CONCLUSION. 317 



leave no large portion of the terraqueous globe with- 

 out inhabitants. If there are differences in climates, 

 there are also differences of constitutions and instincts 

 suiting living creatures to exist and to enjoy existence 

 in them all. From the glowing equator to the vici- 

 nity of the frozen poles all nature is instinct with life 

 and buoyant with happiness. On the dry land, the 

 fields and the deserts, the woods and the forests, the 

 valleys and the mountains, all teem with animation 

 and are vocal with joy. The waters, the lakes, the 

 rivers, and the mighty ocean from shore to shore, 

 bring forth and nourish their myriads of living crea- 

 tures, different in kind, but united by a wonderful 

 analogy into one grand and mighty chain of existence, 

 all fitted with superlative wisdom to their respective 

 habitations. Even the viewless air is not void of life 

 and indications of enjoyment: the feathered tribes 

 there soar with the wings which all -bountiful nature' 

 has provided, traversing fearlessly the blue expanse, 

 and singing as they mount towards the clouds. 



Nor is it to be forgotten, that of all sublunary 

 creatures, man alone is endowed with faculties capa- 

 ble of discerning the Creator's hand in his works. 

 Had not the human race been called into existence, 

 all these magnificent provisions would have been un- 

 appreciated and unknown. The glories of the divine 

 perfections would still indeed have been inscribed on 

 nature, but among earthly existences there would 

 have been no eye to read and no heart to feel them. 

 Man has justly been called the priest of nature; and 

 while from the seen he rises to the unseen from the 

 temporal to the eternal he ought never to forget 

 that the high rank which has been assigned him im- 

 plies a high responsibility ; and that, in proportion 

 as his vision is enlarged and his faculties are exalted, 

 his duties and obligations are, to an equal extent, 

 increased. 



