116 NATURAL THEOLOGY. 



Further; by virtue of this same superfecundity, 

 what we term destruction becomes almost instant- 

 ly the parent of hfe. What we call blights are 

 oftentimes legions of animated beings, claiming 

 tlieir portion in the bounty of nature. What cor- 

 rupts the produce of the earth to us, prepares it 

 for them. And it is by means of their rapid 

 multiplication, that they take possession of their 

 pasture ; a slow propagation would not meet the 

 opportunity. 



But in conjunction with the occasional use of 

 this fruitfulness, we observe, also, that it allows 

 the proportion between the several species of ani- 

 mals to be differently modified, as different purpo- 

 ses of utility may require. When the forests of 

 America come to be cleared, and the swamps 

 drained, our gnats will give place to other inhabit- 

 ants. If the population of Europe should spread 

 to the north and the east, the mice will retire be- 

 fore the husbandman and the shepherd, and yield 

 their station to herds and flocks. In what con- 

 cerns the human species, it may be a part of the 

 scheme of Providence, that the earth should be in- 

 habited by a shifting, or perhaps a circulating popu- 

 lation. In this economy, it is possible that there 

 may be the following advantages: When old coun- 

 tries are become exceedingly corrupt, simpler 

 modes of life, purer morals, and better institutions, 

 may rise up in new ones, whilst fresh soils reward 

 the cultivator with more plentiful returns. Thus 

 the different portions of the globe come into use 



