INTRODUCTION. 23 



mind that has been led by the philosophic study of Nature 

 (which is nothing else than the application of that reason with 

 which man has been endowed, to the discerning contemplation 

 of those glorious works with which he is surrounded), to recog- 

 nise in it a Power which can never fail, a Wisdom which can no- 

 wise err, and a Goodness which cannot be unkind, and which, 

 by continually dwelling on such thoughts, has interwoven them 

 (as it were) with itself, and made them a part of its own consti- 

 tution, is well prepared to view the Great Creator of all in that 

 peculiarly parental character, in which He has been so frequently 

 and touchingly represented to us by His inspired messengers ; 

 and to submit without a murmur to the severest inflictions of His 

 Almighty hand, as the discipline of a Father who alone knoweth 

 what is good for his children, and who loveth even while he 

 chasteneth. In the events of life, as in the phenomena of Nature, 

 he will be prepared to trust where he cannot trace ; and, by the 

 contemplation of those mercies by which every afflictive dispen- 

 sation is tempered, to rise to the assured conviction, a conviction 

 pervading the heart, as well as satisfactory to the understanding, 

 that the stroke itself is not only designed by Wisdom, and 

 given by Power, but is aimed and directed by Love. And, 

 when this conviction has been attained, it finds itself reflected by 

 every object around ; and, in the contemplation of the visible 

 works of Creation, a degree of realisation is given to it, which 

 can scarcely be attained in any other way, by those who have 

 not passed through a long course of religious experience. It 

 should operate, too, not merely in severe trials or seasons of the 

 deepest gloom, but in lightening the daily cares, and giving 

 cheerfulness to the daily scenes of life ; and if such be the fruits 

 of the study, on the recommendation of which we have dwelt 

 so long, it is indeed one not to be neglected. 



