QUADRUPEDS. 



447 



continual vigilance and caution ; his various 

 arts and powers have been no where more 

 manifest, th:in in the extirpation of those that 

 multiply with such prodigious fecundity. 

 Neither thoir agility nor their minuteness 

 can secure them from his pursuits; and though 

 they may infest, they are seldom found mate- 

 rially to injure him. 



In this manner we see, that not only human 

 want is supplied, but that human wit is sharp- 

 ened, by the humbler partners of man in the 

 creation. By this we see, that not only their 

 benefits, but their depredations, are useful, 

 and that it has wisely pleased providence to | 



place us like victors in a subdued country, 

 where we have all the benefit of conquest, 

 without being so secure as to run into the 

 sloth and excesses of a certain and undis- 

 turbed possession. It appears, therefore, 

 that those writers who are continually finding 

 immediate benefit in every production, see 

 but half way into the general system of na- 

 ture. Experience must every hour 'inform 

 us, that all animals are not formed for our use; 

 but we may be equally well assured, that 

 those conveniences which we want from their 

 friendship, are well repaid by that vigilance 

 which we procure from their enmity. 



