84 RELATIONS OF ANIMALS 



view to the benefit of man. We may rather count the ad- 

 vantages he derives from them as incidental and residuary 

 consequences ; w^hich, although they may not have formed 

 the exclusive object of creation, were all foreseen and com- 

 prehended in the plans of the Great Architect of that Globe, 

 which, in his appointed time, was destined to become the 

 scene of human habitation.* 



With respect to the animal kingdom, we acknowledge 

 with gratitude, that among the higher classes, there is a 

 certain number of living species, which are indispensable to 

 the supply of human food and raiment, and to the aid of 

 civilized man in his various labours and occupations ; and 



* " It is true that by applying ourselves to the study of nature, we 

 daily find more and more uses in things that at first appeared useless. 

 But some tilings are of such a kind as not to admit of being applied to 

 the benefit of man, and otiiers too noble for us to claim the sole use of 

 them. Man has no farther concern with this earth than a few fathoms 

 under his feet : was then the whole solid globe made only for a founda- 

 tion to support the slender shell he treads] upon ? Do the magnetic efflu- 

 via course incessantly over land and sea, only to turn here and there a 

 mariner's compass ? Are those immense bodies, tiie fixed stars, hung up 

 for nothing but to twinkle in our eyes by night, or to find employment 

 for a few astronomers ? Surely he must have an overweening conceit of 

 man's importance, who can imagine this stupendous frame of the universe 

 made for him alone. Nevertheless, we may so far acknowledge all things 

 made for man as that his uses are regarded conjointly with those of other 

 creatures, and that he has an interest in every thing reaching his notice^ 

 and contributing either to the support of his body, the improvement or 

 entertainment of his mind. The satellites tliat turn the night of Jupiter 

 into day, assist him in ascertaining the longitude, and measuring the ve- 

 locity of liglit : the mighty sun, that like a giant holds llie planets and 

 comets in their orbits, enlightens him with its splendour, and cherishes 

 him with its warmth : the distant stars, whose attraction probably con- 

 fines other planets within their vortices, direct his course over the bound- 

 less sea, and the inhospitable desert." — Tucker's Light of Nature, book iii. 

 chap. ix. p. 9. 



See an excellent note on prospective provisions, to afford materials for 

 human arts, and having reference to the future discoveries of human 

 science, in Rev. W. D. Conybeare's Inaugural Address to Bristol College, 

 1831. 



