POLYPES. 191 



that often separates those in the same series from 

 each other, that by the action of certain physical 

 causes, consequent upon certain established laws 

 and a fixed order of things, and by the stimulus 

 of certain appetencies in themselves, animals 

 gradually changed their forms and organization, 

 and thus, by slow degrees, kept improving in all 

 respects, till at last the monkey became the 

 man, if the sceptic thus attempts to pervert us, 

 we may turn round upon him, and ask him, how 

 it was that the zoophyte, buried in the depths of 

 the ocean, should imitate the plant? can a studied 

 imitation every where denoting purpose and de- 

 sign, a mighty structure including innumerable 

 forms and parts connected with each other and 

 formed evidently according to a preconceived 

 plan, be the result of the operation of blind, 

 unguided physical agents, acting by the appe- 

 tencies of these organized beings ? How indeed 

 could they have any appetency to put on the 

 appearance of a set of objects they never saw? 

 The thing is morally impossible. In fact, when 

 we survey the whole series of natural objects, 

 and find throughout a system of representation, 

 as well as a chain of affinities, it is as clear as 

 the light of day, that an infinite Intelligence 

 must first have planned, an Almighty hand then 

 executed, and that infinite Love still sustains the 

 whole. 



