THE GOODNESS OF THE DEITY. 
2 53 
that Being from whom all these things have proceeded: we 
cannot help acknowledging, what an exertion of benevo¬ 
lence creation was; of a benevolence how minute in its 
care, how vast in its comprehension! 
When we appeal to the parts and faculties of animals, 
and to the limbs and senses of animals in particular, we 
state, I conceive, the proper medium of proof for the con¬ 
clusion which we wish to establish. I will not say that 
the insensible parts of nature are made solely for the sensi¬ 
tive parts; but this I say, that, when we consider the be¬ 
nevolence of the Deity, we can only consider it in relation 
to sensitive being. Without this reference, or referred to 
anything else, the attribute has no object; the term has 
no meaning. Dead matter is nothing. The parts, there¬ 
fore, especially the limbs and senses of animals, although 
they constitute, in mass and quantity, a small portion of the 
material creation, yet, since they alone are instruments of 
perception, they compose what may be called the whole of 
visible nature, estimated with a view to the disposition of 
its Author. Consequently, it is in these that we are to seek 
his character. It is by these that we are to prove, that the 
world was made with a benevolent design. 
Nor is the design abortive It is a happy world after all. v 
The air, the earth, the water, teem with delighted exist¬ 
ence. In a spring noon, or a summer evening, on which¬ 
ever side I turn my eyes, myriads of happy beings crowd 
upon my view. “The insect youth are on the wing.” 
Swarms of new-born flies are drying their ‘pinions in the 
air. Their sportive motions, their wanton mazes, their 
gratuitors activity, their continual change of place without 
use or purpose, testify their joy, and the exultation which 
they feel in their lately discovered faculties. A bee amongst 
the flowers in spring, is one of the most cheerful objects that 
can be looked upon. Its life appears to be all enjoyment; 
so busy, and so pleased: yet it is only a specimen of insect 
life, with which, by reason of the animal being half domesti¬ 
cated, we happen to be better acquainted than we are with 
that of others. The whole winged insect tribe, it is proba¬ 
ble, are equally intent upon their proper employments, and, 
under every variety of constitution, gratified, and perhaps 
equally gratified, by the offices which the Author of their 
nature has assigned to them. But the atmosphere is not 
the only scene of enjoyment for the insect race. Plants 
are covered with aphides, greedily sucking their juices, 
and constantly, as it should seem, in the act of sucking. It 
X 
