hand of the Great Author in all the realms of 

 nature, and who, with him, can exclaim 



Nature, enchanting Nature, in whose form 



And lineaments divine I trace a hand 



That errs not, and find raptures still renewed. 



A bird's nest, with its eggs, supplies an argument 

 that no infidel reasoning can overcome, as to the 

 existence, wisdom, and laws of God. Passing by 

 the miracles of its structure, and adaptation to the 

 wants of its present and future occupants, we need 

 but to count the eggs, to be furnished with an 

 unanswerable testimony to the doctrine, dear to 

 every lover of his Bible, of the unity of God, and 

 of the evidence of design and law in His creation. 

 Had all things been produced by chance, the eggs 

 would have been this year of this number, and the 

 next of one far removed from it. How different 

 from the fact ! In a number of cases the utmost 

 assurance may be felt in stating the number of 

 eggs which a given species will produce ; it will 

 not fall short of this, nor exceed that sum. Of the 

 family to which the plovers belong, it might be 

 said, with unerring confidence, that the number of 

 eggs in their nests would, in nine cases out of ten, 

 be four, and in the tenth three; and in no instance, 



