16 
His stature, and upright with front serene 
Govern the rest, self-knowing, and from thence 
Magnanimous to correspond with heav n, 
But grateful to acknowledge whence his good 
Descends, thither with heart, and voice, and eyes 
Directed in devotion, to adore 
And worship God supreme, who made him chief 
Of all his works. 
Milton. 
The study of the works of creation then is the exclusive privilege of 
man/ for he alone, of all created beings, 
Looks through nature, up to nature’s God. 
Pope. 
* O gracious God ! if so many men do not discover thee in this great spectacle, thou givest them 
of all nature, it is not because thou art far from any of us. Every one of us feels thee, as it were, 
with his hand: but the senses and passions they raise, take up all the attention of our minds. Thus, 
O Lord, thy light shines in darkness; but the darkness is so thick and gloomy, that it does not ad¬ 
mit the beams of thy light. Thou appearest every where; and every where unattentive mortals 
neglect to perceive thee. All nature proclaims thee: but she speaks to deaf men, whose deafness 
proceeds from the noise and clatter they make to stun themselves. Thou art near, and within them, 
but they are fugitive, and wandering as it were out of themselves. Alas! thy very gifts, which should 
shew them the hand from whence they flow, amuse them to such a degree, as to hinder them from 
perceiving it. If thou wert a barren, impotent, and inanimate body, like a flower, that decays and 
falls to ruin; a picture, which is but a collection of colours to strike the imagination; or an useless 
metal that glitters; they would perceive thee, and fondly ascribe to thee the power of giving them 
pleasure; although, in reality, pleasure cannot be felt by inanimate matter, and animation can alone 
spring from thee, who art the true source of all life. If therefore thou wert a lumpish, frail, and 
inanimate being; a mass without any power; a mere shadow; thy fantastic nature would busy their 
vanity, and absorb all their mean and brutish thoughts. But because THOU art an UNKNOWN 
BEING, and SPIRITUAL, they perceive THEE not. The very light, that should light them, strikes 
them blind; like the rays of the sun, which hinder us from, seeing that luminary. In fine, because 
thou art too elevated, and too pure in thy nature to affect gross senses, men are become like brutes, 
and perceive THEE not. Some men have eyes only to see shadows, truth appears a phantom to 
them. What s nothing, is all; and what is all, is nothing. What do I behold in all Nature? GOD 
every where, and still GOD alone. When I think, O Lord, that all being is an emanation from 
^ EE, THOU exhaustest and swallowest up all my thoughts. I know not what becomes of myself. 
Whatever is not IHGU disappears; and scarce so much of me remains, wherewithal to find myself 
again. Who sees IHEE not, never saw any thing; and who is not sensible of THEE never was 
sensible of any thing! He is as if he were not. His whole life is but a dream! He is devoid of com¬ 
fort! How happy he who searches, sighs, and thirsts after THEE! ‘ For who is like unto thee 
‘ O Lord? My heart melts, and my flesh faints, O God of my soul, and mv eternal wealth T ’ 
Fenelon’s Demonstration of the Existence of God 
from a Knowledge of Nature. 
