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ADVERTISEMENT. 



IT has long been the opinion of the editor 

 of this volume, that the noblest employment of 

 the mind of man is the contemplating the works 

 of his Creator ; these living testimonies of the 

 being and attributes of God have also ever ap- 

 peared to him infinitely superior to the best 

 arguments that the understanding of man has 

 been able to advance. 



To lead, especially, the youthful mind, to 

 this happy turn of observation, has been his 

 object in the arrangement of these pages; and 

 he trusts that the familiar and comprehensive 

 delineations of Nature, which he has endea- 

 voured to give, will be found not only calcu- 

 lated for the improvement and extension of 

 knowledge, but shew to the reader, that in 

 every object in nature there are ample traces 

 of the wisdom, power, and bounty of the Cre- 

 ator, and convince him, that even the vilest 

 weed and the meanest insect offer incontestable 

 evidences of their Maker, 



