ADAPTATION OF LAWS. .13 



consider the bearing of one part upon another, 

 we receive an impression of adaptation, of mu- 

 tual fitness, of conspiring means, of preparation 

 and completion, of purpose and provision. This 

 impression is suggested by the contemplation of 

 every part of nature ; but the grounds of it, from 

 the very circumstances of the case, cannot be 

 conveyed in a few words. It can only be fully 

 educed by leading the reader through several 

 views and details, and must grow out of the com- 

 bined influence of these on a sober and reflecting 

 frame of mind. However strong and solemn be 

 the conviction which may be derived from a con- 

 templation of nature, concerning the existence, the 

 power, the wisdom, the goodness of our Divine 

 Governor, we cannot expect that this conviction, 

 as resulting from the extremely complex spectacle 

 of the material world, should be capable of being 

 irresistibly conveyed by a few steps of reasoning, 

 like the conclusion of a geometrical proposition, 

 or the result of an arithmetical calculation. 



We shall, therefore, endeavour to point out 

 cases and circumstances in which the different 

 parts of the universe exhibit this mutual adapta- 

 tion, and thus to bring before the mind of the 

 reader the evidence of wisdom and providence, 

 which the external world affords. When we have 

 illustrated the correspondencies which exist in 

 every province of nature, between the qualities 

 of brute matter and the constitution of living 



