THE STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. 173 further he advances, the more does he perceive how much delight is yet in store for him. The beneficent Creator of all has not only ordained that every part of his works should be good, should be adapted to answer its designed end, and should contribute, in the highest degree of which it is capable, to the well-being of his creatures,—but he has made every thing "beau tiful in its season." 4. He has so formed the mind of man that it derives pleasure from the contemplation of the glorious works around us. And it is, therefore, a worthy employment of our faculties to encourage this pleasure, and to place it upon a more solid and extended foundation than that afforded by the mere forms and colors of objects, however beautiful these may be. One great source of the pleasure derived from the inquiry into the structure and mode of existence of the living beings around us, arises from the adaptation of their parts to each other, and of the whole to the place it has to occupy. 5. The philosopher who studies the motions of the heavenly bodies, and the station of this earth among them, traces these adaptations no less clearly; but it requires profound and long-continued study to be able to comprehend them aright. The naturalist, however, can discern them, with far less re-search', in every plant that grows, in every animal that breathes; and he meets with a constant variety, which prevents him from growing weary of the pursuit. 6. Yet the young are too frequently kept in igno rance of the wonders and beauties around them; and, whilst encouraged to learn many languages, and read many books, they remain unacquainted with the bright volume of creation, the pages of which are daily and hourly unrolled before them, "written," to use the im pressive words of Lord Bacon, "in the only language 174 THE STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. which hath gone forth to the ends of the world, unaffected by the confusion of Babel." 7. If boys were acquainted with the wonderful structure of insects, and of other animals low in the scale, they would not be found sticking pins into flies, or tormenting cats; nor, when men, would they treat those noble domestic animals, the horse and the ox, with cruelty. The girl who has learned to derive enjoyment from observing the operations and watching the metamorph'oses of insects,- who knows their history, and is con'versant with their structure, habits, and curious economy,—will mark these circumstances in animals higher in the scale; and, ascending to her own species, will learn also the elevation of her own nature. 8. The young person who, in strolling through the fields and woods, can tell you the name of every wild flower and every bird you see,-can inform you as to its habits, the time of its appearance, and in what regions of the earth it is to be found,-possesses a fund of useful and entertaining knowledge which must lend a charm to every ramble, and make his or her society prized by all who have souls to rec'ognize and admire the manifold indications in creation of Providential bounty and Omniscient skill. 9. The just relations of all created things to one another prove them to be the work of one almighty Designer. The great globe may be considered as a mu-se'um, furnished forth with the works of the Su preme Being; man being placed in the midst of it, as alone capable of comprehending and valuing it. And, if this be true, as certainly it is, what then becomes man's duty? Moralists and divines, with nature herself, testify that the purpose of so much beauty and perfection being made manifest to man, is that he may study and celebrate the works of God. If we have no CATO'S MESSAGE TO CESAR. 175 vital and intelligent faith in the things which are seen, how shall we believe those which are not seen? 10. A happy sensibility to the beauties of nature should, therefore, be actively cherished and developed by the young. It engages them to contem'plate the Creator in his wonderful works; it purifies and har monizes the soul, and prepares it for moral and intellectual discipline; it supplies a never-failing source of amusement; it contributes largely to bodily health; and, as a strict analogy subsists between material and moral beauty, it leads the heart by an easy transition from the one to the other, and thus recommends virtue for its transcendent loveliness, and makes vice appear the object of contempt and abomination. LXVIII.-CATO'S MESSAGE TO CÆSAR. ROS'TRUM, n., a platform for speakers. | CAP'I-TOL, n., a temple in Rome. LEGION, n., a body of soldiers. [vice. SAC'RI-LEGE, n., the crime of violatDIS-BAND', v. t., to dismiss from ser- ing sacred things. DIC-TA'TOR, n., an absolute ruler. EX-POST'U-LATE, v. i., to plead with. Decius. Cæsar sends health to Cato. Cato. Could he send it To Cato's slaughtered friends, it would be welcome.- Dec. My business is with Cato. Cæsar sees Cato. My life is grafted on the fate of Rome. Dec. Rome and her senators submit to Cæsar; Who checked his conquests, and denied his triumphs. 176 CATO'S MESSAGE TO CESAR. Cato. Those very reasons thou hast urged forbid it. And reason with you, as from friend to friend. Still may you stand high in your country's honors. Cato. No more! I must not think of life on such conditions. Dec. Cæsar is well acquainted with your virtues, Cato. Bid him disband his legions, Restore the commonwealth to liberty, And stand the judgment of a Roman Senate: Bid him do this, and Cato is his friend. Dec. Cato, the world talks loudly of your wisdom, Cato. Nay, more, ployed though Cato's voice was ne'er em To clear the guilty, and to varnish crimes, And at the head of your own little Senate; With all the mouths of Rome to second you. Cato. Let him consider that who drives us hither. 'Tis Cæsar's sword has made Rome's Senate little And thinned its ranks. Alas! thy dazzled eye Beholds this man in a false glaring light, Which conquest and success have thrown upon him. LINES TO LITTLE MARY. Didst thou but view him right, thou 'dst see him black crimes That strike my soul with horror but to name them. I know thou look'st on me as on a wretch Dec. Does Cato send this answer back to Cæsar, 177 JOSEPH ADDISON. (1672-1719.) I'm bidden, little Mary, to write verses unto thee; I'd fain obey the bidding, if it rested but with me; But the mistresses I'm bound to (nine ladies, hard to please !), That 't is only now and then- by good luck, as we may say - Fruit forced is never half so sweet as that comes quite in season; To string the pearls of poësy for loveliest little Mary. And yet, ye pagan damsels,* not over-fond am I To invoke your haughty favors, your fount of Cas'taly: *By the pagan damsels, the "nine ladies hard to please," the author means the Nine Muses; female deities that were imagined by the ancients to preside over poetry, music, &c. The fount of Castaly was on Mount Par nassus, in Greece, and was sacred to Apollo and the Muses. |