158 NATURAL LAWS. 



" Eflfusive source of evidence and truth, 

 A lustre shedding o'er the ennobled mind, 

 Stronger than summer-noon, and pure as that 

 "Whose mild vibrations soothe the parted soul 

 New to the dawning of celestial day. 

 Hence, through her nourish'd powers, enlarged by tkee. 

 She springs aloft, with elevated pride, 

 Above the tangling mass of low desires. 

 That bind the fluttering crowd; and, angel-wing'd, 

 The heights of science and of virtue gains, 

 Where all is calm and clear ; with nature round, 

 Or in the starry regions or the abyss, 

 To Reason's and to Fancy's eye display'd; 

 The first up-tracing, from the dreary void, 

 The chain of causes and effects to Him 

 The world- producing Essence, who alone 

 Possesses being; while the last leceivea 

 The whole magnificence of heaven and earth. 

 And every beauty, delicate or bold, 

 Obvious or more remote, with livelier sense 

 Diffusive painted on the rapid mind." 



Thomsok. 



Some persons may smile at the notion of 

 devoting their inquiries to the habits of a 

 fungus ; but fungi are the works of in&iite 

 wisdom, and nothing is made by infinite wis- 

 dom that has not claims for well-regulated 

 finite intelligence. 



Every organized substance is so framed as 

 to illustrate certain great natural laws; and 

 natural laws, well considered and understood, 

 have power to impress on the mind the most 

 striking moral lessons. The falling of an apple 



