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CHAP. II.

A mere Acquaintance with the proper Technical Terms, and a Knowledge of Scientific Arrangement, not the true and most important Objects of this Study. A milder and more noble View of the Subject. Of the Elements.

THOSE who pursue this science merely with a view to be able to distinguish one natural body from another; who, when they have made themselves masters of the nomenclature, of the technical language, of the science, conceive they have attained all that is necessary, and are willing to rest satisfied with such barren information-are really deserving of all the ridicule: that could be heaped upon them. Pedantry so idle and absurd, is one of the legitimate objects of satire; and I will make no attempt to in terpose a shield of defence. As well might a mechanic rest satisfied with the knowledge that his tools were called by certain, fixed, names, and neglect to use them, as a man

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of science forget the important objects of his studies in his attention to mere terms. After having learnt the proper names of things, our next consideration should be to discover their properties and use.

In order to obtain correct notions of a vast and magnificent object, it is often necessary for us to remove from it to a certain distance, that our view of its principal character, and general design, by taking the whole in at once, may be the more clear and undivided. After having observed the general plan, by nearer approaches, we can next examine the minor parts, and observe their several beauties, and their relations to each other. He who could wish to form just conceptions of the grandeur and the architectural skill displayed in the church of St. Peter at Rome, would neither place himself at the vestibule, nor upon the summit; but would probably wish first to behold it from such a distance as would enable him to survey the whole structure at one view.

Such is our comparative insignificance,

and such the imperfection of our corporeal senses, that we can regard but a very small portion of the surface of this beautiful orb, the earth, at once; though the power of locomotion enables us to visit nearly all its parts. Our attention is, therefore, constantly occupied with its minor parts and the effects of secondary causes; and our vision being occupied by lesser objects, because nearer to us, and the most numerous, is not so easily extended to a general view of the whole creation, and the few grand, yet simple, principles by which it is governed. But it has pleased Him from whom we derive our being to bestow a faculty upon us that is not subject to those laws of gravitation which confine our corporeal movements to the surface of the earth. Imagination

enables us to soar on eagle pinions beyond the imperfect vision of mortality, even to such a height in the heavens as to exhibit this orb itself, with all its lands, its mountains, and seas, but as a little speck in the midst of interminable space.

I wish neither to be idly rhapsodical, nor

foolishly speculative; but, for the purpose: I have in view, I wish to urge a supposition. Let any one for a moment imagine himself so raised above this earth; or, by a yet more daring flight of fancy, let him suppose himself in a situation like that so sublimely painted by MILTON, when Satan, after traversing the gloom of chaos, first perceives,

"fast by, hanging in a golden chain,

This pendent world, in bigness as a star
Of smallest magnitude close by the moon"

Let him imagine himself gradually approaching the wonderful object before him, as a little bark draws near the shores of some newly discovered country, and see the outlines of rocks, the shadows of mountains, the darkness of woods, the winding course of rivers, the placid surface of lakes, and the rolling billows of the great deep, extended far and wide; and not alone, nor unadorned, these mighty objects: let him contemplate, with ravished eye, ten thousand various coloured hues, and myriads of living, sensitive, moving beings, filling earth, and air,

and water, with emanations of the divine intelligence.

After the powerful emotions created by a spectacle so sublime had subsided into calm admiration, the spectator would naturally inquire into those laws and principles which appeared to regulate, or influence, the various parts of this wonderful system of things, and he would soon perceive that the four elements were the grand and simple agents by which the FRAMER of the UNIVERSEmodified, governed, cherished, and preserved, the innumerable forms and combinations of matter, which constitute the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms.

It is at this distance from lesser objects, and from this point, where the great outlines of creation alone are to be scanned, that the Naturalist, who wishes to perceive the magnitude of his noble and pre-eminent science, must commence his survey. He must imagine himself standing upon the mountain of the whole earth, from whose lofty summit all the works and plans of

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