LETTERS FROM ALABAMA. 149 
An eye accustomed only to tlie small and gene- 
rally inconspicuous butterflies of our own country, 
the Pontice^ Vanessw, and HipparcMce^ can hardly 
picture to itself the gaiety of the air which swarms 
with large and brilliant-hued Swallowtails and 
other patrician tribes, some of which, in the extent 
and volume of their wings, may be compared to 
large bats. These occur, too, not by straggling 
solitary individuals : in glancing over a blossomed 
field or prairie-knoll, we may see hundreds, includ- 
ing, perhaps, more than a dozen species, besides 
moths, flies, and other insects. 
When contemplating such a scene thus thronged 
with life, I have been pleased to think of the very 
vast amount of happiness that is aggregated there. 
I take it as an undoubted fact, that among the 
inferior creatures, except when suffering actual 
pain, life is enjoyment ; the mere exercise of the 
bodily organs, and the gratification of the bodily 
appetites, is the highest pleasure of which they are 
capable : for as Spenser says — 
What more of happiness can fall to creature 
Than to enjoy delight with liberty ?’’ 
Fate of the Butterfly, 
To look then on the multitudes of beings assem- 
bled in so circumscribed a spot, all pursuing plea- 
sure, and all doubtless attaining their end, each one 
with an individual perception and consciousness of 
enjoyment, — w^hat a grand idea does it give of the 
tender mercy of God, as a God of providence ! 
Let us extend the idea : — there are about one 
hundred thousand species of insects known ; let 
your mind try to guess at the number of individuals 
of each species in the whole earth, (perhaps if you 
