290 ORGANIC EVOLUTION CONSIDERED 



designer. In him is fulfilled at once a multitude of 

 the highest purposes, in that he possesses powers by 

 which he can understand and bring into use all 

 things, and make them contribute to the welfare of 

 mind. 



The existence of beauty in many forms, in every 

 department of nature, and man's capacity to enjoy 

 the beautiful, are marks of design indicating the wis- 

 dom and beneficence of the Creator. 



The world might have been created by design, and 

 everything made with a view to utility alone, but we 

 find that creation goes far beyond this by furnishing 

 the capacities and the means for enjoyment to a far 

 greater extent than the existence of an intelligent 

 being strictly demands. Man has been endowed with 

 a great wealth of capacities which not only enable 

 him to exist as an intelligent being, but also to enjoy 

 to the fullest extent the countless beauties that fill 

 the earth. 



In whatever direction he turns his eyes, beauties of 

 some kind greet him. The earth is clothed with beau- 

 tiful green vegetation. Innumerable forms of plants 

 bear flowers of infinite varieties of shapes and colors 

 and sizes — flowers of delicate fragrance, and fruits 

 delicious to the taste. The forests are composed of 

 beautiful trees, among whose branches are birds of 

 beautiful plumage. 



The earth yields her many gems of beauty which 

 vie with the rainbow in the delicacy of their tints. 

 The sea abounds in beautiful corals, delicately-tinted 

 shells of beautiful forms, and in objects innumerable 

 that can delight the eye. 



The heavens are flooded with clouds painted by the 

 setting sun with crimson and purple and gold, and 

 with a multitude of other rich and delicate colors, 

 forming pictures so variable, gorgeous and sublime, 



