46 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 



eye. That creatures, which in the scale of being are i^xt to nonentities, 

 should be elaborated with so much art and contrivance, have such a num- 

 ber of parts both internal and external, all so highly finished and each so 

 nicely calculated to answer its end ; that they should include in this 

 evanescent form such a variety of organs of perception and instruments 

 of motion, exceeding in number and peculiarity of structure those of other 

 animals; that their nervous and respiratory systems should be so complex, 

 their secretory and digestive vessels so various and singular, their parts of 

 generation so clearly developed, and that these minims of nature should be 

 endowed with instincts in many cases superior to all our boasted powers of 

 intellect — truly these wonders and miracles declare to every one who 

 attends to the subject, " The hand that made us is divine.^' We are the 

 work of a Being infinite in power, in wisdom, and in goodness. 



But no religious doctrine is more strongly established by the history of 

 insects than that of a superintending Providence. That of the innumer- 

 able species of these beings, many of them beyond conception fragile and 

 exposed to dangers and enemies without end, no link should be lost from 

 the chain, but all be maintained in those relative proportions necessary for 

 the general good of the system, that if one species for a while prepon- 

 derate, and instead of preserving seem to destroy, yet counter-checks 

 should at the same time be provided to reduce it within its due limits ; and 

 further, that the operations of insects should be so directed and overruled 

 as to effect the purposes for which they were created and never exceed 

 their commission : nothing can furnish a stronger proof than this, that an 

 unseen hand holds the reins, now permitting one to prevail and now 

 another, as shall best promote certain wise ends ; and saying to each, 

 " Hitherto shalt thou come and no further J'^ 



So complex is this mundane system, and so incessant the conflict 

 between its component parts, an observation which holds good particu- 

 larly with regard to insects, that if instead of being under such control it 

 were left to the agency of blind chance, the. whole must inevitably soon 

 be deranged and go to ruin. Insects, in truth, are a book in which 

 whoever reads under proper impressions cannot avoid looking from the 

 effect to the Cause, and acknowledging his eternal power and godhead 

 thus wonderfully displayed and irrefragably demonstrated : and whoever 

 beholds these works with the eyes of the body must be blind indeed if he 

 cannot, and perverse indeed if he will not, with the eye of the soul, 

 behold in all his glory the Almighty Workman, and feel disposed, with 

 every power of his nature, to praise and magnify 



Him first, Him last, Him midst, Him without end. 



And now having led you to the vestibule of an august temple, which 

 in its inmost sanctuary exhibits enshrined in glory the symbols of the 

 Divine Presence, I should invite you to enter and give a tongue to the 

 Hallelujahs, which every creature in its place, by working his will with 

 all its faculties, pours forth to his great Creator : but I must first endea- 

 vor to remove, as I trust I shall effectually, those objections to the study 

 of these interesting beings which I alluded to in the outset of this letter, 

 and this shall be the aim of my next address. 



I am, &,c. 



