60 NATURAL THEOLOGY. 



were there a single transposition of the secretory 

 organs ; a single mistake in arranging the glands 

 which compose them ! 



There may be many second causes, and many 

 courses of second causes, one behind another, be- 

 tween what we observe of nature, and the Deity : 

 but there must be intelligence somewhere : there 

 must be more in nature that what we see ; and, 

 amongst the things unseen, there must be an in- 

 telligent, designing author. The philosopher be- 

 holds with astonishment the production of things 

 around him. Unconscious particles of matter 

 take their stations, and severally range themselves 

 in an order, so as to become collectively plants or 

 animals, i. e. organized bodies, with parts bearing 

 strict and evident relation to one another, and to 

 the utility of the whole : and it should seem that 

 these particles could not move in any other way 

 than as they do ; for they testify not the smallest 

 sign of choice, or liberty, or discretion. There 

 may be particular intelligent beings, guiding these 

 motions in each case : or they may be the result 

 of trains of mechanical dispositions, fixed before- 

 hand by an intelligent appointment, and kept in 

 action by a power at the centre. But, in either 

 case, there must be intelligence. 



The minds of most men are fond of what they 

 call a principle, and of the appearance of simpli- 

 city, in accounting for phaenomena. Yet this prin- 

 ciple, this simplicity, resides merely in the natne ; 

 which name, after all, comprises, perhaps, under 



