104 APPENDIX. 



It has been asserted that the study of natural phi- 

 losophy tends to infidelity and even to atheism. To 

 plead the cause of philosophy before this society 

 would be worse than waste of time. But as we are 

 honoured with the presence of numerous strangers, it 

 may not be improper to say a few words in answer to 

 this popular objection. It is not foreign to my sub- 

 ject ; because, if there be truth in the assertion, in- 

 stead of recommending our late president, as an ex- 

 ample worthy of imitation, we should point him out 

 as a delusive meteor, whose false light might lead the 

 unwary to the pit of destruction. I shall say but lit- 

 tle ; for were I to permit myself to enlarge on the 

 boundless subject, I should soon exhaust my own 

 strength and your patience. In the sacred scripture, 

 the repository of the revealed will of the Deity, we 

 find it written, that God has not left himself without 

 witness among the heathen; that is to say, his visible 

 works bear witness to his existence and his attribute*. 

 And it is most true. The most barbarous nations are 

 struck with^the evidence, and acknowledge the ex- 

 istence of a power superior to man. But those stu- 

 pendous works, which, in silent majesty, proclaim 

 their Maker, do not disclose half their testimony to 

 an ignorant observer. Nay, if not understood, there 

 is danger of being misled by them. The untutored 



