BARON CUVIER. 141 



the world, creation, the whole of created beings, 

 are, then, so many synonymes. 



" But by another of those figures of speech to 

 which all languages are prone, Nature has been 

 personified ; existing beings have been called 

 the works of Nature, and the general affinities 

 of these beings among themselves have been 

 called the laws of Nature. The definitive result 

 of these affinities, which is a certain constancy 

 of motion, a certain fixedness in the proportion 

 of the species; in short, the preservation, to a 

 certain degree, of the order once established; 

 has been entitled the wisdom of Nature. Lastly, 

 the enjoyments afforded to sensible beings have 

 taken the name of the bounty of Nature. Here, 

 under the name of Nature, the Creator himself 

 is evidently represented ; they are his works, 

 his cares, his wisdom, and his goodness, which 

 are thus meant. Nevertheless, it is by thus con- 

 sidering Nature as a being gifted with intel- 

 ligence and will, but secondary and limited with 

 regard to power, that we are able to say of her, 

 that she unceasingly watches over the preserv- 

 ation of her works, that she makes nothing in 

 vain, that she effects all by the most simple 

 methods, that she contributes to the cure of dis- 

 eases, but that she is sometimes overcome by the 



