NATURAL THEOLOGY. 59 



being no difference, as far as argument is concern- 

 ed, between an intelligence which is not exerted, 

 and an intelligence which does not exist.'*^ 



1^ When we have, in some measure, comprehended the system 

 of an animal body, how the different organs are related to each 

 other, and how the whole exists through a mutual influence of its 

 parts, the wonder is renewed how another creature should grow 

 out of that, wluch, as far as we have seen, has no tendency to 

 multiply itself. Authors who treat of reproduction, even to the 

 ver}' last, affirm, that with the germ of life in all organized struc- 

 tures are conjoined the seeds of decay and of death : they tell us 

 that the powers of life are finite, and that the time must come 

 when they shall be expended. Now there are no seeds of decay ; 

 and altlaough, according to the law of animal existence, the indi- 

 vidual perishes, it is incorrect to say that it is the result of the 

 exhaustion of the powers of vitality, or the deterioration of the 

 material which enters into its composition. We gain nothing by 

 adapting the language of one science to explain another : it is of 

 no advantage, in treating of life and death, to adopt a chemical 

 nomenclature. The term of life in every creature, from the ele- 

 phant to the ephemeral fly, has its limit ; but it is wrong to say 

 that it is by the defect of the material, or of the energy of life ; it 

 is a better philosophy to admit that it is in accordance with the 

 system which the Deity has ordained. 



Life, in the sense in which it is used here, is continued in the 

 germ that rises from the parent ; since out of the old body, that is 

 described as a deteriorated and useless material, a new creation is 

 produced, it suffices to show that there is no necessary decay from 

 the material itself A leaf or twig of an old tree will strike root 

 into the ground, and vegetate and exhibit youthful vigour. So will 

 the fresh water polypus furnish a portion which, being cut off, 

 will grow with a perfect resemblance to the original stock. In 

 the reproduction of the higher and the more complex organized 

 bodies there is much that is obscure ; but in the simpler, and, as 

 it is termed, the lower examples — vegetables, zoophytes, and in- 

 fusory animals — we have abundant proofs that the result does 



