DIVERS. 283 



struction ; and though some are solitary and others gregari- 

 ous, there is not a single authenticated instance of one of 

 them schooling another, or of any one standing in need of 

 such schooling, in order to perform all that it is the habit of 

 the species, in a state of nature, to perform. When we train 

 them, the case is different ; and in proportion as the animals 

 are gregarious or social in a state of nature, they may be the 

 more easily trained : but in training, the art and the purpose 

 are ours, not theirs. 



To suppose otherwise, is to suppose that mere matter knows 

 its own nature and its own history, a degree of knowledge 

 which we feel does not belong even to mind itself. We know 

 not of ourselves whence our minds came, when they were 

 created, or whether they were in being anterior to the orga- 

 nization of our bodies. Knowledge of that nature is an attri- 

 bute of Godhead can be obtained only in so far as it is 

 revealed ; and though we can feel that that which is revealed 

 is accordant with our wishes, and highly gratifying to our 

 hopes, and though we can judge of the credibility of the wit- 

 nesses to the revelation, we cannot, in the nature of things, 

 demonstrate the abstract truths that are revealed, by any 

 process of merely human reason. 



But I must leave the subject, earnestly recommending 

 this short digression to my young readers, whom it may (if 

 they follow it out in their own thoughts) assist in rendering 

 the study of nature, in a sound and philosophical manner, 

 wholesome, instructive, and pleasant. 



DIVERS (Colymbus). 



The general resort of this genus of birds is the sea, though 

 they, especially in the young state, occasionally resort to the 

 mouths of rivers and the inland lakes. They bear a consider- 

 able resemblance to the grebes, both in their structure and 

 their habits, and therefore are naturally enough placed con- 



