LECTURES IN SOUTHERN CITIES. 23 



portion of His works which I took it upon me to explain ; 

 and, secondly, responsibility to those who did me the honor 

 to call me from my distant home. 



My subject being physical science, and almost invariably 

 demanding proof by experiment, and illustration by speci- 

 mens, I have, therefore, with able assistance, always pre- 

 pared my lectures with all possible care, and arranged every 

 experiment and illustration so as to insure success. Then 

 I could stand before the largest audiences without anxiety 

 or embarrassment ; could, without manuscript, clearly state 

 and explain my subject, and when the proof became neces- 

 sary, I could perform the experiments successfully and even 

 beautifully, and exhibit the specimens which some other 

 truth demanded, to insure conviction. 



Now, at eighty-two and a half years of age, still by God's 

 forbearance and blessing, possessing my mental powers 

 unimpaired, and looking over the barrier beyond which I 

 must soon pass, I can truly declare, that in the study and 

 exhibition of science to my pupils and fellow-men, I have 

 never forgotten to give all the honor and glory to the infin- 

 ite Creator, happy if I might be the honored interpreter 

 of a portion of His works, and of the beautiful structure 

 and beneficent laws discovered therein by the labors of 

 many illustrious predecessors. For this I claim no merit. 

 It is the result to which right reason and sound philosophy, 

 as well as religion, would naturally lead. 



While I have never concealed my convictions on these 

 subjects, nor hesitated to declare them on all proper occa- 

 sions, I have also declared my belief that while natural 

 religion stands as the basis of Revelation, consisting as it 

 does of the facts and laws which form the domain of science, 

 science has never revealed a system of mercy commensu- 

 rate with the moral wants of man. In Nature, in God's 

 creation, we discover only laws, laws of undeviating 

 strictness, and sure penalties annexed for their violation. 

 There is associated with natural laws no system of mercy ; 



