NATURAL THEOLOGY* 101 



that youth is its happiest season, much less the 

 only happy one : as a Christian, I am willing to 

 believe that there is a great deal of truth in the 

 following representation given by a very pious wri- 

 ter, as w^ell as excellent man :* " To the intelli- 

 gent and virtuous, old age presents a scene of tran- 

 quil enjoyments, of obedient appetite, of well-re- 

 gulated affections, of maturity in knowledge, and 

 of calm preparation for immortahty. In this serene 

 and dignified state, placed as it were on the con- 

 fines of two worlds, the mind of a good man re- 

 views what is past with the complacency of an ap- 

 proving conscience ; and looks forward, with hum- 

 ble confidence in. the mercy of God, and with de- 

 vout aspirations towards his eternal and ever- 

 increasing favour." 



What is seen in diflferent stages of the sam 

 life, is still more exemplified in the lives of dif- 

 ferent animals. Animal enjoyments are infinitely 

 diversified. The modes of life, to which the orga- 

 nization of different animals respectively deter- 

 mines them, are not only of various but of oppo- 

 site kinds. Yet each is happy in its own. For 

 instance : animals of prey live much alone ; ani- 

 mals of a milder constitution in society. Yet the 

 herring, which lives in shoals, and the sheep, which 

 lives in flocks, are not more happy in a crowd, or 

 more contented amongst their companions, than 

 in the pike, or the lion, with the deep solitudes 

 of the pool^ or the forest. 



* Father's Instructions ; by Dr. Percival of Manchester, p. 317. 

 10* 



