DECEMBER. 271 



they whose research extends no further, will not rank with 

 those who overlook the beautiful works of God through 

 culpable indifference or ignorance. " We attach, and with 

 reason/' says Reaumur, " a kind of consequence to the 

 knowledge of the faults and perfections of the productions 

 in the fine arts, such as music, poetry, painting, sculpture, 

 and architecture ; but of the works of the Lord of Nature, 

 of the Master of Masters, we scarcely think. There can, 

 indeed, be no room for criticism where there is nothing but 

 what is admirable, and where the most perfect finite intel- 

 ligences, the more they study such subjects, the more they 

 discover of their wonders. Yet this knowledge, so well 

 calculated to elevate the mind, and lead it to the contem- 

 plation of the source from which all these wonders proceed, 

 is regarded by many as frivolous, or of little importance. 

 But he who looks upon an insect as merely a particle of 

 putrid matter, and who has no idea of the marvellous 

 organs of these minute animals, is in a state of ignorance 

 far more blamable than the man who should confound the 

 most finished productions in the Fine Arts with the most 

 rude and shapeless masses/' The student of nature will 

 never rise from his labours disappointed at imperfection 

 and incompleteness in the object of his pursuit ; the most 



